Film Scanner

[SanctuS]

What exactly is the purpose of a film scanner? I was told that it was the best way to get my film onto the computer. The way I do it now is just to get the CD with the prints from Wal-Mart. I was wondering...

Is the film scanner used to scan the negatives and prints? Or is it designed to scan only negatives and maybe slide film?

Any suggestions would be appreciated, maybe even a good/cheap scanner...

 

[deanimator]

Basically it is designed to scan negs and transparancies

Are you shooting 35mm?
What quality output (print size and purpose) do you need?

Top quality means you´ll pay a bit more for a dedicated scanner, but many normal scanners offer film scanning facilities...a Canon 4200 flatbed scanner is will set you back about $150 or maybe less. Easy and usually enough for most.

 

[Frequent Traveler]

You can buy dedicated negative/slide scanners and they are the best (image quality) bet to get film shots digitized. Flatbed scanners are reputed to work well (i recently asked this question as well...), BUT dedicated film scanners do the best job. The Nikon scanners have a great reputation btw...

 

[Patrice]

Scanning negatives and slides will need a scanner where the medium is between the light source and the sensor.

 

[bellacat]

is there a brand that any of you can recommend? I would love to pick one up myself.

 

[nealjpage]

I have an Epson 4490. Works well, but delivers the best results with negatives. Transparencies give it some trouble--they turn out soft.

 

[usayit]

Scanners are just like digital cameras. You get what you pay for. For dedicated negative scanners, it seems that Nikon is a good brand to follow. If flatbed scanners, Epson has always lead the pack even thought the gap has closed.

In general, dedicated scanners will out perform flatbeds. As such, I have relied on school access to their dedicated scanners in the past. I no longer have access to the school graphics lab so I recently purchased the Epson V700 and the results surprised me... it was pretty darn close to the capability of the dedicated scanners at school. On top of that the nature of being a flatbed makes it more flexible for different formats and uses. At $500 it is not cheap but cheaper than Nikon dedicated.

My initial writeup:
http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62119