I'm a rank amateur who has amassed a lifetime of 35mm and 110 negatives that I would like to digitize. When I finally break open the wallet for a Nikon Coolscan they inform me they have gone the way of the Dodo. Bang for buck what are the best currently available film scanners? Are the Plustek Technology Inc scanners B&H carries any good? Thanks in advance for any advice.
I am so into hearing the answer for this as well. Not only do I have a ton of negs BUT more slides then I could even begin to count. Would love to get them scanned and on my hard drive.
the scanner i have is a hp scanjet g4050 and it will scan slides and neg. to the computer or to disk... i have done neg.. b & w and color, slides it will do 16 at one time.....negs have been 35mm and the old type 110 has been very good, have had it for a year.and i belive it was under 150 bucks
If you have more than a couple of rolls (and even if you only have a couple), I definitely recommend having it professionally done. I started in the photo biz as a film scanner, and I still send my film out to have it scanned. You can find pro 35mm scanning now for around $.30 a scan, which works out to be 500 frames for the same cost as that $150.00 scanner. Plus the pro machines will expose your film better, and they will give you dust free scans. Cleaning dust from scans is a pain in the ass, and old film tends to have a ton of dust.
I use an EPSON V500 PHOTO...has ICE system which helps remove dust and scratches....like it very much..... does a variety of neg sizes.....anyway you cut it...... it takes time and effort....if you want them done right...Good Luck
I would recommend looking at the Epson V750-M Pro as this will be my replacement for my Microtek scanner which is no longer made and not supported. Tom
I would agree with the epson boys. We don's scan very often anymore here in the camera dept where I work but they have always had good white balance, and are cheap.
OK here's an image from 1979...a slide I scanned on a used epson perfection 2660 photo scanner I bought off craigslist. the quality is very good but I had to reduce it to post. It'll do 4 at a time and is relatively fast. the main difficulty is as stated earlier....getting the dust off the slide. I use epson printers and scanners and enjoy the quality although the ink is expensive
What about for 120 / 220 formats? The only scanner I've heard of is a very expensive Nikon job that seems to go in and out of production. I really need to get some old artsy fartsy stuff digitized. I've got too much stuff to afford commercial scanning. Thanx, Gary
This thread might seem off topic, but I sure am glad to see it. I'm like Denise, I have a ton of old slides, many of which are car related, I'd like to get on my hard drive. wrayeugene49, have you ever considered adding a continuous ink supply system?
well If I ever got to a place where demand for my posters was adequate to demand it I sure would go to a bulk ink supply....recently I've considered puzzles whick would be done by an outside supplier.....but i do have many old photos I'd like to print and offer as stand alone works...like the one I posted from europe long long ago.
Now If you want to talk serious scans ....I bought a used Nikon Coolscan 2000 I think.....It did several hundred awesome slide scans before it quit working....I never thought I'd get such amazing results....files were 6 to 9 megs each and i printed one right from the file on my 24" epson printer and it was amazingly rich and clear....I found a repair person on e-bay but have yet to send it off....here's a sample but again reduced for posting. Also the chopper pics i posted on the friday art thread 2 weeks ago were done with the nikon....gotta get that unit fixed...!
I've scanned thousands of 35 mm negs and slides with my Nikon 4000. Much of it was way-OT stuff that couldn't go to a service. But adding in equipment costs and hours and hours and hours of time, I highly recommend taking "GreasyDave's" advice and send them out to a pro shop. Consistently high quality at a lower net cost. Check options for quality and have them scanned at the highest resolution. And, whether you do it yourself or send them out, don't forget to make multiple backups.
Interesting O/T thread. I am a professional photographer, I have switch to digital completely but I still have a nikon 9000 for 120/200 and 35mm and a microtech 9800 XL with a negative adapter for making contact sheets. I would recommend both of these for sure, but if I had to do it over I might go for an imacon. we had a bunch of them when I was in school and they are really good. also, a lot of people think that it is all in the hardware, but getting a good scan depends just as much on the software you are using. I used Silverfast for a long time, pretty user friendly. Hope that helps
I have an Epson Expression 1600...it's probably six years old by now but still works great. At the time I bought the scanner it was their better quality professional level unit...I am sure they have better/cheaper models now but I have been very happy with this one.
Boy, this is a tough one, isn't it? Like most of you, I've got lots of 35mm slides and b&w negs that I exposed in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. My old Carousel croaked, and constructing a darkroom isn't what I want to do. A photographer friend lent me her Coolscan9000, which she hadn't used in a couple of years. She wants to sell it, but I don't think I can commit the 2Gs (or more) she can get on ebay. So I am very interested in the other brands and models that have been suggested/recommended. Thanks for this thread! BS
I have an Epson Perfection 4180 at home that I have used to scan hundreds of negatives and slides. It works very well, but doesnt hold the 35mm negs very well. The negatives tend to curl over time, and it doesn't have a positive way to hold them down. (i was using scotch tape) So, I just ordered a Canon 8800F from Tiger Direct. Under $200.00 We will see if it is better. The reviews I have read are mostly good, which is more than I can say i've read about other models. I use my scanner everyday, even if only to scan receipts and such.
For me the problem is the shear volume of 30 years of medium and large format work. Not to mention the 'small' format E-6 and negs. I'll be checkingout the ones that were suggested in this post. r
For anyone having problems with their negatives curling you can just re-wash them. I posted some information on how to do this and keep your negatives relatively dust free on the Photographers Corner a while back. Here is the link : http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=4122 I use an Epson Perfection 4870 PHOTO for my scans, but they don't make this model anymore. Just make sure if you're buying any Epson scanner you purchase a photo specific one that way it will come with templates for scanning most film sizes. Another scanner that I also use is the Nikon coolscan it is an excellent scanner as has already been mentioned.
I just purchased a Innovative Technology ITNS-300. I spent 2 days trying to get the software loaded on my computer. Called their tech line and spent a good amout of time . Their answer for my issue was a bad USB cable. Put a new cable on, still nothing. Took the scanner back yesterday and got a replacement thinking maybe it's just a bad one. Same thing again, IM not vey happy. CD software loads but computer will not acknowledge any new hardware installed.
I had a Minolta DiMage film scanner for quite a few years and it was great, but when I went to Windows 7 it became a doorstop, if you know what I mean....... So I took a chance on a Canon CanoScan 8800F, for about $165 through Amazon.com..........I was skeptical about how well it could scan film, but I was very pleasantly surprised how well it did film as well as flatbed paper scanning........I would recommend it highly.......a big bang for the buck...... CB
I love mine....I think you will be very pleased at how well the film scanning function works, too........ CB
Epson Perfection 4490 PHOTO all the way! $129 bucks for an awesome flatbed scanner that will scan 120 (medium format) as well as 35mm and slides. I use mine daily. Also.. I highly recomend getting aftermarket scanning software (I use Vuescan and LOVE IT). I also threw out the plastic scanning trays (except the slide one) and replaced them with a sheet on non-reflective glass. I still get newton rings sometimes, but not very often. Wanna see some scans from my scanner? Every photo on my experimental page was scanned with my 4490: http://www.monstrosityfoto.com/experimental.html Feel free to ask any questions as I can talk film and film scanning all day. hc
I'm extremely pleased with my Epson printer so an Epson scanner peaks my interest. It certainly is a very fair price. How much was the Vuescan software?
Wow, thanks for the replies! I've actually looked at the epsons, canons, and been watching craigslist for an older coolscan or Dimage. I guess I should be adding imacon to the dream list. No input on the Plustek scanners? They are 7200 dpi but as cheap as they are I wonder what quality of optics, etc. you would be getting. I found an old envelope at my folks with some old slides I had never seen before. They were from 1955 of my entire extended family up at my great uncles cabin. They looked like they were taken yesterday.
Very good price... it's also a great photo and document scaner to boot... Vuescan is $40 here http://www.hamrick.com/ and there is a free trial as well. Worth every penny. I use it to customize and tweak my scans leaving very little (if any) Photoshop work post-scan. You can scan up to 4800dpi so if you ever want to make a billboard graphic, you're covered I highly recommend this scanner and scanning software. By the way, good seeing you (if only for a moment) at GNRS. Hope to see you in Austin in a couple of months... hc
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