Board index Equipment Scanners To buy or not to buy a Heidelberg ChromaGraph S 3400

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To buy or not to buy a Heidelberg ChromaGraph S 3400

koopak
 
Posts: 1

To buy or not to buy a Heidelberg ChromaGraph S 3400

Post Wed Oct 14, 2009 6:23 am


Hello all, I'm new to the forums, and have found you guys quite useful when learning about scanning, so thank you!

I have a conundrum. I have about 1000 negatives to scan, and about 200 slides. Of those only 200 negatives are important, and about 80 slides (as in, quality really matters). I was interested in renting an 'Hasselblad Flextight X5' for a week for $1200, but I heard that that is a bad idea (it will take me a while to get used to any machine and get a good scan out of it) and I cannot bring the machine home (have to scan in-shop, making for a long week). I was then going to purchase a 'Nikon Coolscan 5000ED' for $1200, but just then I found an unbelievably good deal:

A Heidelberg ChromaGraph S3400: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 3DWatching
Selling for only $4000!

Now how much effort does it take to learn how to drum scan? Do I really need a technician to do all the work to calibrate the machine, or can I do it myself? What does it take as far as skill in use and consumables? How much better is a S3400 drum scanner over a Coolscan 5000, or even an X5? Does anyone know of a website that has comparative examples (for use on low-end CanonSLR ISO80 to ISO400 Fuji/Kodak film)? How much of an advantage is oil scanning over dry scanning (especially if I throw out the negatives after?). Can I wet-scan on a Coolscan, and what does that do to its ability to scan the infrared dust-correction channel? My film is generally not scratched, not (yet) dusty (although my home is very dusty), though many film strips are bent (causing them to create newton rings and make contact in my Canoscan 600f for-fun tests). Oh and does the Coolscan OR the Heidelberg Chromagraph scan slides?

Please, ANY information/discussion on these topics is welcome. I would even be willing to set up a little film scanning business to justify the $4000 if this was a wise path to take, I already have a few people interested!

Thanks!

Board index Equipment Scanners To buy or not to buy a Heidelberg ChromaGraph S 3400

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