Negative scanner

I did a search on negative scanner but didn't get much, so I am starting my own thread.

I use traditional SLR, not moving to digital yet because there are some issues with the current technology which I have problems with, so I have decided to look into negative scanners.

I don't know anything about them, and did a quick search on ebay sometime ago . there was this Nikon scanner that has a reel for about 40 frames so that it will scan the negative roll for you automatically. That's SWEET because I have used a scanner before and it took forever to do a scan. It costed about $1200 on ebay.

Then I was at Ritz to pick up some things and they have a Nikon for $599. It does up to 4000dpi. I asked about the reel thing and they said it's a separate attachment whicn you can buy. I am not sure if it's compatible with all Nikon scanners, or do I have to shop for specific models.

So I have no knowledge about them. Feel free to give me a lecture on what specs to take note of, what they mean, and what would you suggest. I think $599 is a reasonable price range for me, but again feel free to suggest anything.

Thanks in advance!

 

I have the Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED which will scan 35mm & APS(with proper attachement) films. It comes with a single slide attachement. You can purchase and adaptor that will allow you to feed a box of slides. There is one that allows you to put a roll of APS film in and scann the whole roll (frame by frame). There is also an adaptor that scans negatives in strips.

I have all of the adaptors and have used them. The APS works fine but sometimes will only scan a part of the roll. I don't know why but it's easy to continue with the rest.

The single slide it fautless. The multiple slide works pretty well although I have had it hang up on feeding a slide once in awhile.

The negative attachment is fine. Now I have only feed in strips of 6 negatives at a time and not tried to do a whole roll (I don't develope my own film so they come back in strips). I don't see why you couldn't feed a whole roll of developed negatives. You would probably have to stay there and make sure it feeds without catching on something. There is no roll to mount it on.

All that being said the Coolscan 5000 ED is around $1,100 without the extra attachements. They do make the Coolscan V ED that sells for around $500 or so but you would have to ask if it takes the same attachments, I don't know.

The quality of the scanner is superb. Execellent results and the software that comes with it allows for quite a bit of adjustment pre-scan as well as excellent results with the Digital ICE and DDE (SP?) that will really help clean up old and scratched slides and negatives.

I have heard a few good things about the Minolta film scanner but I have never seen or used one. I also don't know what attachments it has or how versital it would be.

 

Yes Coolscan V ED was what I saw at the shop. Any review on that? I should see if I can find it on dpreview.

 

I have a Minolta Dimage Scan dual III 2840, it is about 2 years old now. It has a carrier for up to 6 negatives and a carrier for 4 slides and scanns up to 2800 dpi. I shoot all film and take it to the lab and ask for negatives only and it costs me from $4 to $6 a roll depending on which lab I go to.
The scanner is a little slow but I scan most negatives at 2800 dpi and then edit or crop later.

 

I read a review of the Nikon Coolscan V and one of the reviews recommended the Epson flat bed that costs about the same. any idea about that?

Also, what other brand offers similar/better performance and price? How about the auto feeder? It seems that it's designed for the 5000, not the V.

 

I think the Nikon 5000 is the only one that has the adapter for roll film and it's pricey. I have tried the flatbed scanners but was not happy with the output, that is why I purchased a dedicated film scanner. I also have a Canon flatbed scanner for prints too.

It looks like the Nikon V offers direct film loading, no trays to load.

When you put multiple negatives on the faltbed, does the Epson faltbed scan the negatives individually into a separate file or one large batch file?

 

Hi
I saw that the Epson flatbed scanner was mentioned briefly above...I have recently purchased a Medium Format camera and due to the high cost of 120 scanning in my local lab i figure doing it yourself is the best way. I currently use a Minolta Dimage 5400 2 for neg scanning. The man in my photo shop got very excited about the Epson V7000 for 120 scans - but i feel a little suspicious about going the flatbed route.
Anyone have any comment/suggestions about which scanners might be a good option??

thanks

 

I'm in the same boat... I would really like to have a film scanner for 120 negatives but as far as I can tell there's only two in the market: Nikon 9000 and Microtek ArtixScan 120tf. The Microtek is basically the same as the Polaroid Sprintscans which I have access at school. Both of these scanners are priced above what I'm willing to pay. For now, I get "ok" scans from an Epson 3170 flatbed.

 

I have the 4990pro and am happy with it. I have not done any MF or larger scans with it yet. Just 35mm slides. Very happy with the output. This past weekend I just scanned about 60 or more slides with it. Without using digital ice it takes about 24 minutes to scan 8 mounted slides at 4800. Or about 80 minutes to scan 24 slides in 4, 6 shot strips. Nice thing about scanning the strips is you set it and go do other things for an hour or so. I love the feature so much I think I am going to stop mounting and just store the strips. It saves the pics one at a time so it doesn't bog the memory down too much. But automatically saves them for you. So you load the film, start the scanner with the settings you want. Hit start and it does it on its own until done with all 24.

Of course they just lowered the price and brought out a new dual lens scanner that is a bit better (claim a dmax of 4.0!). Had the 4990 for about 6 months now.

 

We use a Nikon Coolscan V ED and it is top notch. It isn't compatible with the film roll attachment - something we weren't advised of at the time(!) - but the quality is great. Personally, I don't think the jump in price for the 5000 to be able to scan rolls is really worth it - especially as the roll adaptor is an optional extra.

 

I'm in the same boat as well, but am very tempted to get the Epson V750 pro. Its reviewed at photo-i if interested, it seems to give a very good performance.

The V700 is also reviewed btw

 

If you are only scanning 35 mm and don't plan to go up to MF, I would definitely go with the Nikon dedicated film scanner. It still has an edge over the newest flatbeds. Flatbeds are a decent deal if you need to scan larger/multiple formats but from my testing the new V series from Epson is just not showing that much improvement compared to the previous Epson flatbeds - especially if you take time to shim the holders used with the previous Epson scanners. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you can use small squares cut from thin mylar and then layer them to do shim testings. A bit tedious, but the gains can be worth it.

Doug