Hi gang:
I recently acquired a 40 mm f/2 lens. No, not the Zuiko! It's a 40 mm
f/2 Minolta Rokkor, in the Leica M mount. This is one of those rare
occasions when the lens for a Leica costs less than the lens for an
Olympus!
You know how when you use a lens on your OM that is not a Zuiko and
you wish it was. Well, even more so with a Minolta on an M3.
Anyway, I had planned to buy a Leica CL to go with this lens, and had
budgeted the funds to look for one. Now, the Polaroid scanner is
available for about the same money - what to do?
I could use the lens on my Leica M3, but it triggers the 50 mm
framelines, so more will be in the picture than I composed. Also, the
M3 has no meter, and I was looking forward to a built-in meter. See the
fun you miss out on when you use a SLR?
You could push the frame selector for 35mm on the Leica by hand to
get an idea. Much closer to 40mm than 50mm. How about an MR meter
and a used Leica 35mm.
We have a "farmer's market" here every Saturday. People bring in
produce, kitten and puppies to be adopted, homemade jams and jellies,
wood-working items, etc. Great opportunities for candid shots, hence
the desire for a small inconspicuous camera.
The Polaroid would also obviously be useful for all of my 35 mm work. I
like the fact that it has a SCSI interface, since I would be using it on
an IBM engineering workstation running Windows NT. NT (unfortunately)
does not support USB, so I would be looking at an OS upgrade to use a
USB-based scanner. Will they scanner be obsolete junk in two years?
Will Polaroid be in business if I need support?
Here is a review of a Polaroid 4000dpi scanner compared to a pro
$10,000 Imacon scanner with only small differences in quality.
http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.lyons/ss120/ss120_b.htm
You can download the complete scans and look at them in Photoshop. I
think that probably the point of diminishing returns has been
reached. Small improvements may be made in scanner quality, but
slowly and expensively.
So, what do you think guys? Leica or Polaroid?
Bill Stanke
Only you can answer this. The scanner will give you major new
capability. A Stylis Epic for $79 will give you images with its F2.8
35 mm lens that will probably be superior to the Minolta's in a
smaller package, with spot metering to boot.
--
Winsor Crosby
Long Beach, California
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