My dilemma: I am an amateur photographer (Canon EOS 620) but shoot a good deal of family activiites (indoor and out). I am pretty compulsive about cataloguing these prints as they come back, 4x6 glossy and appreciate that quality of resolution that one gets with these. At the same time, i realize that digital capabilities are a world that my kids and I wish to explore given their computer facility and the project activity for school.

So: do I purchase a digital still (I have pretty much decided on the Oly 400Z if I do this route), or continue to shoot with my Canon, and then add the flexibility of digital manipulation by purchasing something like the HP Photosmart scanner at $299 with rebate. (I will likely get a new printer to replace my wonderful but "obsolete" HP DeskJet 855Cse for color printing of photos no matter what I do).

Another fly in the ointment. I have also seen the HP ScanJet 6200CX which would give me flatbed capability which would offer great all purpose versatility (beyond photography issues), still allow prints to be scanned (admittedly not the same as negs/slides but better on prints thatn the HP Photosmart based on dpi resolution for prints).

Now, I know that a digital still is more flexible and that the wait time for scanning is cumbersome. I also hear however that even a scanned flatbed print (good quality shot) will look better than a megapixel shot.

Hookup is another issue. I have an NEC Ready 9765 Pentium II 266 unit, 32X CM-ROM, 32 RAM and 7GIG harddrive. I had a hell of time with the IRQ conflicts just addoing my 3COM palmpilot and dread having that happen again with the Photosmart unit, let alone having to open up the back of the tower to put in the supplied card (though one poster tells me the instructions are easy and I need not panic). The Scanjet unit has the USB connection which is appealing. The Oly 400Z has the included floppy adapter for the SmartCARD storage memory which is also nice (I know, compact flash is winning the war- so what - in two years, I will be buying something new anyway).

SO: In essence, I prefer the standard photoprints, but I want my cake and eat it too, don't I?? Perhaps a combination of Oly 400Z and a scanner might help me out of this dilemma. But I would certainly value the feedback from this enlightened group- and certainly hope not to be bothering anyone else with whom I may have already posted to date. JLL

-- Jeffrey Lenow, MD, JD (mlenow@aol.com), December 13, 1998

Answers

Jeffrey-

I can well understand your confusion - It seems you're trying to meet 3 or 4 different needs all at once!

If you're looking for scans of photos for school projects, a flatbed is fine. Likewise the digital camera. If you're looking to do "serious" photo work, there's no substitute for a film scanner. The PhotoSmart is nice because it does both prints and film and has good quality to boot, but I'm sympathetic to your concerns about IRQs, etc. One thought: If you know enough to tell ISA from PCI ports, can look in the case and determine that you have no ISA cards installed (maybe a 50-50 proposition), then the likelihood of major IRQ problems is greatly reduced, since the IRQs for PCI and ISA are generally allocated separately. If you could get the PhotoSmart to work that would be my first choice. (Plus of course the Oly D400! :-)

One thought on USB scanners: If you have Windows 98, and built-in USB ports, you'll be fine. If you're running Win '95 though, forget about USB - it's guaranteed to be more hassle than its worth.

Final thought on digital and school projects: Are you comfortable with the kids running around with $800 of digicam? - Just a thought: Mine are very responsible, but I don't know that I'd want to saddle them with the emotional burden of being responsible for something expensive enough to significantly dent Dad's wallet if it got dropped/broken.

Anyone else out there have specific recommendations for Jeffrey? (Maybe been in the same situation yourself?) - Thanks!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), December 15, 1998.

12/16/98

Update: I ordered my Oly 400Z and P300 printer from Olympus (dye sublimation- $100 rebate for buying both), an extra pack of photo paper with ribbon from NECX Monday afternoon12/14/98 and received today. We have not had time to do much save for a few pix which seem great. Hope to have read it all tomorrow and take some pix at different qualities and print a few on the dedicated printer. NECX looks like a great company to deal with- and State Street Direct was very professional as well. They were honest enough to tell me thta they did not have stock but expected it. I had already ordered from NECX when I got an email from State Street telling me that they just got word of 75 Oly's coming in the next day with some 45 back ordered, but it was too late. Nonetheless, they were very professional and look like yet another company I will do business with over time.

Wanted to thank posters who helped me reach a decision. I am also going to buy a scanner- decided that I want the versatilty of the digital camera as well as still using my regular Canon EOS 620. I will likely go with the HP Photosmart. The reason I bought the dedicated Oly printer is due to the fact that I wanted the very highest resolution print I could get (the 4 z 5.5 inch paper that it comes with is fine as I usually get 4x6 prints for traditional developing). the paper is glossy and supposedly will be as good as regular photo- worth the risk since the price was $384 (really $284 with the rebate I will get). In addition, you can hook the camera direct to the printer and bypass the computer, but computer is also a viable route. This way, I was able to keep my wonderful HP DeskJet 855Cse, which has first generation photo quality, but not up to the standards of the newer models or the Epsons. However, the dedicated printer supposedly will outperform the best photoprinters out there. The photosmart scanner will allow me to scan older negs from my other photos- I get the best of all worlds in the long run. Will keep you posted as I learn what the heck I am doing while trying not to break anything! Happy and health holidays to all. Jeff Lenow, MD, JD

-- Jeffrey L. Lenow (mlenow@aol.com), December 16, 1998.