Negatives & Scanning - opinions or experience...

Stunt

Stunt

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John
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To scan or not to scan ......
A friend of mine was scanning his negatives and old family transparencies into his PC when I visited earlier this month. It seemed to be taking forever to do the scanning, and he was using a flatbed scanner with some sort of framing device which looked awkward and time-consuming. That made me wonder if there is another way of digitally recording old analogue (?) images, because my family and I have hundreds (if not thousands) of old negatives and images that I'd like to save. I have seen various scanners on eBay, etc, but I don't fully understand the technical specifications - my biggest question is really, how good is the quality of the scanning ? Will the scanned image be of similar quality to an image printed commercially from the original negative ?
If anyone has any experience of these machines, I would be grateful of their opinion.
Many thanks
Stunt
 
Hi

I have a Minolta slide and neg scanner, the output is very good but it also takes an age.

Chris
 
Stunt,

I shoot film and scan negs for the coffeetable books I do for clients. While I normally prefer to let my lab scan my uncut negs, my scanner does nearly as good a job. I do my own scanning when I have a smaller job or when I am scanning individual cut negs (much more expensive to have the lab scan those.)

Just make sure you have a good scanner that's intended for scanning negs. Yes, it's time consuming, but the quality is quite good. Be sure to have an anti-static brush to remove as much dust as possible before scanning, as it's really annoying to have to do a ton of dust removal in photoshop afterward. I pay students to do that for me, I hate it so much. LOL.

- CJ
 
^^ I Agree^^ iv been scanning all my old negs.. and its taking ages.. you could try scanning at a lower res and it'll be faster.. i think 300DPI is ok?? im not good with the tech details, i played with mine till i got something which was workable, dont know what i did though!! lol..
 
fraggle101 said:
^^ I Agree^^ iv been scanning all my old negs.. and its taking ages.. you could try scanning at a lower res and it'll be faster.. i think 300DPI is ok?? im not good with the tech details, i played with mine till i got something which was workable, dont know what i did though!! lol..
Click to expand...

Totally depends on what you want to do with the scans. I'm in the process of scanning a bazillion (yes, a bazillion) negs for a book project. Because I need to be able to print them up to 10x10, I'm scanning at 1600 dpi. Scanning at 300 dpi will pretty much limit you to printing the same size as the neg, not much larger.

- CJ
 
ChewyUK has a Nikon coolscan V still for sale I think.

If you are scanning 35mm this is a very nice bit of kit. All my film is scanned on the one I have. All at 4000dpi which will give you 16 bit file (actually 14 bit) of about 120mb. :eek: :lol: 8 bit will halve that of course but the larger files allow for more post processing with less damage. :) Digital ICE also helps with dust and scratches on colour film as well.

Medium format scans very well on a decent flatbed with the right adaptors, but the 35mm is a bit ropey which is why I use the Coolscan.

As cjnicolai said, what you go for depends on what you want the scans for. :thinking:
 
I haven't found a flatbed "through glass" scanner that can match a dedicated film scanner, for anything really.
The latest epson V750 with fluid mount still doesn't quite get there for me.
Finding a decent dedicated film scanner for 35mm @ 4000dpi is easy, Medium format however is a whole new brain splattering experience.
A few of the 35mm ones have additional accessories that allow batch scanning, that would save time.
On the whole.....ere...wasn't there another thread exactly the same as this yesterday....anyway, on the whole I'd rather scan my own and have control over the final scans than send them out, unless they were to be drum scanned = expensive.
Whatever you use, it will be time consuming.

The other thread is here, nobodys added much to it though
 
Irritable_Rabbit said:
ChewyUK has a Nikon coolscan V still for sale I think.

If you are scanning 35mm this is a very nice bit of kit. All my film is scanned on the one I have. All at 4000dpi which will give you 16 bit file (actually 14 bit) of about 120mb. :eek: :lol: 8 bit will halve that of course but the larger files allow for more post processing with less damage. :) Digital ICE also helps with dust and scratches on colour film as well.

Medium format scans very well on a decent flatbed with the right adaptors, but the 35mm is a bit ropey which is why I use the Coolscan.

As cjnicolai said, what you go for depends on what you want the scans for. :thinking:
Click to expand...

I did have but sold it this weekend and currently just packing it all up to send on tomorrow.
I can wholeheartedly reconmmnend this scanner, gives MASSIVE file size and superb quality.
 
Many thanks to all who have replied - looks like I am going to have to find a Nikon Coolscan - but probably extend the mortgage first judging by prices. Alternatively, I may just leave all those negs in their quiet, dark place where they won't bother anyone....

Guid New Year to one and all !
 
Konica Minolta Dimage Scan VI is a cheap option and gives good quality. However if you are scanning in bulk, the lack of IR dust removal can be a time consuming issue.
 
Stunt said:
Many thanks to all who have replied - looks like I am going to have to find a Nikon Coolscan - but probably extend the mortgage first judging by prices. Alternatively, I may just leave all those negs in their quiet, dark place where they won't bother anyone....

Guid New Year to one and all !
Click to expand...


Kerso sells them;)
 
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