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I took Robert's recommendation for Xena scanners...but you need a smartphone to buy one!


Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

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I had written Xena last week for info on their scanners via Robert's recommendation. Their website was impressive, in that it seemed towards being more open with information as opposed to Lasergraphics that is all closed doors. I asked a few, very, very basic questions.

Someone finally wrote back days later. (I guess it is their salesman.) So, I will give them credit for some type of timely reply, versus Lasergraphics, that never answered their email even after years of writing them. But, the big problem with Xena scanners is...you must own a smartphone to buy one!

I told the salesman I don't do much by phone. I got a cheap $85 a year Tracfone I keep in my car for emergencies. I never have it on. I told him there is no reliable Zoom here as the internet is bad. I'm all email. He couldn't seem to understand that. Numerous emails went back and forth with him refusing to send me any info via email.

Here is his final reply after all the email exchanges...


To:you Details
Dan:

You don’t seem to be serious about this.  My time is very valuable, and an email chain could go on for days and take hours to write and read with no results.  A 20 minute conversation can accomplish far more and determine immediately if Xena is in your interest or not.  If you you’re not willing to spend a few hundred dollars on a smart phone, then you would not be willing to spend the money on a Xena system, even though the cost is very competitive with other scanning systems. 

I wish you the best on your business…..Bub.

Regards,

Rennie

 

My original email is below and was very easy to answer with just a few lines. In fact, he wrote me probably 10 times the amount of text in emails refusing to send the info as he could have written by answering my original email request.


Hello,

I have some questions about your scanner. Does your base model scanner have a warped film gate for 16mm film? I would be using it for archival film scanning of 8mm and 16mm. A lot of the film I deal with is shrunken and warped with VS.

 Do you plan on making a smaller tabletop model scanner? 

 Are there any sample film scans online to view the image quality?

 Can you send me a PDF of the operating instructions / operating video to view?

 Best regards,

 Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

 Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Small Gauge Film Archive

 

Now...if I still had that lady patron that offered to buy my Archive a scanner...do you think I'd buy one from Xena after this treatment?

Let me give you another recent example...

I was interested in learning about the Phase One 150mp copy stand Camera / Cultural Heritage products. I wrote the company for info and pricing. I told them upfront it is for future use. The emails went back and forth similarly to those with Xena, asking for phone calls. Their last email said they would send the info via email. 

...Never got a thing from them and that was months ago. 

If you have a company and are interested in making money...don't run a shitty company where you can't even do simple business communications like this.

 

<><><><>

 

Cornered1973DanielD.TeoliJr..jpg

Woman in alley - Hollywood CA 1973

Selection from Peephole: Peering into the World of 1970's Hollywood and L.A. artist's book.

by D.D.Teoli Jr.

 

 

Edited by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.
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Companies that make specialized machines like LaserGraphics, Phase One DCS Arri etc. are pretty good at being able to tell real customers from people who will never buy anything.

They call me back, because I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment.

If you don't have a phone how are you going to run a business or buy a machine?

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Rennie is a one man band and very busy. It's hard to write e-mails back and forth. It's far easier to get on the phone for a few min when someone can be working at the same time they're talking. 

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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Daniel the Xena is not for you. My friend's one was/is up for sale (I don't even know if he sold it or not yet), but it's a very technical machine. It requires a DIY owner/operator, and that's not you. You need something simple to use/operate, that is reliable, handles warped film, and has easy do-it-yourself maintenance. The XENA is also very large and you have small format, you're better off with a smaller scanner designed for small formats like a Filmfabriek, or a Lasergraphics Archivist if you can buy one.

7 hours ago, Robert Houllahan said:

Companies that make specialized machines like LaserGraphics, Phase One DCS Arri etc. are pretty good at being able to tell real customers from people who will never buy anything.

Generally speaking that's true, but even for legitimate guys it can take persistence to get them to take you seriously. It took one of my friends many repeated attempts at contacting Lasergraphics before they started taking him seriously, and he's now spent over $100K on his scanner from LG. He didn't have an LLC at the time for example (he has one now though). Now his scanner is running non-stop and doing great business.

Edited by Dan Baxter
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If you need a small machine for 8/16 you should look at the “baby” Kinetta from Jeff Kreines its in the $35k range.

sorry to be sharp toned but even LaserGraphics is a fairly small company and other smaller scanner builders are even smaller. They don’t have staff like Mercedes so more concise communication is necessary. 

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Or honestly go waive $60k in LaserGraphics direction and get a Archivist, LG had worked out scanning for the non technically minded.
 

The machines just work and you don’t need to know CERN scientific Linux (Arriscan) or what the encoder count to perf ratio of your gate (Xena) or Suse Linux Cinfigs (DFT Spirit/Scannity) 

or go ask Jeff about the baby Kinetta if you don’t have or cannot get $60k he told me that machine is $35k with a 5K camera.

 

 

 

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On 9/26/2022 at 3:23 PM, Robert Houllahan said:

Companies that make specialized machines like LaserGraphics, Phase One DCS Arri etc. are pretty good at being able to tell real customers from people who will never buy anything.

They call me back, because I have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment.

If you don't have a phone how are you going to run a business or buy a machine?

 

I don't run a business, Robert. I run an open content Archive. I've run it like this for years. I got a phone in my car Robert. A cheap $85 a year Tracfone.  But as I said to him, I'm pretty much email. I'm not talking to you on a phone Robert. Never have. Yet we have communicated for some time.

Years ago, I wrote to a guy in 1998 in Inverness Scotland. He made Moniack Mead. It was the finest mead in the world. Made from caramelized heather honey. He had no email account. He only communicated by mail via a typewriter. Should I have written him off Robert? No email? Must not have been serious. 

All anyone has to do is Google my name or my Archive or do an image search of me Robert. That tells them how serious I am about my work. I never lie to people. I tell them up front the info is for future interest or reference.

Are rich people like you Robert, the only ones allow to study up options and learn?

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On 9/26/2022 at 10:35 PM, Tyler Purcell said:

Rennie is a one man band and very busy. It's hard to write e-mails back and forth. It's far easier to get on the phone for a few min when someone can be working at the same time they're talking. 

Does he build the machines or is he the salesman Tyler?

Right now, as I write this, I'm scanning the Crossdressing Beatnik 8mm film on my Retroscan on a split screen. I'm pretty busy as well. Just make no money at my busyness. 

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On 9/26/2022 at 10:43 PM, Dan Baxter said:

Daniel the Xena is not for you. My friend's one was/is up for sale (I don't even know if he sold it or not yet), but it's a very technical machine. It requires a DIY owner/operator, and that's not you. You need something simple to use/operate, that is reliable, handles warped film, and has easy do-it-yourself maintenance. The XENA is also very large and you have small format, you're better off with a smaller scanner designed for small formats like a Filmfabriek, or a Lasergraphics Archivist if you can buy one.

Generally speaking that's true, but even for legitimate guys it can take persistence to get them to take you seriously. It took one of my friends many repeated attempts at contacting Lasergraphics before they started taking him seriously, and he's now spent over $100K on his scanner from LG. He didn't have an LLC at the time for example (he has one now though). Now his scanner is running non-stop and doing great business.

 

Thanks for the info, Dan. Yes, it sounds like it is not for me. I like things as simple as possible. Cine' film work is just a small area I work in and I don't have the time or the knowledge for highly technical machines. 

I had settled on the HDS or an Archivist to order. I had a sponsor that was ready to buy one for the Archive. But things didn't work out and the sponsor eventually retracted the offer due to financial reasons on their part coupled with my indecision on ordering a scanner.

I am usually very fast to make decisions. But members have brought up audio issues with the HDS. And I've written many times about email issues I have had with Lasergraphics. As well as Tyler had said the HDS is not that easy a machine to use. After reading this feedback, I was not in a rush to buy a $50,000 paperweight and was trying to put in more study time.

I am happy for your friend!

Glad he found a scanner that works for him and is preserving history + he makes $$ at it! You can't beat that!! 

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On 9/26/2022 at 10:50 PM, Robert Houllahan said:

If you need a small machine for 8/16 you should look at the “baby” Kinetta from Jeff Kreines its in the $35k range.

sorry to be sharp toned but even LaserGraphics is a fairly small company and other smaller scanner builders are even smaller. They don’t have staff like Mercedes so more concise communication is necessary. 

My apologies if I was harsh in my earlier reply to you Robert.

http://www.kinetta.com/images/clipboard.jpg?crc=416629225

From what I recall I had written them years ago, but am not sure. If I did write them, I got no reply. I will give them another try.

 

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On 10/1/2022 at 11:53 PM, Tyler Purcell said:

I think it's a one man band. 

Similar to Jeff Krienes at Kinetta Rennie runs it and has other people build parts do wiring etc.

The Xena is "technical" but not as technical as running or installing an Arriscan or DFT Scannity or Spirit 4K it is fairly easy to use and I have had staff at Cinelab run Xena scans pretty easily. There is allot more under the hood control on the Xena in the GUI than there is on the ScanStation.

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