The good folks at NASA accidentally erased the original tapes of the moon landing. As a paranoid photographer when it comes to data storage, this story makes me cringe!
It's happening all over the world. The old 3/4" and 1" tapes are headed for landfills, not just re-use as in the case of NASA. Bulky, expensive to store, and playback tech is disappearing. Disposal is being done almost without regard for content. It takes time and money just to store the tapes, much less review what's on them and transfer content to contemporary media.
Budget cut? Dump the tape.
How's your slide scanner working, BTW?
I just fired up mine preparatory for scanning thousands of slides. Deadernadoornail.
I had an awful time getting my Nikon Coolscan 4000 scanner working with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard). Even with scanner software version 4.0.2, it's flakey as a dandruff commercial. Nikon says,
While complete support for Intel Macs has not been announced, we are able to run version 4.0.2 successfully on our test Intel-Mac systems without issues. Install v4.0.0 first, then the v4.0.2 update before running Nikon Scan. Please allow a slightly longer than usual install time.
If you're having problems with a Coolscan 4000, you might want to try Vuescan. It's very capable scanner software and works with a variety of scanners, yet only costs $40 for the standard edition and $80 for the pro edition. The pro edition lets you create raw scanfiles, use ICC profiles and IT8 color calibration.
Good to know if works with the 4000, Dave. I've been a Viewscan user from just about Day One and love it. And yeah Philip, all that was on a Mac. Aside from the hit in the pocket, losing my old LS-2000 isn't looking like such a bad deal.
Hank, I D/L'd VueScan 8.2.19 last night and will test it on the CoolScan 4000LS tonight or tomorrow. I'll post the results here, although probably in a separate thread.
I did run it on my Canon 8800 flatbed last night, scanning still more antique auto photos for my wife. VueScan is far superior to the lame, native Canon software. Ironically, it creates a better image than Canon's own product...
I've yet to hook my coolscan V ED up to my new mac (switched platforms lately) so I hope I'm not in for disappointment. Forgive my ignorance about the scanning software but if you scan directly from PS using the Twain option under the import menu I'm assuming you still need to install scanning software of some sort either Nikon or Vuescan, true?
In this case, it seems that NASA made a big blunder.
In the general sense, its called data rot and its a serious issue for those in the business of digital archiving. OIder technologies become obsolete. Hardware designs become obsolete (ie IDE hard drives). Power supplies might not be available. Some sort of conversion is required and of course there is usually loss at each step. For all that is good about digital, there are serious negative consequences. 30 years really isn't all that long when Moore's Law is in play.
Just my take on it.
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your LS-4000. I've got one and love it, but dread the day if my 32bit XP system croaks. Nikon has not made a x64 Windows driver for it.
....if you scan directly from PS using the Twain option under the import menu I'm assuming you still need to install scanning software of some sort either Nikon or Vuescan, true?
That's correct.
And another thumbs up for VueScan.
Discussion
10 repliesThe good folks at NASA accidentally erased the original tapes of the moon landing. As a paranoid photographer when it comes to data storage, this story makes me cringe!
Budget cut? Dump the tape.
How's your slide scanner working, BTW?
I just fired up mine preparatory for scanning thousands of slides. Deadernadoornail.
I had an awful time getting my Nikon Coolscan 4000 scanner working with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard). Even with scanner software version 4.0.2, it's flakey as a dandruff commercial. Nikon says,
It's a problem.
Dave
Thanks to all for the unanticipated feedback!
I did run it on my Canon 8800 flatbed last night, scanning still more antique auto photos for my wife. VueScan is far superior to the lame, native Canon software. Ironically, it creates a better image than Canon's own product...
In the general sense, its called data rot and its a serious issue for those in the business of digital archiving. OIder technologies become obsolete. Hardware designs become obsolete (ie IDE hard drives). Power supplies might not be available. Some sort of conversion is required and of course there is usually loss at each step. For all that is good about digital, there are serious negative consequences. 30 years really isn't all that long when Moore's Law is in play.
Just my take on it.
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your LS-4000. I've got one and love it, but dread the day if my 32bit XP system croaks. Nikon has not made a x64 Windows driver for it.
That's correct.
And another thumbs up for VueScan.