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Color query
Debbie Grossman’s article, “Restoration Hardware” (“Digital Toobox,” October 2005) shows a Color Restoration box in the Epson Perfection 4870 scanner’s control screen. I can’t find a similar feature on my Epson Perfection 3200. Any advice?
Emanuel J. Rubin
via e-mail
Unfortunately, the Epson 3200 doesn’t do color restoration. One solution is to upgrade. But if you’re not ready to go shopping, try Kodak’s Digital ROC Plug-In ($50 direct). It automatically corrects most color-faded images, scanned or otherwise. If you’re not quite satisfied with its results, you can make fine adjustments to perfect the tone. Download it at www.asf.com.
Contax kaput?
A sales clerk in a local camera store told me that Kyocera has discontinued manufacturing the Contax line of cameras. However, the Contax USA web site (www.contaxusa.com) shows various Contax cameras, with no hint that the line is being discontinued. What’s up?
Lew Miller
via e-mail
Kyocera announced in May 2005 that it was discontinuing production of all film and digital cameras under the Contax name, and that the marque would revert to Carl Zeiss, the original licensor. At the present time, it’s uncertain whether future cameras will bear the Contax name. Any Contax cameras sold in stores or from the Internet represent the dwindling number still in the sales pipeline.
The inkjet set
I normally refill my spent inkjet cartridges with black, magenta, yellow, and cyan ink from a refill kit. Now I notice that refill kits include a couple of bottles of “photo” ink in addition to “inkjet” ink. What’s the difference, and can I use photo ink in my inkjet cartridges?
Jordan Goldman
via e-mail
Look at it this way—calling copier paper “fiber-based photo bond” doesn’t make it good for printing pictures. The same goes for low-buck refill-kit ink. Sure, it’s a lot cheaper, but there are far too many variables to expect a third-party ink to work in all printers. Without knowing what, exactly, is in this “photo” ink, let the buyer beware.
Exposure woes
I recently bought a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, and I’ve found that when I use it in bright light, in full auto mode, it tends to overexpose sky and underexpose the main subject area in the foreground. Am I too impatient with learning a new skill, or could there be a problem with the camera?
Alan Beards
via e-mail
When shooting a high-contrast scene that contains both the sky and a subject in the foreground, use the partial (9%) meter to get the best exposure on your subject. Then add a graduated neutral-density filter to tame the bright sky, or shoot in RAW mode to capture the widest dynamic range. Back at your computer, tweak the image with your RAW conversion software or in Adobe Photoshop to get detail in both the highlight and shadow areas.
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