I've done a search on film scanners...

[gizmo2071]

on this forum and I've picked up some details about what I need to know.
My main concern is the price of some of the dedicated Neg scanners like the Nikon Coolscans.
But I cam across this little piece of equipment. A "Plustek 7200 Film Scanner".
The price is great and the scanning res seems to be quite crazy at 7200x7200.
I have been contemplating on looking for a second hand Scanner, like a Minolta or something, but this Scanner is only £99 new and I'd struggle to match that even at second hand I think.

I do shoot mainly digital to be fair, but I enjoy shooting film and I think the flexibility of being able to scan my negs aswell as printing them in the darkroom would sway me to use my SLR's more again.
I can't afford a great DSLR yet and I think my 350D wouldn't match upto my Canon EOS 5.

So i guess my main question is if anybody has heard anything of this Scanner; Plustek 7200 Film Scanner.

 

[Alex_B]

I'm a Nikonian when it comes to scanning.

Have not used a plustek yet. All I know is that the Nikon film scanners are about the only ones almost reaching their technical resolution of 4000 dpi. So 7200 seems a bit unlikely.

 

[gizmo2071]

Thanks for the swift reply Alex.
I guess I'm going to have to question how much I want to scan my Negs and how much money I'm willing to spend to do so. (probably not the best year for me to splashing out hundreds of pounds)
I'm going to have to do a bit more reading on this Plustek and maybe get it and try it out. Even second hand most of the older film scanners are going for £200+.

 

[Alex_B]

if you scan large quantities, throughput is also an issue...

if you have a collection to scan, buy a nikon + feeder (if slides).. scan them in less than a year and then sell it on EBay .. you might get 80 - 90% of your money back then.

 

[markc]

I'd check some reviews. The one I saw said that there were some detail issues with the Plustek scans. The effective resolution wasn't near 7200dpi. It is inexpensive, though.

 

[airgunr]

I also checked out dedicated scanners and after much research settled on the Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED. I went for the "5000" vs the "V" because I wanted to scan larger batches of slides as well as a bunch of APS rolls and it took the adaptors I needed to do that.

It is not cheap but it also gives excellent results and when I figured in the cost of having them done by a photo processor it was MUCH cheaper in the long run.

If you look at the Coolscan V ED make sure you can get the adaptors you need for it. If not consider the 5000 ED. I have not tried nor seen the Plustek so I can't comment on it.

FWIW, I do not have a DSLR. I still shoot print and slides with my F5, FM2n and FE2 cameras so I use the Coolscan quite often to digitize the few decent shots I make... ;^D

My wife has a Sony DCS-V1 5mp digital P&S which I use sometimes for a quick shot of something to e-mail someone.

 

[Mitica100]

I have had it for over a year now and I'm very happy with it! For MF and LF film scanning I use now an Epson Perfection 4990.

 

[Aquarium Dreams]

I have the Plustek scanner. I've never used another scanner, so I can't make comparisons, but I'm pleased with the Plustek. I've only scanned up to 3600, which yields good results. Also to be fair, I shoot mostly digital these days. If I had decided to shoot film long-term, I would have invested in a Nikon Coolscan, mostly because it is faster and has ICE.

 

[gizmo2071]

Thanks guys.
I think I'll hold out with my digi for now until I either have the money to spend on a new scanner or put that money towards a new lens/body.