Apologies friends if this has been covered before. I searched the forum and couldn't find exactly what I was after, and of everyone on here, I assume you guys would be the ones in the know.
Recently, many of the labs in town have traded in their older printing/scanning systems for "Dry Lab" technology, which includes ink-based printing. Now, regardless of the merit of said printing technology, my concern is with the scanning. With the new equipment came new software and a new operator's desk/scanning unit, which produces absolutely abhorrent amounts of noise when scanning negatives, and reduces soft gradual tones to pixelated mush. So suffice it to say, I can shoot and develop my negatives, but cannot get them turned into digital files.
I'm narrowing down options for scanning machines. I've pored over testing examples, crops, resolution charts, etc for weeks now. The cheapest option with halfway decent quality seems to be a CanoScan 8800F. Not great, but livable, and still better than what I get at local labs. A much better option looks like the Epson V700, not only in physical specs (two lenses and 6400dpi, anyone?), but also in supplied software (it comes with SilverFast, which I'm told is a much better tool than the included EpsonScan, or CanoScan if we're talking about the Canon). The Canon can be had for around $200, the Epson will be $350 more. I've also kept an eye out, and almost had the chance to buy, a dedicated film scanner, but suffice it to say I've just about given up on that elusive dream. New machines are tremendously expensive, used machines are of questionable history and do not lend themselves well to shipping, and Nikon isn't listing the Coolscan 5000 on their website anymore, only the 9000, and the 5000 was the only one that could have possibly ever been in my price range with a lot of scrimping, saving, and patience.
I was wondering if anyone could offer guidance on the techniques they use, or some examples. I've been around the internet looking for examples, but couldn't find all that much. Also, does anyone have any experience with SilverFast, and does it make THAT much of a difference? Also, as an aside, I'm working with an iMac G4 at present, and an iBook field machine, both of which are on in years and lack USB2.0. Anyone happen to know if the Canon works with USB1.1? I've been able to pretty much guarantee that the Epson will do this, based on it's age and OS support.
Thanks in advance everyone for your help.
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