Film/Slide Scanner Recommendation

[BostonBrother]

I am looking for opinions on a slide scanner. Listed below are the things that I would like the top one being most important.
1. Price: can be in used condition
2. Image Quality
3. Would be nice if it had a Linux driver available

As far as the image quality goes, this is mostly for myself and I probably wouldn't be printing anything over 8x10 and most likely it would be smaller than that. I figure if there is something I really like I can send it out and have it done really well with a professional scanner.

 

[Alex_B]

I always recommend the Nikon 5000 ED.

Not cheap, but if you buy second hand it might be affordable.

I have to admit though that I swapped 1 and 2 in your priority list

As for the driver, third-party scanning software might support most common scanners under Linux. not sure though.

 

[Alex_B]

is this for scanning an existing collection only? or do you shoot film and want to scan regularly? If the former, then just buying something expensive should not be a problem since you can sell the scanner a couple of months later for a reasonable price.

make sure your computer has enough memory.

 

[BostonBrother]

Nah, it isn't for just an existing collection. I mainly shoot film. The Nikon 5000ed is way out of my price-range. $200 would be about max for me.

 

[Helen B]

Many low-cost scanners cannot dig into the shadow details of slide film. They just can't cope with the density of the shadow areas. If shadow detail is important to you, you have to go for a mid-range scanner like the Nikon 5000. It's a lot easier to scan the full density range of negative film.

Best,
Helen

 

[bhop]

I paid around $280 for my Epson 4490. I find it to be an excellent scanner, considering it's a flatbed and not a dedicated film scanner. I have tried comparing my scans to other examples online of more expensive scanners and don't notice a difference that's worth the price difference.. (hope that makes sense) I get tons of shadow detail, although I haven't scanned any slides yet. Check out some examples.

everything above the hanging rolls of film pic are scanned with the 4490
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/sets/72157603465807101/

My whole LA Zoo set was scanned film as well
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/sets/72157603849920951/