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 After you get over the extremely scarce distribution network and the idea to spend so much on an outdated line of scanners, there is the system requirements.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 »

This post title could relate to the illustrating picture, but that's not my intention.

What inspires that post is the current situation at Bibble Labs. They develop and a remarkable raw converter called Bibble. I am not sure if they still sell anything, because they have publicly announced they have stopped supporting, correcting and enhancing their current product because the new one should be available soon. That includes not adding support for new cameras. Since I have no plan of buying any new digital camera I should not care too much.

But I do. Because the next version, that was supposed to be here real soon is not going to be. In fact, that development appears to be so mismanaged that it raises questions on the company viability. And I am not going to spend time in Bibble if that product is a dead end. Any operating system update could make stop working.

It Bibble 5 gets released before the company melts down and if it is a quality product, it will probably be the best raw converter on the planet. But at this stage, I am doubtful it will be released before having been rendered irrelevant by the competition.

Let's hope I am dead wrong.

Stephane :: Mar.30.2009 :: Pictures, Software :: No Comments »

Last year, Colin Jago talked on his blog of an interesting software for negative scanners: Colorneg.

I downloaded the trial version and gave it a go. It did indeed produce fine results but at that stage I was reluctant to add yet another software. Moreover, at the time, I was not really using film all that much.

Since then I have started again to use my Leica and so the question of B&W film scanning and processing became current for me too.

For digital processing, depending on my inconsistency among other things, I currently use Aperture, Photoshop CS3, Bibble Pro, QuadtoneRIP and some nice PhotoShop plugins.  Still reluctant to add yet another software piece, I tried different things. Clearly, VueScan is best at driving my Epson scanner. Its B&W output is adequate but not exactly great and the control it offers does not suit me. Besides, I like the idea of scanning to RAW. I find the curves to apply to VueScan RAW files quite steep and I produced unwanted effects that way.

I then noticed the DNG option in VueScan. It produces a DNG raw file, just ready for Adobe Camera Raw. That software was designed precisely to do what I need: correctly map a gamma 1 file to the more useful gamma 2.2 or 1.8 or whatever is in QTR Lab space. It works beautifully. The trick to invert the picture in ACR is to use the point curve, select the Linear setting and invert its slope. The controls in ACR allow to produce a very good starting point for further finishing in PhotoShop.

Stephane :: Oct.19.2008 :: Film, Scanning, Software :: No Comments »

Apple has disclosed their new laptops. In a word, this is rubbish.

The most annoying aspect is of course the glossy only screens. And not merely glossy like the previous Macbook was. No, this is glass, like the iMac. I just got a new iMac. The reflections are terrible. Since it is a desktop, I can tailor the environment and position the computer so that reflections do not appear. Not so with a laptop, contrarily to what an Apple executive said in an interview.

Apple also dropped all Firewire 400 ports from the new laptops. It means the Macbook has no Firewire and the Macbook Pro only has Firewire 800. Now, I don’t know, this saves what? $2 per machine to Apple? Let’s get crazy and make it $10 per machine. For the customers, this is a royal blunder. All the consumer video camera which use iLink (Firewire) to communicate with a computer are not impossible to connect to a Macbook. Nice move!

All the Firewire 400 peripherals will now need a special cable to connect to a MacBook Pro. This will also create inconvenience to people who wish to connect two Firewire devices to their Macbook Pro while on the road. Then I look at the Macbook Pro price and I wonder.

Who again brought Firewire to the market and explained everyone how superior it was? Apple. Go figure.

This is arrogance, complacency and, again, corporate stupidity.

Apple seems to think they don’t need the creative professional market anymore. The very market that kept them half afloat during their worst days. They choose to do so during the golden opportunity Microsoft gave them with the Vista disaster. Apple might find out, too late, that a large number of professionals will decide they can do without Apple. Especially if Windows 7 turns out to be half good.

Those glass screens are just a fashion thing. Apple is giving substance to arguments saying their product are all about looks.

The most immediate consequence for me is to make me feel uncomfortable to depend on Aperture. I might reconsider that.

Stephane :: Oct.18.2008 :: Gear, Software :: No Comments »