Which Film Scanner Epson 550/600 or Canon 9000 Mk II

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taxboy

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My dedicated Canon film scanner has given up the ghost at almost the same time as my flat bed so looking at a flat bed to replace them both. I've relaised I'm not scanning that number of slides / negs and will mainly be using it for scanning to repair old family photos. I don't relaly need a dedicated film scanner but would still like to get the best quality at the price point of £200 so what do I go for :

The Epson - I can't quite see the difference between the 550 / 600 so do I go for the 550 and put the savings towards a copy of Vuescan, get the 600 or the Canon

Apologies if this has been asked before but my search couldn't find anything specific
 
To be honest in terms of specification, there's hardly any difference between the 3: scanning test charts reveals that they all resolve about 1700 dpi maximum (ignore the massive optical resolutions quoted as whilst the sensor may be able to resolve them, the actual scans resolve nowhere near them due to the optics in the scanning path limiting the resolution) and I would just go for the one that's cheapest.

Coming from a dedicated 35mm scanner might be a bit of a step down though as flatbeds aren't exactly renowned for getting the best results with 35mm.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre3 using Forums
 
Thanks for that. I guessed that I wouldn't get the same quality as from a dedicated film scanner but as I not looking to print above 7 x 5 & will be on an occasional basis only I was hoping that I might get somewhere close to my old Canon FS2710 at that size ???
 
I have the canon mk ii 9000 and it is ok. Negs aren't scanned that well but prints seem to be much better.
 
srichards said:
I have the canon mk ii 9000 and it is ok. Negs aren't scanned that well but prints seem to be much better.
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Thanks for that. Is it the colour or sharness that you think is the issue and are you really pixel peeping. As I said I'm not looking to print out above 7x5 and as it will be used with archive material I don't expect the source will be a model of razor sharp clarity !!
 
Can't say about colour as I just used it for black and white. All old medium format. Bit blurrier than I wanted but a lot of the images were a bit soft anyway. I don't know whether you can get better holders for it. For the epsons you can.
 
If you get an epson, then it's definitely useful to make your own mount with the correct focal plane height and, if you're really keen, try anti-newton glass and even wet mounting for optimum flatness. All three make a noticeable difference.
 
taxboy said:
My dedicated Canon film scanner has given up the ghost at almost the same time as my flat bed so looking at a flat bed to replace them both. I've relaised I'm not scanning that number of slides / negs and will mainly be using it for scanning to repair old family photos. I don't relaly need a dedicated film scanner but would still like to get the best quality at the price point of £200 so what do I go for :

The Epson - I can't quite see the difference between the 550 / 600 so do I go for the 550 and put the savings towards a copy of Vuescan, get the 600 or the Canon

Apologies if this has been asked before but my search couldn't find anything specific
Click to expand...

How experienced are you with regard to scanning?

Unfortunately, scanning is really a bit of a dark art. To be very frank, the quality of your results are more likely to be limited by your own scanning and processing skills than the quality of your equipment, unless you really know what you're doing.

Given that the differences in final output will likely be minimal in practice, I'd be looking to buy the most reasonably priced model or one that comes bundled with software that you know how to get the most out of. Have you considered eBay or Gumtree? I've seen some nice scanners go for very little money on some of these sites. I'd personally be very reluctant to spend more than £100 on a scanner (or even £50 for that matter as some of the older Epsons are still very good).
 
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