RE: filmscanners: LED Illumination for Film Scanners

["Austin Franklin" <darkroom@ix.netcom.com>]

> >LEDs have been around for a very long time, and they are reasonably
> >inexpensive, as well as very easy to control.  I am sure that if this was
> >such a great idea, and the implementation worked near as well as you
> >believe, it would have been done some 15-20 years ago as a commercial
> >venture, but, alas, it wasn't.
>
>
> By the same logic, Austin -- Nikon has been using LEDs
> as illuminants in scanners for several years now, yet
> you seem convinced that there's something fundamentally
> wrong with this strategy.

No, not for a scanner, for an enlarger!  I don't know whether they are a
good or bad idea for a scanner, but I do know that for B&W, I would rather
be using a ND filter, or something with that wavelength.  I haven't really
done the research yet, but I have some suspicion about using RGB for B&W,
that it isn't up to snuff.

> Use your imagination, Austin. <g> Is it possible that
> some engineer at Kodak or Nikon has thought of a
> trick with LEDs that hasn't occurred to us yet??
> Though I do share your curiosity on just how that
> trick works... maybe a patent search could help here.

I don't have a problem with a 1d array of LEDs for a scanner, since the
scanner CAN adjust for uneven illumination, but an enlarger can't.  That's
what I've been talking about...though, as you, I would like to know more
about the use in a scanner.