I must admit I was surprised that just two years after I reviewed the Konica Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 the company would come out with an improved and substantially modified new model. As I noted in my report then, the 5400 was well ahead of the game in performance and value. So, what motivated Konica Minolta to make such a major change so soon? It is probably due to a number...

Epson has been a very active company over the last few years, offering an abundance of new printer models that I am sure has been both confusing and a welcome support for photographers doing digital darkroom work. One of the great benefits for many has been the introduction and refinement of pigment inks, which provided much greater print longevity than dye inks. This was...

Flat-bed scanners are remarkably popular and they outsell dedicated film scanners by a wide margin. That's understandable because flat-beds are affordable, simple to operate, and can produce excellent scans of photographic prints, art work, and even small objects. Many of the latest models are even more versatile, capable of scanning frames of film as well, using a...

This one is for everyone who is making the transition from film to digital and has file drawers filled with 35mm slides. It's also for teachers, clubs, and institutions who might want to convert 35mm slides to digital files for lectures, presentations, and archiving. Indeed, the Pacific Image Electronics PowerSlide 3600 is one of the most practical and easy-to-use tools that...

Writing about the latest and greatest products is exciting fun. When a really good product comes along with a price just about everyone can afford, that's much more than just fun--it is all too rare. In the past it seemed to be difficult to find a 35mm film scanner with good hardware performance, excellent software support, and a very modest price. But UMAX...

The first Canon letter-size photo printer to employ the ChromaPLUS eight-color ink system, the iP8500 is also the top of the line model in the PIXMA series. Replacing the Color Bubble Jet Photo Printer line, the newer machines boast some extra features, as well as greater speed and quality, thanks to new technology described in our sidebar. The iP8500 should be of greatest...

Photos © 2004, David B. Brooks, All Rights Reserved

From the earliest days of the digital darkroom it became progressively clear that the color ink jet would become the dominant printer for photographers. Dye sublimation printers still persist, but mostly as either snapshot or event photographer printers. The one digital printer that is familiar to office workers, but...