Direct Digitizing

[Pierre Zagatti]

Bart Hacobian wrote:
>
> There are a number of means available now to readily record and store
> images of leps for id purposes using digital media. They certainly make
> life easier in the short term. What concerns me, however, is that all forms
> of digital technology are changing so rapidly that images so obtained today
> will almost certainly be unreadable in 5-10 years time, both from a
> software and hardware viewpoint.

No, the digitized images i took 10 years ago are still readable, by old
and recent software. Normally all decent software include conversion filters
for images in most standard format.

> So, unless the recipient is prepared to
> make an ongoing commitment to regularly upgrade the software form of every
> image, as well as the digital storage medium, such images are likely to
> have fairly short useful lives. For an amateur collector, it may not be
> such a great idea to entrust those paratype images from a
> once-in-a-lifetime visit to some remote museum to such a form of record. At
> least humans come with eyes and the software to use them...I suspect there
> is still a place for photgraphs.
>
> Bart Hacobian
> --
> bhac at bigpond.com.au

Sure there is still a place, I've been a photographer for years ans I love it,
but I noticed recently that most of my slides from the early 70's (Kodak PCF 8
ASA
and, it a lesser extent, Kodachrome 50 ASA) showed a color shift toward
magenta.
The worst happened for my slide collection of orchids, the slide binder rested
during one year against a humid wall, and moisture and mold totally
destroyed the slides.
The digitized images behave differently. If you manage good (and long term)
savings
of your files, the shapes and colors will be the same 30 years after. At this
time we don't know really if our magnetic and optical media will survive for
tens of
years, but it seems that it will be more easy to manage savings of our pictures
every _5 years_ for example, than to keep unchanged an analogic argentic
surface.
Look at the old movies of the 40's to have an idea.

Cheers,

--
Pierre ZAGATTI
INRA Unite de Phytopharmacie et Mediateurs Chimiques
78026 Versailles Cedex
FRANCE
Tel: (33) 1 30 83 31 18
e-mail zagatti at versailles.inra.fr
http://www.jouy.inra.fr/papillon/