Scanners - film scanning?

[Iron Flatline]

Hi all.

I"m going to buy a scanner, but I'm not sure what to look for. Almost all of them do a pretty good job of scanning old family snaps, but what else should I be aware of?

Also, how does film scanning work? I've seen some with slots for negatives, etc. Can I insert developed film and a scanner will pull an image off it? Can most scanners handle 120 film? Does it have to be cut?


Some pointers and personal experience would be greatly appreciated, the sales guy yesterday was thick as wood.

 

[usayit]

There's only one flatbed scanner that has impressed me as much as dedicated scanners: Epson V700 (or V750).

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62119

Other scanners that I have used and enjoy is the Nikon Coolscan 9000 and the Microtek ArtixScan. Both are dedicated film scanners that will take medium format. Most scanners on the market are limited to 35mm. Of course, the Epson I mentioned above will do all of it plus more because of the flexibility of being a flatbed. The only thing I don't like are the film holders but I have learned to live with it.

There quite a few reviews of all three scanners available on the internet.

 

[Helen B]

What is your budget? What size do you want to print from the scans? How much Kodachrome is there in your collection?

If you want a dedicated film scanner that can handle 120 and 35 mm then my suggestion would be the Nikon 9000 or a second-hand 8000. You can scan both dry and wet. For highest quality with 120 I would recommend a glass film holder. I have both the 8000 and 9000 and use them dry and wet, the latter with a Scanscience mounting system.

There are some pretty good flatbeds around, like the Epson V700 and V750. There is an upgrade to these available in Japan, and presumably that will be available outside Japan soon. It's not a huge upgrade, as far as I know. You can wet scan with these, there are Betterscanning and Scanscience film holders available. One of my clients has a V700 for scanning 4x5 for layouts and web use. I've given it a spin with a Betterscanning film holder and I'm fairly impressed with it.

The Microtek M1 (aka the F1, I think) has just shipped after a long delay. The first reviews should be published very soon. I suggest waiting to see those reviews.

Best,
Helen

 

[Alex_B]

I have been using a Nikon ED 5000 which is very nice for 35mm film (I scanned around 5000 slides and negatives). But for 120mm you would of course need one of the bigger brothers as Helen mentioned.

From my experience, if you use the Nikon scanning software and switch most automatic corrections off, you get very good results. For me the software was quite buggy if all was switched on though.

 

[usayit]

Wait one sec... Iron.. I thought you abandoned film a while back??? Thinking about taking a stroll back in film land?


btw.. v750 has a wet mount attachment.

 

[Iron Flatline]

Well, I have boxes of film from back in the day when I was still cool (the 1980s and whatever came right after that) and I wanted to do the posterity thing.

I will wait - I just borrowed my mom's flatbed which should tie me over to scan favorite prints. I will point out shots with shoulder pads in the Gallery in the near future.

Thanks for the pointers everyone...

 

[klausson]

I am currently working with a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED and the slide feeder SF-210 for scanning my 35mm slides. In my opinion the 5000ED produces excellent scans.

Here you can find a lot of information about the Nikon filmscanners:

Nikon CoolScan V ED: http://www.filmscanner.info/en/NikonCoolscan5ED.html

Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED: http://www.filmscanner.info/en/NikonSuperCoolscan5000ED.html

Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED: http://www.filmscanner.info/en/NikonSuperCoolscan9000ED.html

Hope it helps,
Klausson