13 replies to this topic

[Baggles]

Hi all
 
I am about to embark on an unfilled ambition to process my own B&W films (cooking on gas now...). I don't have the space to create my own prints just yet, just wondering if anyone can recommend a good quality and reasonably price film scanner.

[TBonz]

I will be interested in this as well...At some point in the next couple of years, I want to go through my old negatives and scan them in.  I also have thousands of slides - mostly my Dad's that I hope to go through...

 

Have fun with the processing - it would definitely take me awhile to get back at it since its probably close to 30 years since I did my own darkroom stuff.  I basically took over a bathroom and it worked out pretty well.  Had a Bessler 23CII with the color head on it for printing...loved that enlarger...

[Baggles]

Thanks Sportz2Pix. When I eventually get into a home with enough space I'll be asking the question about enlargers too. Thanks for the tip!

[Tom Kauffman]

I have an "Epson Perfection V500 Photo" scanner which works great. It only does four slides at a time, but the D600 or D700 do more respectively. I scanned the old family slides last year and besides enjoying going down memory lane the scanner made the trip easier.. It does well with film negatives and prints too. Enjoy!

[dubiousone]

I've been looking at the Epson's; the V700 is a little out of my price range but the V600 can be had for under $200 and the specs look like they'd work for me. That will be what I end up with...someday!

[Tom Kauffman]

I think you will be pleased with the results. It is a nice feeling when you finally get those old "memories" cataloged and saved to digital before time destroys the color in the prints, positives or negatives. 

[Photodonn]

I have been using an ION Omni Scanner for awhile & love it. Scans film & slides @ 5mp $ runs about $80 @ Amazon.com.

[K-9]

Does your Ion only do 35mm?

[Photodonn]

K-9... Yes only 35mm

[Guy]

You can read reviews and tests of many film scanners (not all) at Scanner Info site. 

 

I have been scanning negatives for many years.  A couple of generalites on the subject include, the smaller the negative, the more expensive the scanner needs to be to achive best results.  Most, if not all, commodity flat bed scanners advertise way more resolution than they actually (optically) can scan.  They are advertising both interpolated dpi values (only scales the image up but does not scan in more detail) and what the scanning sensor is capable of but not the actual optical path of the scanner.

 

So looking at the test results on that site, you will see very few scanners actually yield better than around 2400dpi.   On a medium and large format negative, that is a good quality and yields a good size 300 dpi print.  But only so-so on 35mm negative.  But I guess that depends on your expectations. 

 

Scanning is a learned skill and for me, anyway, I can say I get way better results now after some years of doing it than in the first year of scanning.  Generally, you can take two approches to scanning. One is do all the adjustments of the contrast curve and sharpening in the scanning software and get your final results. Or you can scan with all that stuff turned off and scan to grab as much density off the negative as possible in a 48bit color or 16bit BW in the the widest gamut color space the software offers and adjuts the contrast curve and sharpening in the image editor. This is obviously slower but you have more fine control and can get great results.    If you have a color managed workflow from scanning to editing, you can output to the ProPhoto RGB color space with some scanning software (eg VueScan) and output a DNG file (partial implimentation of the DNG spec) which you can edit in Lightroom.  You are editing in the ProPhoto color space in Lightroom with your digital camera files, BTW.  Scanned images captured for max density will look flat and dull but will transform in the image editor really nice.

 

Here is an example of Medium Format BW scanned at true 4000dpi.  The results on a 16x20 print compare well to my 36MP digital camera and I compressed the highlights during development on my BW film to yeild way more DR than can ever be captured on my digital camera in a single shot.   

[Merco_61]

Flatbeds with film scanning capabilities seldom give really good results for prints.

If you have Firewire in your computer film scanners like the Nikon LS-40 or the Minoltas turn up cheaply (I have seen them for about $240 here in expensive Sweden.) sometimes. LS-50-s are quite a bit more expensive because they use USB.

The old Nikonscan software does not work with newer macs, but Vuescan is cheap.

I use a LS-4000 with Silverfast, but that is not cheap even used, now, over 15 years later...

 

/Peter

[Wolfeye]

I use two scanners, the Nikon Coolscan 5000 and a Canon 8800. With traditional B&W negatives you lose the ability to use the dust and scratch reduction features (typically referred to with terms lice ICE) but the scans will be ok if you are very careful to reduce dust before you scan. If my Coolscan 5000 ever breaks down I'll get the Epson V700. Good quality, but also one of the more expensive scanners out there. Since the current Canon equivalent to the 8800 is so cheap, I'd buy one of those first and see if it meets your needs. If not, return it and get the V700.

[nikdood17]

Another vote for the Epson V500 Photo scanner. I've sold art prints in art galleries based on 35mm and 120 film negs shot in the 1960s and 1970s and scanned on the V500. I even figured out how to scan 4x5 inch negatives with it. You flop the neg down like it is a photo print and scan it, then reverse the "colors." All my work scanned has been with b&w negs, so far.

I've got a shot from a 35mm neg of the Beatles at a secret press conference in Los Angeles for their first tour. I used a Nikon F and a Spiratone 105mm f2.5 Preset lens.

I had a Canon scanner and it worked real good but then it died. I think a belt inside the box slipped off the rail. Problem was, there's no way to get into the box without using a blowtorch and Canon would have nothing to do with it. So I flung the thing into the trash can and bought the Epson. Canon was great before it died, though.

[Jean-Paul]

I'm using a reproduction setup with my Z7ii as the scanner. Lens is a Pentax 100mm fixed focal macro lens attached to a Nikon bellows on a reproduction stand. I use a film holder by Valoi for 35mm and Medium format.