Re: New digital darkroom - unsolicited testimonial *PIC*

John et al -
New scanner technology is marvelous! I have been scanning some slides recently that are 35+ years old, using only moderate resolution 1200 or 2400 dpi to save time, and getting excellent results. Some of them, as with many shots of steam locos, have a great deal of shadow under the running boards, but the 'backlight correction' options (none, low, medium, high) in the software for my CanoScan 9950F flatbed w/ slide attachments do a better job than some expensive drum scans I had done only a few years ago. It's a bit slow - especially at 4800 dpi - but the results are worth the wait.
The shot below was scanned at 1200 dpi, reduced to 360x450 pixels, and compressed at jpg factor 20 to get a small file for a web slide show - and it still ain't bad. The "original" uncompressed 960x1200 .tif is quite acceptable for full-screen viewing on a good monitor, or for use with a digital projector.
A full-frame scan of the same shot at 4800 dpi takes over 10 minutes, but the resultant 4200x6300 image still looks crisp even when printed at 11"x14".
- Russ Sperry
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