Flatbed scanners for negatives?

[LWW]

I'm considering breaking down adn buying a film scanner but I see some of these flatbeds which claim the can do slides, 35MM and 120 negatives.

Has anyone used these and if so what were the results and quality?

Specificly I have been looking at this scanner HERE!

Any and all replies from those with knowledge on the topic is appreciated in advance.

LWW

 

[Mitica100]

LWW, your link has an 'expired session' result.

However, I have a Canoscan 1230 UF that will do 35mm, 120 and 4x5 negatives. It works ok but personally I like the dedicated film scanners a bit better.

Since the link did not work, I assume (from the url label) that you're looking at an Epson. All I know is that they make very good scanners although I haven't had any experience with them.



Good luck.

 

[ksmattfish]

I've been using a Microtek i900 flatbed scanner that is very similar to the Epsons. It does a very good job on the 120 and 4x5. Not as great with 35mm. I use mine mostly just for getting my film on my website, but I have a buddy who has an older model of the same scanner, and he does a lot of scanning medium and large format transparencies with it, and prints them up to 20"x24", and they look fantastic.

 

[AlmightyWa]

Don't know if this really helps but these are some scans from my Epson 2480 Photo, from the negatives.

They've been resized to go on the web, but both were originally scanned at 1,200dpi (it does go higher, when you turn all of the post production stuff on though ,dust removal etc. ,my computer crashes!)

I'm happy with it, obviously you'd get better quality from a film scanner, but this was only £50 off Ebay!

Black and White looks worse, IMO

No editing done to either of these

P.S - Sorry if I've made this thread too huge

 

[Dave_D]

LWW,
I am in the same boat. I have been considering the nikon and minolta type for 35mm, 6x4.5 and 6x7 formats, but I have changed my mind. I checked the link in your post and came to the same conclusion. Epson flatbed. It will scan everything I have as well as basic stuff. I've been looking at the 4990 but may drop down a model or two. Technology moves so fast on this kind of stuff that I'd hate to spend alot today only to find it obselete and dirt cheap on ebay in a few months. I don't mind speding a bit less in sacrifice of a few extra features that I probably won't use anyway. More then likely it will be the 4490 for me. If I need super duper quality on an image here or there it can go to the lab.

 

[the nightfly]

This is probably too late for this specific discussion, but I'm trying the 4490 as a 35mm scanner right now, and I'm not too thrilled with it. A bit soft, some strange artifacts on high-contrast images (think a particularly inept implementation of USM...even when USM's turned off) and odd color shifts. And, although it comes with Digital ICE, I can only wonder if it's being implemented correctly -- from the spots and hairs all over my scans, it seems to be about as effective as Vanilla ICE. :meh: At least I'll be able to return it to Office Depot for a refund...