Product ReviewsScanners
Microtek's ArtixScan 120tf is an impressive, high-quality film scanner that will scan 35mm and medium format film sizes. Wrapped up in a metal shell it weighs a hefty 8kg and measures 504mm x 274mm x 142mm, so a big desk is needed. A great deal of thought has gone into its design. Two FireWire or two SCSI interfaces are sensibly provided, making it compatible with a big range of past, present and future Macs. Using the supplied FireWire cable, we tested it using Mac OS X 10.2. It is also possible to run it in Mac OS 9 via FireWire, or if you're using the SCSI interface, then compatibility starts at Mac OS 8.6. The 120tf will accept four mounted 35mm slides, 35mm strips (up to six images), plus medium format strips for popular sizes of 6 x 4.5cm, 6 x 6cm, 6 x 7cm, and 6 x 9cm. Line 'em up The film holder exits the rear as images are passed through, but the required clearance behind is not large. Its a touch noisy using a two-geared systems for moving and holding images in place. The first roughly positions for speed, the second for precise alignment. Its optical resolution of 4000 x 4000 ppi is good stuff, with a resolution of up to 1600 x 1600 also possible with interpolation. Add a maximum optical density of 4.2D for a wide tonal reproduction, and you can see it has the basics right. Important after this is the software, and Lasersoft Silverfast 6 Ai is included. It can be used as a standalone application, or opened from within
If you want step-by-step guidance, the included ScanPilot software is useful. It takes you through suggested stages of pre-scan, crop, gradation adjustment, setting a mid, black and white point, and further tonal adjustment. While these are automatically suggested, you can add or take away steps, and we added a histogram indication stage. These are only suggestions, and the full range of features when you want them are at your disposal. Both 35mm and 120mm IT8 slides are included for calibration - not something all scanners provide. But we had difficulty lining up images using 120mm film, so a batch would not fall between the gates of each frame exactly. There must be a better method, such as a sliding mask, positioned where needed. On your marks Controls have real flexibility. For example, the histogram can be shown as channels in individual RGB, CMYK or combinations. To get the best from dust and scratch removal, the key issue is time, as things will take longer than without this feature. Auto mode did a good job removing small and medium size marks, but ultimately you need to take control. When you do, there are some excellent tools for clearing up defects. It is best, though, to use this feature with moderation, then in your post production software apply some unsharp masking, because otherwise the feature will soften the image too much. Images are saved in a number of formats such as TIFF, JPEG, DCS or EPSF. Scan quality was very impressive, with faithful colour reproduction and good detail capture. Our only real complaint is that it was rather noisy in operation. Even at £1947, the Artixscan 120tf and its included software bundle is very good value. If you need a high-quality film scanner that can handle medium format, it's definitely recommended. But make sure you have the time to get the best out of it. By John Clements
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
