Drum Scanners

Ricochetrider · Jun 11, 2020

Drum scanning of negatives seems to be in serious decline, tho mot necessarily altogether dead. I've been looking into various printing methods, and some of the labs use drum scans for creating certain alternative print processes such as Platinum and others.

Obviously, one need not to drum scan a negative simply to have digital copies to share online,
BUT
what is it about drum scanning and
why does it seem to be dying if not falling off rather dramatically as a regular means of scanning?
Is it a time thing?
Space (ie size) and software?
When does a drum scan beat any other method?

f I wanted a super high resolution of a negative to make a very large or life size print, wouldn't the best scan possible be a viable solution?

NortheastPhotographic · Jun 11, 2020

Drum scans are generally the best method to scan transparency film. Good operators can also do well with color negative film but this is not as popular, I think the software does not do great color conversions but again, it's all up to the operator.

I wouldn't say it's dying off exactly, but these scanners are no longer being made. So people still doing them are basically keeping old computers and parts alive. It's also a very involved and somewhat ridiculous process. You have to manually wet mount the film into these spinning drums. Then the scans themselves take ages.

If you have a really fabulous photo made with Velvia and are planning to make a 60" print, yes it's probably your best option.

If I were to upgrade my systems to rival drum scans at very large sizes, I would replace my S1R scanning set up with a GFX 100, which can make a 400mp pixel shifted capture. But some people who love drum scans are never going to be convinced that anything else will do.

Adrian Bacon · Jun 11, 2020

NortheastPhotographic said:
Drum scans are generally the best method to scan transparency film. Good operators can also do well with color negative film but this is not as popular, I think the software does not do great color conversions but again, it's all up to the operator.

I wouldn't say it's dying off exactly, but these scanners are no longer being made. So people still doing them are basically keeping old computers and parts alive. It's also a very involved and somewhat ridiculous process. You have to manually wet mount the film into these spinning drums. Then the scans themselves take ages.

If you have a really fabulous photo made with Velvia and are planning to make a 60" print, yes it's probably your best option.

If I were to upgrade my systems to rival drum scans at very large sizes, I would replace my S1R scanning set up with a GFX 100, which can make a 400mp pixel shifted capture. But some people who love drum scans are never going to be convinced that anything else will do.

+1

Drum scans generally take a long time per image and therefore are not well suited to smaller formats like 35mm. If you have a bunch of large format negatives, then, yes, they can be a great way to go for those special images.

Drum Scanners

Ricochetrider

NortheastPhotographic

Adrian Bacon

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