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Voyager

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Hi there! I think I'm coming back to film as I don't want to commit to the the never ending merry-go-round of digital camera bodies. While I think the digital darkroom is great the relentless march of technology that is required for cameras annoys me somewhat. I intend to shoot film and scan it (as well as archive some older stuff)

So I have dug out the wife's Contax G1 and my Ricoh GR1s that have not had any use for the past 8 or so years and they seem to be fine (I've also got a non-working Canon T90 outfit unless there is a fix for an apparently non-functioning shutter) and I'm looking at film scanners and looking for some advice as to what to get.

A flatbed (like an Epson V700 type thing) or a stand alone unit? I have seen a Plustek 7something or other that will scan to some huge resolution. Any advice pointers or warnings you can pass on?
 
Hiya:)
You might find that "the relentless march of technology" you mentioned exists for scanners just as much as it does for digital cameras! Whatever you get is going to be superseded (sp?) by a new model probably about 5 minutes after you buy it!!!:bang:
Having said that, I've heard the Epson V series is meant to be good at the moment.
 
Orby1 said:
You might find that "the relentless march of technology" you mentioned exists for scanners just as much as it does for digital cameras! Whatever you get is going to be superseded (sp?) by a new model probably about 5 minutes after you buy it!!!:bang:
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For sure. But I was looking at this a few years back and the kit was pretty decent back then. Even so I was ASTONISHED to see what the Plustek 7200 (now the 7500!) can apparently achieve. At 7200dpi you are going to get 300ish MB files from a 35mm frame! All for sub £300.

Apart from crashing my old computer that would be more than enough for me I'd think. I guess I'll be shooting (mostly) slide stock and if a picture is really good enough I'd probably rather get a Cibachrome (or similar) from the original than something spat from an Epson photo printer or messed up at a 'Boots' lab that the rest can be.

Love to hear from anyone who has used one of these Plustek things in real life.
Orby1 said:
Having said that, I've heard the Epson V series is meant to be good at the moment.
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They do look good to me too and they can take roll and sheet film too. There is also several Canon all for a very reasonable prince.

Any users out there?
 
Voyager said:
There is also several Canon all for a very reasonable prince.

Any users out there?
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Hi there,

I recently bought a Canon 8800F. I think I got it for £125 at Dabs.

I use it mainly to scan 35mm and 120 negs. I also occasionally scan colour prints.

The neg scans tend to be a little on the soft side. I think there is a company that will make a custom neg holder so you can raise the neg a bit and improve the sharpness. That said I usually sharpen after scan in Photoshop.

The neg scan at high res is slow. I tend to scan quickly at 300DPI to get a thumbnail before deciding which to scan at higher res. A bit like the old contact sheet - print procedure in the darkroom.

Scanning a 35mm negative at 4800 DPI takes 4-6 minutes.

HTH

Mark F
 
just started using an epson 4490 and i am very pleased with the results. so far i have been scanning old transparencies and b&w negs from the '80s and '90s and the results have been excellent...though due to the age of the colour stuff they have needed a bit of 'gimping' which i am also finding enjoyable :D

img028abc1.jpg


sheringham_fishing_boats_10_a.jpg
 
The Epson 4490 seems like the most popular scanner at the moment. It scans 35mm negatives, slides and also medium format and it's not too expensive :)
 
joxby said:
More reading material - The scanner thread
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Thanks for that.
icon14.gif


It does appear that modern flatbed scanners will do what I want at a price I'm willing to pay. After all, as long as I keep hold of the originals I'll always be able to rescan them in the future!

One other thought about my 'return' to shooting film and digital 'printing' is that some processing places offer scanning to CD as part of the service. Has anyone got good (or bad) experiences of these? Are they all much of a muchness or are there differences?
 
You want to try and keep the scanning to the minimum, both for the sake of your originals and your own sanity ;)

I've had plenty of bad experiences with High Street and mail order processors when I've been penny pinching. I'm sure one of them must've bunged the prints in a flatbed document scanner. Another could come up with the goods after a complaint, by which time they'd got dust on the negs. I think a tech probably took them home to do them. Even the recommended mail order lab I had settled on botched the last few films I sent them before getting sucked into this didgeridoo malarky. At the time, togs didn't think much of Boots cos they oversharpened.
 
Voyager said:
For sure. But I was looking at this a few years back and the kit was pretty decent back then. Even so I was ASTONISHED to see what the Plustek 7200 (now the 7500!) can apparently achieve. At 7200dpi you are going to get 300ish MB files from a 35mm frame! All for sub £300.
Click to expand...

What you have to remember is that just like digital cameras its not the size of the output but the quality that counts and the best 35mm scanners cannot resolve any more detail above 2400ppi just bigger files.

With dedicated film scanners it how good the optics are that have the biggest infuence over resolving fine detail, not the ppi.

From the tests I read when the plustec came out about 5 years ago it was rated as a good budget scanner but not as good as the Nikons and Canons (Canon no longer produce dedicated 35mm film scanners)

While the Coolscan 5000 is a grand the Coolscan V can be picked up new for about £420 or less secondhand.

This is a 100% crop (actual pixel size) from a Kodak ISO 200 35mm neg using a Coolscan V.

92068684.jpg
 
How about...

Have a flatbed scanner (in my case an epson v200, this only has a 35mm holder).

placing the neg on the scanner glass (possibly even using the liquid method to keep it super flat), with another bit of glass on top of that to keep it nice and flat. Then on top of that a light box like this http://www.jessops.com/online.store...ducts/Jessops/Lightbox 4 x 5in-9661/Show.html

I'm going to give it a go, as long as the flatbed scanner glass is flat and the light from the light box is equal it might work! Cheaper than a £2k coolscan 9000ED!
 
There are a couple of people (or more) on ebay offering scanning services. You may consider their prices worth the hassle.
 
Gaz81 said:
How about...

Have a flatbed scanner (in my case an epson v200, this only has a 35mm holder).

placing the neg on the scanner glass (possibly even using the liquid method to keep it super flat), with another bit of glass on top of that to keep it nice and flat. Then on top of that a light box like this http://www.jessops.com/online.store...ducts/Jessops/Lightbox 4 x 5in-9661/Show.html

I'm going to give it a go, as long as the flatbed scanner glass is flat and the light from the light box is equal it might work! Cheaper than a £2k coolscan 9000ED!
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Didnt work!
 
Gaz81 said:
Didnt work!
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Why not ?

This is a well travelled route young glasshopper.
Once you start messing with M/F, it all starts getting complicated, mostly by......cost :(




I blame Heath Robinson personally.....
 
The light box wasn't big enough or bright enough.

Also, the V200 didn't like it to much, it kept throwing a wobbly trying to crop it as 35mm. Hey ho!

So... now i might get an Epson 4490. Few going cheap on the net (£125ish)
 
Gaz81 said:
So... now i might get an Epson 4490. Few going cheap on the net (£125ish)
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worth every penny...though i had a few issues with the software install and a conflict with my anti-virus/firewall!
 
Ah ha! Pondering this with a mate over the weekend and he rooted about in his cupboard and produced a old Canoscan 3200F flatbed scanner complete with the film holders that he was not using.

Then gave it to me to play with. :)
PCPro said:
Quality from the film scanner was also surprisingly good considering the price. None of the scanners here will impress professionals for film-scanning quality, but the 3200F produced the finest result - exposure was the best we saw and resolution was also up at the top. Plus, dust and scratches were almost completely removed.
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So once I have created some space on my desk and found some negs and slides I'll see what it can do.
 
That looks like just the job to have a play and see if you like the results!:thumbs:
 
been looking at the plustek ones myself as they get pretty good reviews and are affordable!
 
Voyager said:
'Best'? In what way?

At about a grand it isn't going to be great for my bank balance! :)
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Sorry about the delay...


..... but for quality and speed I understand it is the best. When I said noisy, I meant it grinds away like a, well, grinder.

Scanner technology isn't going to advance as quickly as digital cameras though, is it? There's a limited market for film scanners and the profits just wouldn't be there for the manufacturers.

Always use Ciba (Ilfo)-chrome for printing from slide. Never use internegs - digital or otherwise. Why use an extra stage in the process which can only introduce inaccuracies?
 
Who fancies one of these.. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem

Its one I looked at when I was choosing a scanner but there were non to be had.
I liked the idea of glassless scans, formats up to 10x8 and the dual bed.
It has the glass top of a flatbed and a drawer for glassless scans.
Dunno if they are any good :shrug:, but they aren't cheap new, Microtek make some good scanners.
Just a heads up, 4 hours to research :lol:
 
Thanks, jox - that's gone and sent me on a wild goose chase thinking about getting a better scanner... again!

That one seemed a steal, though :thumbs:

What do you think of the Microtek ArtixScan 2500f? Only goes up to 2500dpi, but it does most film formats and I believe it also uses the glassless technology.
 
Got my 4490 yesterday, nice bit of kit. Made much better than my old V200.

I was pulling my hair out last night trying to install the software, had to re-install OSX combo update 10.5.6 to get it to work!

I did a quick test late last night (well early this morning!).

I'll do a proper scan later and post the results.
 
Gaz81 said:
Got my 4490 yesterday, nice bit of kit. Made much better than my old V200.

I was pulling my hair out last night trying to install the software, had to re-install OSX combo update 10.5.6 to get it to work!

I did a quick test late last night (well early this morning!).

I'll do a proper scan later and post the results.
Click to expand...

that's what i've used at college recently great scanner, really easy to use :)
 
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