Hi,

I planning to go fo the digital Pic. Can somebody tell me which one to choose, a HP PhotoSmart photo scanner and Epson Printer 750 or Digital Camera like Nikon Coolpix 950/Olympus c2000.??????

Apreciate if you can reply my mail Thanks!

Cheers, KMC ginaman@cyberway.com.sg

-- Chan Ken Man (ginaman@cyberway.com.sg), July 15, 1999

Answers

The tools don't compare Chan. What do you want to create? If you want to take pictures of the family it'll be mighty annoying chasing the kids around with a scanner pressing their little faces against the glass while trying to get a smile...
On the other hand it will be equally disapointing to use a digital camera to take pictures of pictures and expect them to blow up to 8 X 10.
The HP is great for scanning slides and negatives. If you don't plan to scan pictures above 5 X 7 the Photosmart scanner is absolutely all you need. It does very well with slides, negatives and pictures (up to 5 X 7).
The Epson will print beautiful pictures - you might consider the Epson 1200 if you are really interested in printing Photos - it's the latest generation and the price/performance is spectacular. Please don't expect Cibachrome quality - but the results can be awesome.
Now for family and friend pictures either the Nikon or the Oly are great choices. Don't think that the camera can do a comparable job to a scanner. Even on a well equipped copy stand it will turn out results far below that of even the most basic scanner.
Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), July 15, 1999.

Chan:

As a general rule, whether or not to start with a digital image (IE, using a digital camera) depends on how picky you are about quality. If you want the highest quality image, its my opinion there is no choice but to go with an SLR that will give you 35mm negatives for scanning. If you are looking for convenience and snapshot quality or slightly better with higher end cameras, there are certainly good arguments for going digital (namely, saving the cost of processing.)

I also would urge you to consider Epson's 1200 printer, or if you are on a budget, the HP PhotoSmart is an excellent choice as well.

-- Jeffrey Sevier (jsevier@one.net), July 29, 1999.