What kind of name is Maui4??

Anyway, I use a Visioneer 6100 scanner.  It is cheap (less than $150 I
believe), simple to use, and produces great images.  I was pointed to
this machine by Bill Frank and after looking at the images on the
Jacksonville Shell Club web page I decided he probably had it right.
For the best image for most shells, I wait until dark and scan the shell
with the cover off of the scanner (also learned from Bill).  You can do
this during the day and the result will be close - but no cigar.  Next,
for some shells (very dark) I either leave the cover on or cover them
with a piece of construction paper.  The one problem with the scanner is
when you want the dorsal surface and the shell keeps rolling over.  I
use the paper to hold them or even a piece of tape -- and once I just
held the darn thing in place because I could not get it to hold still.
If I use tape or my hand, then I have to go back with a graphics program
like Corel Photocopy or Paintshop and clean out the image (take away my
hand).

I have found that my scanner will produce acceptable images of shells
down to 10mm or so.  The problem is if you want them on a web site,
rather than your own hard drive, you need to reduce the memory used
which also reduces the fidelity of the image.

If shells are what you want to get images of, I recommend the scanner --
about 1/6 of the price of a cheap digital camera.  In a couple of years
I would imagine digital cameras will be better and cheaper.  Then I may
try one out.

Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA