Re: Misc.: Scanners vs. Digital Cameras for Capturing Gel Images

From: Steven Seeholzer (sh_seeholzer@FCCC.edu)
Date: Thu Jan 04 2001 - 08:57:52 EST

Hello All,

I tried to use a Nikon Coolpix 800 digital camera in many ways to capture gel
images (coomassie and silver stain) with very poor results. I bought an Epson
Expression 1600 with transparency unit and am VERY pleased with its
performance. I evaluated several commercial gel imaging units and found the
Epson scanner to do as well or better at a much lower price. The scanner is
also easy to use. The downside is that it is not set up for doing fluorescence
but I am working on that. We store our data as color tiffs. Most 2D gel
software requires greyscale images which we create by converting the color
images using Photoshop or PaintshopPro. PDQuest software had problems working
with our greyscale files. Phoretix software, which we purchased, works fine.

Regards,

Steve...

"Bleibaum, Janice {Mass~Palo Alto}" wrote:

> > Dear List,
> >
> > We would like to know if anyone has tried using a digital camera for
> > capturing gel images. We have been using a flatbed scanner equipped to
> > handle transparent images (transmissive light rather than merely
> > reflective light) but not all the images captured with the scanner have
> > been of the quality we would like. Specifically, we see spots in our gels
> > that the scanner does not always record. If you are using a digital
> > camera, we would like answers to the following questions:
> >
> > Which model?
> > If you switched from a scanner, why did you switch? How much improvement
> > in image quality do you see?
> > What stain are you using? (We've been using colloidal Coomassie blue.)
> > What format are using for the captured image? (We've been recording
> > images as .tif files from the scanner.)
> > Do you import the captured image into a gel analysis program such as
> > Melanie or Imagemaster? Any problems with file formats?
> >
> > Any other comments which come to mind on this issue are welcome.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> >
> > Janice Bleibaum
> >
> > Janice Bleibaum
> > Roche Bioscience
> > Protein Sequencing and Proteomics
> > 3401 Hillview Ave.
> > M/S S3-1
> > Palo Alto CA 94304
> > (650)852-1639
> > janice.bleibaum@roche.com
> > 

--
Steven H. Seeholzer, Ph.D.
ICR Staff Scientist
Fox Chase Cancer Center
7701 Burholme Avenue
Philadelphia  PA  19111

voice:    (215) 728-1111
fax:        (215) 728-3574
email:    sh_seeholzer@fccc.edu

trapper

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