Scanning Negatives (4 by 5)

[acharpen]

I am an academic researcher who would like to digitize 4 by 5 negatives (they are very old). But I have hit a wall on what kind of equipment would scan these to make them digital. Any ideas?

 

[Dwig]

I am an academic researcher who would like to digitize 4 by 5 negatives (they are very old). But I have hit a wall on what kind of equipment would scan these to make them digital. Any ideas?

BTW, this is a double post. Double posts are rude. I'm answering this one since the other doesn't actually ask a question. Its just a rant about not having information and doesn't deserve a responce.

There are a number of scanners on the market that will server to scan 4x5 film. They aren't the most common thing, but they do exist. Personally, I can recommend the EPSON v700 ( Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner, Overview - Product Information - Epson America, Inc. ), and by inference its sibling the v750 Pro, highly. They are both flatbed scanners capable of scanning prints up to 8.5 x 11 and film up to 8x10. They come supplied with 35mm, 120, and 4x5 film carriers and a mask for use with 8x10. The v750 improves on the v700 only very very slightly. It has an optically coated glass bed and has provisions for wet scanning. The v750 also ships with a full version, rather than a light "LE" version, of SilverFast software. They both ship with the same EPSON Scan software which is rather good on its own.

These EPSON models perform extremely well when scanning film. They have an excellent dynamic range and very high true optical resolution (far higher than needed for 4x5).

I've scanned hundreds of old negatives with my v700 from 16mm subminature to 4x5 and 3.5x5.5". Some of the odd sizes have forced me to make my own adapters for holding the images in the standard carriers (e.g. 116 negs in a 4x5 carrier) or to scan directly from the glass. The scanner has always performed extremely well whether scanning B&W or color negs or color slides and transparencies.