Lumière d’Argent

I have just tried to see  if I could buy a Kodak ISQmart 1. Kodak/Creo scanners are really high end, about the best one can get. Well, it is almost impossible to buy one in large parts of Western Europe.

I live in Luxembourg. The nearest dealer that Kodak put me in contact with is located in England! Really easy to arrange for a demo!

According to the dealer, Kodak does not make the scanners anymore. The Creo factory in Israel is stopped and only the IQSmart3 is still presented as a current model. Some stock remains. I was offered an ex-demo IQSmart1 at a decent price, it would have been tempting.

But the problems just pile up. After you get over the extremely scarce distribution network and the idea to spend so much on an outdated line of scanners, there is the system requirements. The software requires a MacPro. The Mac OS X version has to be the one provided on DVD with the machine, with no update whatsoever. This means I'd have to dedicate a MacPro as a scanning station! The only other Mac models supported are ancient G3 and G4 machines. A Windows version exists, but with reduced functionalities.

When you add the shipping and installation costs (900€), the deal gets more and more crazy.

So I declined the offer.

The only remaining alternative is the Nikon CoolScan LS 9000. Much less expensive, but not exactly the deal of the year either. The model will be discontinued starting this month. The software is already not updated anymore for quite a time and support can not be expected to last long. Kodak, at least, promises support and repairs for at least 6 years.

So, ok, my Epson V750 and Plustek 7500i will have to do. But seeing all the really good scanners disappearing from the market makes one wonder what will happen when the Epson stops working.

Stephane :: Feb.18.2010 :: Gear, Scanning, Software :: 3 Comments »

This is a follow-up on my Epson r2400 death announcement.

There actually was a way. Not that the Epson support would mention anything about it, mind you. I came across an interesting page on MIS excellent support site about resetting the waste ink counter on Epson printers. The method described there actually did not work on the R2400 but they also mention that service manuals are available on http://www.2manuals.com/. I went there and downloaded not only the manual but also the software for Epson service technicians. That software allows to adjust a number of parameters in the Epson printers, including resetting the ink waste counter.

My first attempt did not work because I tried on Windows Vista. It does work on Windows XP, though, and it allowed me to reset the counter to zero and get a working printer again.

Stephane :: Nov.28.2009 :: Gear, Printing, Software :: No Comments »

I have printed with an Epson R2400 for the last four years. Yesterday, it stopped working. When switched on, it makes a very brief noise and then the paper feed and ink buttons leds start to blink. Searching the Internet, it turns out it is most probably the wasted ink tank that’s full.

But wait a minute. I installed an external wasted ink tank specifically to avoid this to happen. Yes, but the printer has no way to determine the actual level in the tank, so its internal software counts the (milli)liters of ink it sends there and after a fixed quantity decides it is game over. There is software that allows to reset that counter, but it does not seem to work, apparently the printer is not responding. So that failure was actually programmed in the printer. It is not a bug, it is a feature…

I have left a message on Epson technical support web site, we’ll see.

Stephane :: Oct.14.2009 :: Gear, Printing :: 1 Comment »

Reading about different film/developer combinations, I came across a post on Flicker discussion where Philip Leser mentioned that he really liked Neopan 400 in Diafine. He made extensive tests with several films in Diafine, including plotting characteristic curves. He came with this curve for Neopan 400 in Diafine:

This is very very good. So I tried and indeed, Neopan 400 in Diafine creates great negatives. Grain is moderate. Much marger than Acros, of course, but invisible on a 12×16" print from medium format.

I wonder if I need anything else for my RZ67, really.

Stephane :: Jun.14.2009 :: Film, Gear :: 2 Comments »

After about two years and a half doing 99.9% of my photos with digital cameras, I am left with mixed feelings. Mostly, it is great. I did get what I missed when I was using solely the Rollei SL66 and later the Arca-Swiss 6×9. However, as I should have foreseen, I also lost a few things:

• Ability to cope with specular highlight in an aesthetic way
• Dynamic range
• Production of a tangible, durable object
• The large viewfinder
• Flexible depth of field management

I won’t go back to everything this or that. But I started last summer to use my Leica again, with great joy and nice results too.

For Christmas I received a beautiful present: an old Mamiya RZ67 with a standard 110mm lens. It is big, heavy, slower to use than the E-3, but the large negatives are a pleasure to work with. And now that I found again a proper development procedure, I get instant quasi-HDR on every negative.

Stephane :: Jan.06.2009 :: Film, Gear, Scanning :: 1 Comment »