Scanner

[Steve T]

Hi, I have an epson stylus photo R300 printer and at the time, I bought an epson perfection 1670 photo scanner.
Will this scanner be any good for scanning negatives to digital if I develop my own film or should I look out for a better scanner? I'm just about to take the plunge and buy all the kit for developing at home so any tips on that would be welcome as well.

Cheers

Steve.

 

[Strapps]

From reading the spec, the scanner comes with holders for 35mm film so as long as you're not planning to jump into medium format then you'll probably get some decent scans, good enough for online though maybe lacking a little if you wanted to print them. Best thing to do is give it a go before spending any more, assuming you don't have any problems with drivers or connecting it to your PC.

Have a read of the stickied threads in this forum as they provide plenty of advice on developing B&W. If you're anything like me, you'll be slightly disappointed that there isn't more to the process than there actually is - I was looking forward to being a mad scientist, cackling as I measured out my potions surrounding by blinking lights and bubbling beakers but in reality it's incredibly straightforward and a hunchback assistant is not required. Though one can come in handy if you want to watch telly because you can get them to do the inversions.

 

[Steve T]

I've realy got the bug Dean, even got a tape of the mission impossible theme tune to play whilst i dabble in the dark

 

[Strapps]

... whilst i dabble in the dark

Ooo-er, missus, etc.

This is one of the things I mean by being disappointed about how simple it is. The only part of the process which requires complete darkness is loading the film onto the reels and getting it into the tank. You don't need complete darkness for printing as you'll have a safe light. (This applies to B&W, I don't know about colour).

It can be a little tricky getting the film on to the reels the first couple of times, might be an idea to sacrifice a roll of PoundLand's finest to get the hang of it outside the bag so you can see what you're doing rather than going straight in. For 35mm, I'll trim the end of the film and get it started on the reel before putting everything into the changing bag, makes it much easier and that first strip of film is u/s anyway as that's what you stretch over to load the camera (results may vary if you're using a small compact such as a mju or similar).

 

[excalibur2]

Well I don't know the Epsons before about 2400, but I would think that any old Epson scanner is good enough for posting on the web, emails etc or 6X4" print