Smashed the Plustek with a hammer

[markjwyatt]

I think it was an act of God
"And the unclean spirits came out and entered the scanner; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.”

It's a biblical truth!

I smashed a little POS 300 dollar ultralight computer. I wanted to kill any chance of someone getting at my files. I found a vintage 20 ounce Craftsman ball peen hammer to be perfect for "driving out the unclean spirits!"

I usually remove the hard rive and damage it beyond repair. Less messy than smashing a computer.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...a scanner is a piece of photographic equipment...

But how can that be? Isn't anything other than a silver halide print made from a silver halide negative a "fauxtograph?"

 

[markjwyatt]

But how can that be? Isn't anything other than a silver halide print made from a silver halide negative a "fauxtograph?"

I waiting for someone to say that. Of course scanners are only good for scanning negatives to display on the internet, right?

 

[grat]

My Epson would be horrific to try to use as a document scanner. I've got a very nice little portable Fuji ScanSnap that scans both sides of the paper in one pass, and has a small 12 sheet document tray with autofeed.

 

[NB23]

Fauxtographs, had enough of them.
Faux filters, faux exposures, faux post processing, faux colors. And worst of all, the pain in the hass having to surf through various folders just to view a few shots. And the major PITA of managing all the systems, software, hardware.

2000 and 2001 were exclusively digital. Those were the nightmare years. I lost all my files somewhere in 2003.

This is a film forum, yeah? My safe haven from the digibob turdography. I’m so glad not to have to deal with any of that stuff, which ultimately and quickly leads to lens testing, GAS and viewing detail at 400% for absolutely noooo intelligent reason whatsoever. Talks of micro-contrast (what does it mean at all?), macro-contrast (wtf?) and so on. It’s all fauxtography.

We’re in a film forum, yeah? So this is where I choose to spend some time, away from the digibob turdography. Thanks.

I’ve had my share epson dead printers, stupid ports problems, dead computers. I have already destroyed a few computers myself, one was pitched from a 5th floor.

Zits almost come out of my face as soon as I have to spend a few minutes in front of that brain blood sucking device called computer.

Just give me a darkroom, a radio, some negatives to print, a good baryta paper.

Yes, some dudes are into cybersex. Fauxsex. Fauxtography is the same.

 

[NB23]

... instead, let's debate differences between HC-110 dilutions, stop-bath acids, merits of presoaking and stand development... for all the right (intelligent!) reasons!

the only intelligent reasons for me to participate in those discussions is NOT to debate, but to teach.

There is no debate, and the rules are clear:
-acid stop bath is a must.
-presoak is not needed and can be bad.
-never, ever, stand-develop.
-grain is not a function of agitation.
-one must agitate when developing.
-various dilutions are mostly economical reasons. Sure some tonality and acutance reasons but let’s not fool ourselves, this is for lrge format shooters. This is mostly lost on 135 shooters .

Who wants to debate on tese topics clearly has time to lose and has no real interest in the proper art of the darkroom.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...a scanner is a piece of photographic equipment...

But how can that be? Isn't anything other than a silver halide print made from a silver halide negative a "fauxtograph?"

...Of course scanners are only good for scanning negatives to display on the internet, right?

No, their other use (the reason I've got one) is to scan negatives and, after editing the scanner's output file, making inkjet prints. Inkjet photographs. Not Internet photographs.

 

[Kodachromeguy]

Of course scanners are only good for scanning negatives to display on the internet, right?

The other reason is to record and save the image data in case your negatives and/or prints are destroyed in the future (house fire, flood, ignorant relative, auction company, etc.). The scan will not be an original, but at least you will have some sort of copy.

 

[NB23]

Foma? Even for their excellent papers? Looks like they need an extra teaching or two.

For sure you were teasing and it’s all good. I’m not a snowflake nor an easily offended dude. Some make it a personal sport to get offended... which is sad.

It’s a film forum hey!!

... unless someone also wants to teach And, by the way, Foma recommends pre-soaking and advises against acid-based stop bath in favor of plain water.

The point of my teasing is that this hobby (or an art form, if you will) is relies on the inherently technical multi-step routine of producing an image, with plenty of options and trade-offs along the way, and absolutist statements are silly.

 

[mshchem]

the only intelligent reasons for me to participate in those discussions is NOT to debate, but to teach.

There is no debate, and the rules are clear:
-acid stop bath is a must.
-presoak is not needed and can be bad.
-never, ever, stand-develop.
-grain is not a function of agitation.
-one must agitate when developing.
-various dilutions are mostly economical reasons. Sure some tonality and acutance reasons but let’s not fool ourselves, this is for lrge format shooters. This is mostly lost on 135 shooters .

Who wants to debate on tese topics clearly has time to lose and has no real interest in the proper art of the darkroom.

Don't let this get to you.
I seem to be in agreement with you.
The pre-soak something I do when I develop color film on the magnificent Jobo. For consistency. Temperature control on the World Famous Jobo is an illusion. Pouring 500mL of 1st developer in E6 through the World Famous Jobo Lift at room temperature, has no effect???

Everyone knows that a print washer is only good if it drains from the bottom, as some how the hypo dissolution in the water will immediately cause by gravity, the hypo to crash to the bottom. This is why fiber base paper is not used in microgravity environments..

And I was always amazed that some of the nitwits that I worked with, they engineers, I in their eyes a lowly chemist, didn't really understand error analysis, significant figures.
The reporting of a measurement to three decimals, when I asked how this came to be. The most often reply was a dull stare, then something about that's how many places the "scale" read.

I wish I could have spent a couple years as a technician working for the old Kodak processing labs. We really have no idea what knowledge was lost as things migrated to minilabs and ink.

I do love listening to the debates on this forum. Sometimes I go back and read something I said think, he's full of crap.

 

[NB23]

A few seconds ago... while on my way to my darkrom.
The irony.

 

[Craig75]

be so funny if a load of hard line digital anti-film photographers joined the site.

Be smelling salts and heart attacks everywhere

 

[mshchem]

A few seconds ago... while on my way to my darkrom.
The irony.

View attachment 269810

Glad to see there's civic minded folks in Montreal. Every spring and autumn we have a "bulky trash" pickup. No appliances or construction debris, but almost anything else. All the hoarders and scrappers drive around looking for treasures. I've seen full size pickups, pulling a 24 foot tandem axle trailer loaded with old lawn mowers, snow blowers scrap metal, wood. They send their family out to scout and make the first claim.
It's a social event.
I had someone drop off a fully assembled 10 foot Arkay stainless steel sink in my driveway a couple years back ♥. I added it to my 8 foot Kreonite fiberglass sink. Also salvage.

 

[Vaughn]

... instead, let's debate differences between HC-110 dilutions, stop-bath acids, merits of presoaking and stand development... for all the right (intelligent!) reasons!

Why fuckin debate -- how about discuss?

 

[NB23]

When everyone shows up to teach but there are no pupils, you get debates. Also, because Internet.

“Teach” was a bad choice of word...

 

[Vaughn]

Most of us drive computers (and they'll be driving us soon). Do miss my 71 Super Beetle in that regard...except getting under it every 1500 miles to change oil and then adjusting the valves every other oil change.

 

[SchwinnParamount]

“Teach” was a bad choice of word...

Preach?

 

[SchwinnParamount]

The electrician came to restore power to my darkroom today. Turns out it was a bad slot in the panel which fried a block of 2 breakers. Took out a couple of circuits in the house, including the darkroom. The enlarger now has power again. I will be printing this weekend after giving the old Plustek one more hearty kick.

Yes, Matt. The Plustek deserves "better" - ish. I've always found it to be an inferior scanner after my Nikon scanner. I've looked down my nose at it from the beginning, despite it's yeoman's work plowing through about 500 scans or so. But it died too soon which befits it's lack of engineering and build quality. So I was torn between giving it an honorable burial and smashing it with a hammer and then kicking it's carcass to the curb. Catharsis is all about violence towards inferior products. I happily kicked it to the curb.

Despite the fact that one Photrio asshole decided that I lacked "impulse control" and even more idiotically, decided that I needed to know that he disapproved. F him. F anyone who forces their poorly considered opinions on others. Oh wait... that's half the human race (including me). Oops!

 

[markjwyatt]

A few seconds ago... while on my way to my darkrom.
The irony.

View attachment 269810

Too bad you didn't have a hammer with you. We could have yet another interesting thread.

 

[choiliefan]

Preach?

Pontificate.

 

[Danner]

Darkroom time is best time.

 

[Les Sarile]

I still have a Coolscan but its USB port needs to be soldered. After about 8 years of being jiggled occasionally, the port failed.

I had thought about this when you posted it previously and thought the USB connector was simply attached to a board via ribbon cable like those in PCs but alas it appears it is directly attached to a board. You can see it in this video at about the 4:21 mark . . .



What's shown is the Coolscan 5000 not the V that you have but most likely not too dissimilar.

There is also a view of the board that this USB jack is directly attached to and it certainly looks like a multilayer high density board so replacing that connector can be very challenging.

http://www.shtengel.com/gleb/Nikon_ls50-5000_USB_repair.htm

Apparently he does repairs on scanners too -> http://www.shtengel.com/gleb/Nikon_coolscan_4000_5000.htm

 

[BAC1967]

I came inches from destroying a printer today, kept giving me an error but didn’t indicate what the problem was. I was getting ready to take a sledge hammer to it outside before I discovered one of the ink cartridges wasn’t pushed in all the way. It lives to see another day but one more outburst like that and it may be the end.

 

[Horatio]

Anyone here still using a typewriter? I think Alec Soth has one. I really miss my old Underwood.

 

[Sal Santamaura]

...Why is this thread in the "Darkroom Equipment" category and not the "Scanning and Scanners" category where it belongs?

Finally.