2nd question of the day. Negative scanner

[neea]

Hello AGAIN.

I am curious about 35mm negative scanners.
I dont know much about them so I'm curious if anyone has one/used one.
I'm wondering about quality as they seem to range from $130 to $1500.
'You get what you pay for' obviously but is there a good quality medium?

I only need digital files for my webpage. Other than that my pictures are meant to be enlarged and printed on top quality papers.

Thanx in advance.

 

[usayit]

My feeling is that $500 is a "medium" range in film scanners. In that range, I liked the Nikon 5000 as well as Epson's newest V700 flatbed. I chose the flatbed for various reasons and really like the results.

BUT

If your final intention of scanning 35mm negatives is to post to a web page, I wouldn't spend the $500 on the scanner. A simple $100-$200 flatbed that does 35mm negative should work just fine. Check out some of the Epson perfection photo scanners in the $100-$200 price range.

$ in US dollars

 

[fmw]

The difference in price is primarily a difference in speed. A photo-enabled flatbed scanner will make the same scan as an automated commercial film scanner. But it will take more time and work to get the job done.

 

[Don Simon]

I also recommend a flatbed with negative holders. I use a Canon 8400F and not only is it good for web use, I've been able to make fairly good prints at 7x5 no problem - and that's from old, relatively grainy slides.

A dedicated film scanner is probably going to give you better image quality and speed. But a flatbed will give you more flexibility (you can also scan medium format film and of course prints) for significantly less money. I recommend taking a look at the Canon or Epson ranges.

 

[neea]

Hey guys,
Thanx for your input.
I think I'm learning towards the Epson V350.
From what I understand it will scan my 35mm negatives and it comes with the templates to scan them and a few other types (transparencies and whatnot I think).

However, I recently heard that you need a 'special' scanner to scan color negatives. I dont know exactly what this means or if this scanner fits in that 'special' category. I hope so.

If anyone can shed some light on this, please do so.

Thanx again.

 

[Don Simon]

I'm a little confused by the bit about needing a special scanner... probably you were told that you "need" a dedicated film scanner, i.e. one that is designed specifically and solely for scanning film. Examples would be the Nikon Coolscan or the Minolta Dimage scanners. You don't need a dedicated film scanner, they're just likely to produce better images and maybe do it quicker. But a flatbed scanner with the right film holder will produce good images (like I said I make great prints at 7x5" no problem) and has the advantage that you can scan different film sizes as well as other media.

I don't know about that specific model, but there are definitely scanners in the Epson Perfection range that are equal in image quality to my Canon (however I can't remember the name, but it was a bigger model than the v350).

 

[airgunr]

If all you need is digitized pictures for your web page you might just get a picture disk with you photo developing.


I have a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED and it is an excellent scaner. I understand the Coolscan V ED is very good as well. I am sure you could get away with something much cheaper with your stated requirements.