Microtek ArtixScan 1100 review

All three scanners support a 42-bit colour depth, meaning 14-bits per colour channel, per pixel. In practice, you can use this additional depth to maximise the breadth of tonal ranges captured in a standard 24-bit destination scan, or use software controls to make a raw 42-bit capture which can then be sent to Adobe Photoshop in 16-bit per colour mode.

Associated with colour depth is 'dynamic range' or 'optical density'. Generally speaking, this refers to the ability of a scanner's CCDs to perceive tiny tonal variances in dark areas. The Agfa and Microtek scanners are rated at an impressive 3.7D, while the Umax product is rated 3.4D. However, at the end of the day dynamic range is determined by the makeup of the original scanning image. A photographic print, for example, can't produce enough spectral reflectivity to reach past 2D no matter how sensitive the scanner is. Dynamic range, therefore, is only really relevant when scanning transparencies, which backs up my view that the Agfa and Microtek devices are better geared towards this kind of task.

Methods of capture

Despite its distinctive blue casing, the Umax PowerLook 2100XL is relatively conventional in make-up. All originals, whether reflectives or transparencies, are placed face-down on the large glass plate and the lid closed during scanning. The lid contains a second lamp which shines from above the plate when scanning transparencies. It's unusual only in employing a new moving mirror structure which extends the path of the scanning system and allows the use of lenses with a longer focus, thereby improving image quality. Umax is likely to introduce this system in new releases of its professional product range.

The Agfa DuoScan HiD and Microtek ArtixScan 1100 employ a different structure known as twin-plate. This eschews the conventional transparency adaptor lid-with-lamp in favour of a transparency scanning plate actually inside the main body of the unit. You still place reflective originals on the top glass plate and lower a lid to keep them in place, but transparencies are treated differently. These are mounted in special holders, or arranged loosely on a plain glass plate, which can then be inserted into a horizontal slot at the front of the box. Since the plates are entirely separate, you can open the lid and rearrange your reflective artwork while transparency scanning is taking place, and vice versa.

Mounting slides, negatives and general transparencies into special guides sounds taxing, but once you see the results it all begins to make sense. If nothing else, twin-plate systems effectively remove the glass sheet from flatbed transparency scanning, so minimising problems caused by trapped dust and Newton rings.

In other words, the Agfa and Microtek scanners achieve a purer capture with the minimum of objects between original and lens. The Umax scanner makes very good transparency scans too, but not quite as impressive as the other two.

Simply put, the sheer size of the Umax's A3 scanning plate means you can lay down more than a couple of dozen slides in one go and set up a batch routine to scan each one individually but automatically.

The bundled benefits

Batch capture is a key feature of scanning software at this level, and is supported by Agfa's FotoLook, Microtek's ScanWizard Pro and Umax's MagicScan. These utilities offer extensive control over scans, including colour correction based on pre-scans, but they're not themselves intended as advanced image-enhancement applications. For this reason, Microtek bundles a copy of Lasersoft SilverFast which offers superior pre-scanning and correction tools, including selective unsharp masking previews.