I am interested in archiving my photographic family history. My wife and I have many photographs since she is a good amatuer photographer. Most of our collection has both negatives and prints. We also have some old family photos without negatives. I also need a scanner for archiving news and magazine clippings etc. Since our budget is relatively small I am interested in a flatbed that also scans negatives and slides. The Microtek Scanmaker 5 and the AGFA Duoscan have similar attributes and prices but I cannot find a review of either of them any where. I may also consider the AGFA Duoscan T2500. I hope someone can help with either pointers to reviews of these products or personal experiences.

Thanks for your time.

Bob Mauge

-- Bob Mauge (matrics@ibm.net), July 23, 1999

Answers

I recently purchased the Umax Powerlook III scanner for archiving family photographs and have been happy with the output it does on prints. The quality that it gives from my glass negatives, slides, and medium-format film is good. 35mm film strips have given me mixed results but a lot of it has to do to the fact that the scanner didn't come with a film holder for 35mm film strips and I haven't taken the time to look for a film holder for it. I got the version that lacked in software since I already had most of the software that I needed and paid $990 for the scanner with shipping. I was also just reading about the Powercolor software that they just released for their professionals scanners and it looks good. I would look into the UMAX Powerlook III as an option, its cheaper than both the Scanmaker 5 and AGFA Duoscan's and this new Powercolor software could make it really nice. I know that they are planning on retailing the Powerlook III with the Powercolor Photo/Prepress software bundle at $2195 but you can find it cheaper.

-- Thomas (RipclawT@aol.com), July 24, 1999.