scanners for slides and digital camaras

[Heike Vibrans L]

Dear taxacomers,

I am working on a grant proposal and would like your
opinion on

a) good-quality scanners for slides. I am thinking of
scanning a collection of 12,000 slides, in the best
quality possible. So I suppose it would be worthwhile to
buy a scanner (vs. have the scans made). What are your
experiences on price vs. quality, technical problems, and
time investment per slide? I must add that it would
probably have to be a product of a world-wide company, as
it is often too complicated to buy products of small
foreign companies without local representation here in
Mexico.

b) digital camaras with an optical (e.i. reflex-type)
system. We have been working with a Nikon Coolpix 990 for
two years, with quite satisfactory results, in general.
However, there are two
disadvantages: the autofocus doesn't like diffuse
subjects, such as grass inflorescences, and it is very
difficult to work with the manual focus under field
conditions, because the small display is almost invisible
in the sun. Also, the cards the camara uses only permit
the storage of very few images in the high-quality mode.
Finally, we would like to be able to use a proper macro
lens.

I am also interested in the robustness of these camaras -
has anybody tried using them in the field for months? We
have had some mechanical and electronic trouble with our
Coolpix.

I am aware that we had threads on these subjects a while
back, but these products are change almost by the minute
...

Thanks and all the best,

Heike


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Dra. Heike Vibrans L.
Laboratorio de Etnobotánica
Especialidad de Botánica
Colegio de Postgraduados en Ciencias Agrícolas
km 35.5 carr. México-Texcoco
53230 Montecillo
Estado de México, Mexico

Tel. +52 (595) 95 20 200 Ext. 1335 (directo), 1331
(secretaria), 1330 (dirección)
Fax. +52 (595) 95 20 247
Correo electrónico: heike at colpos.colpos.mx (trabajo)
heikev at prodigy.net.mx (casa)
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