[geeks] What has replaced Kodak PhotoCD Pro?

[Mike Parson]

On Thu, Jul 07, 2005 at 05:14:05PM -0400, Francois Dion wrote:
> Your typical photo places have their format (for the 1hr crowd, Eckerd
> for example uses Konica and Ritz uses Fujifilm) or Kodak *picture CD*
> (not photocd). They are all about 1500x1024 (1536x1024 for Kodak, to
> be precise).
> 
> Well, there also used to be the Photo CD which offered 2048x3072 and
> Photo CD Pro which clocked in at 4096x6144. Apparently I've been under
> a rock and the Photo CD/Pro service is no longer available from Kodak,
> and nobody around here (piedmont triad, NC) still has the 4045 PCD
> film scanner with 1 hr service.
> 
> Anybody is offering 1 hr with CD at high resolution these days?
> 
> Or is there an inexpensive negative and/or slides scanner out there
> that rivals the quality that the Kodak PhotoCD Pro did (4400dpi)?

Dunno about inexpensive, but I've used the Nikon Coolscan film scanners
and scanned in a bunch of my old film at ~2400 dpi, but the scanner is
capable of up to 4000dpi.  Even at 2400, it was scanning at a higher
resolution than the film itself (at least my iso 400 stuff).

The one I used was SCSI, but these days, they seem to come in USB2 and
IEEE1394 (firewire) models too.  Plus having the built-in hardware
DigitalICE/ROC/GEM, you can get some extemely nice scans, even out of
older negatives.

They can be pricey though, especially if you opt for the roll-film
adapter, and/or slide feeder.  Makes bulk scanning MUCH easier, but they
do add to the cost quite a bit.

Wish I could afford one, unfortunately the one I used before was a
borrowed unit and had to give it back. =)

-- 
Michael Parson
mparson at bl.org