Scanner Suggestions and Recommendations

[tyamada]

panos:

I have the HP 6100C which is a newer version of the 5P, it does work in Windows XP, I use an Adaptec SCSI card which works great for what I do with the scanner. The drivers for the HP 5P are on HP's web site.

For everybody:

Here is a link to a scanner forum, has a lot to do with Vuescan but there is a lot of information on scanners also.
http://groups-beta.google.com/group...=&num=25&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d&start=0

If you are intrested here is a link for a Vuescan review. This link also has reviewed other items, scanners, printers and cameras.
check out the review section
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/software/Vuescan/page-1.htm

 

[Nifty]

Someone mentioned OCR. My grandfather (not to be confused with Grandad) wrote a book many years ago that was then typed on a typewriter and then published. Nobody has a soft copy so I've been thinking about using my monster paper cutter to take off the binding and then feed the pages through an OCR scanner. I can't imagine this being an easy task, even with the sheet fed scanners.

 

[fotofreek]

Faster than typing, as long as the text is in good shape and readable by your OCR program.

 

[tyamada]

As for scanner reccomendations, most of your stand alone scanners don't have ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) option, if available they are way over priced. If you want a good scanner with a document feeder look into one of the all in one machines, most of them include the document feeder for the price of a stand alone document feeder. The added benefit is the printer/fax capability. The current Canon Multifunction devices have the iP4000 ink jet engine, 5 cartridges (same cartridges the i860 uses), with 4800x1200 resolution.

If you want to go cheap and have a digital camera use it for your scans. I read somewhere on the net that a lot of people are using their cameras instead of a scannner. Its faster than a scanner and the same images can be used in OCR software. Just make a jig to hold your camera and make a light box. That way you wouldn't have to cut up the book. Just food for thought.

 

[Craig Ross]

I do use deskscan on xp no problem, I,m sorta stuck with scsi for a while because all my high end scanners
like Kodaks rsf 3540 scanner(arguably the best film scanner in the world) kodaks 8650 dye sub printer
is scsi my sony scanner and microtek are all scsi I've never had a problem with scsi I even hve 2 scsi cards
on the one machine. You say your 5P is not sharp? something I don't find perhaps settings are not right
and lets not confuse optical sharpness with artifical software sharpening alot of new scanners tend to do by default

 

[fotofreek]

Tayamada - I use a copy stand that was left over from my slr/bellows closeup photography days. that and a light box for light source plus a closeup lens on my digital camera works great for reproducing slides. I get the camera set up so that the 35 mm slide image almost completely fills the lcd screen on the camera. Much better resolution than even my 3200 dpi scanner set to transparency mode. I tape an "L" shaped piece of mat board to the light box so I can quickly set slides in position without looking into the viewfinder. As fast as I can clean the slides, put them in place, and snap the shutter. I actually use the remote shutter release beeper my camera came with to avoid camera shake. Wish it came with a cable release socket! If your camera's macro mode fills the lcd screen with the entire slide image you don't need the closeup lens. I have a super-macro as well, but at that magnification the front element of my lens is nearly against the slide and the image is vignetted. If you don't have a copy stand a good tripod that permits the camera to tip straight down and low (one of mine permits the post be reversed) will work. BTW, just for fun I have taken digital photos through a jewelers 8x loupe and they came out great.

 

[Nifty]

Fotofreek, can you take pictures of your photo setup and post them here?

 

[fotofreek]

Nifty - First pic is of a clamp-on copy stand. Adjustable up and down, and there is an additional extension tube to permit the camera to move up further. Second pic is the light box, camera with clip-on attachment to hold front element close-up lenses, and an "L" shaped piece of cardboard taped to the light box to quickly set slides in the correct position. Third pic is the setup ready to use. The camera is my first digital - an Olympus 490, 2.1 MP. I bought the closeup set of three lenses (+7 magnification) and a clip-on mounting device for the 490 and I am in the process of jerryrigging a mount for these lenses to put on my Olympus 750 4MP camera. I can then custom-set the white balance to the light box color temp and use a remote beeper to take the slide pic without any hand-induced camera shake. Once cleaned, the slides can be copied as fast as putting them on the light box against the alignment jig and pressing the shutter button.

 

[Nifty]

WOw.... that's simply amazing! The pictures really help out a LOT. Thanks.