whistule
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I've been looking at getting a dedicated film scanner for months - checked back through all related posts read reviews etc etc and am finding it really difficult....so many different scanners!! I've boiled it down to a few that are in my price range and really want to make a good investment.
Nikon coolscan ed IV (secondhand)
plustek optic 7200/7500
Acer (benq) ScanWit 2720S (although I've no idea where I'd get one from or if they still make them)
Konica Minola Scan Dual IV (secondhand)
Nikon coolscan ed v (secondhand)
what I've seen from comments:-
plustek optic 7500 vs coolscan ed V
+ high resolution
+ price
+- 7200DPI Scan time 1 min 50 secs with out ICE, 38mins with ICE!!
- frustrating film loading
- USB 2
- poor dynamic range
Nikon coolscan ED IV
- prone to bring out grain on coarse grain films because of LED light source
+ Nikon ICE very good for removing scratches, dust etc (must be a massive time saver but apparently reduces sharpness slightly)
+ relatively fast (2 mins per 4 frame strip)
- ICE doesnt work with B&W, kodachrome etc
- Nikon software (although scanner can be used with other software such as silverfast)
- USB
- more expensive
- flimsy film tray
+ can batch scan
Acer (benq) ScanWit 2720S
+ good image quality (if you use other software)
- poor software (but again can use vuescan or other software)
- scsi connection
- flimsy film tray
+ price
+ can batch scan ???
- multiexposure reduces noise
Nikon coolscan ed v (secondhand)
- have to use c41 B&W to use ICE
+ good colour reproduction
- prone to bring out grain on coarse grain films because of LED light source
+ Firewire connection fast
+ can batch scan
Konica Minola Scan Dual IV (seconghand)
+ not backlit LED light source so better for coarse grain B&W films
- colour matching needs attention
- unreliable
+ Can batch scan with vuescan
- noisy scans
- horizontal slot bad for dust
- not quite as sharp as Nikons
- no ICE
- loud
Would consider a Epson V700 / V750 but laying out neg strips and keeping them clean sounds like a nightmare and I cant believe that the image quality would be the same a dedicated scanner
And after all that .Im still not sure!
It seems that the Nikons are great scanners but they have an achilies heal when it comes to B&W - accentuating the film grain and you cant make use of ICE which is one good reason to pay the extra - and I shoot mainly on 400 TRI-X film. The plustek seems amazingly good value for money - good detail - but has a limited dynamic range - and I'd definitely like black to be black. The Konica mintola seem stronger on B&W, good detail and Dynamic range, perhaps unreliable but probably my favourite at the moment.
To be honest I dont really understand resolution figures - maximum resolution, optical resolution etc etc - so cant make a judgement in respect of that.
I'd obviously welcome any comment based on experience. When I scan negs I quite like including some of the border around the picture - is that possible with any of these scanners?
Nikon coolscan ed IV (secondhand)
plustek optic 7200/7500
Acer (benq) ScanWit 2720S (although I've no idea where I'd get one from or if they still make them)
Konica Minola Scan Dual IV (secondhand)
Nikon coolscan ed v (secondhand)
what I've seen from comments:-
plustek optic 7500 vs coolscan ed V
+ high resolution
+ price
+- 7200DPI Scan time 1 min 50 secs with out ICE, 38mins with ICE!!
- frustrating film loading
- USB 2
- poor dynamic range
Nikon coolscan ED IV
- prone to bring out grain on coarse grain films because of LED light source
+ Nikon ICE very good for removing scratches, dust etc (must be a massive time saver but apparently reduces sharpness slightly)
+ relatively fast (2 mins per 4 frame strip)
- ICE doesnt work with B&W, kodachrome etc
- Nikon software (although scanner can be used with other software such as silverfast)
- USB
- more expensive
- flimsy film tray
+ can batch scan
Acer (benq) ScanWit 2720S
+ good image quality (if you use other software)
- poor software (but again can use vuescan or other software)
- scsi connection
- flimsy film tray
+ price
+ can batch scan ???
- multiexposure reduces noise
Nikon coolscan ed v (secondhand)
- have to use c41 B&W to use ICE
+ good colour reproduction
- prone to bring out grain on coarse grain films because of LED light source
+ Firewire connection fast
+ can batch scan
Konica Minola Scan Dual IV (seconghand)
+ not backlit LED light source so better for coarse grain B&W films
- colour matching needs attention
- unreliable
+ Can batch scan with vuescan
- noisy scans
- horizontal slot bad for dust
- not quite as sharp as Nikons
- no ICE
- loud
Would consider a Epson V700 / V750 but laying out neg strips and keeping them clean sounds like a nightmare and I cant believe that the image quality would be the same a dedicated scanner
And after all that .Im still not sure!
It seems that the Nikons are great scanners but they have an achilies heal when it comes to B&W - accentuating the film grain and you cant make use of ICE which is one good reason to pay the extra - and I shoot mainly on 400 TRI-X film. The plustek seems amazingly good value for money - good detail - but has a limited dynamic range - and I'd definitely like black to be black. The Konica mintola seem stronger on B&W, good detail and Dynamic range, perhaps unreliable but probably my favourite at the moment.
To be honest I dont really understand resolution figures - maximum resolution, optical resolution etc etc - so cant make a judgement in respect of that.
I'd obviously welcome any comment based on experience. When I scan negs I quite like including some of the border around the picture - is that possible with any of these scanners?