recommendations for a scanner dedicated to negs

[whistule]

Can anyone recommend a scanner dedicated to scanning negatives? Standard flatbed scanners always struck me as slightly clumsy for the job.

should add: it's 35mm

 

[usayit]

Nikon 9000 or 5000

I am also totally happy with my Epson V700... up to par with the dedicated negative scanners I had access to at school.

 

[whistule]

that looks like a nice bit of kit but probably a little more expensive than I was hoping to pay.....but that led me on to look at the canoscan 2700F. I am wondering what is the tangible difference in quality; the nikon being 4000dpi and the canon 2700dpi. The epson photo sacnner seems to be 6400dpi. The 2700 is lightly awkward in that it's a scsi connection. Does anyone have any experience of the these scanners > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Easypix-35mm-...rkparms=72:12|39:1|65:12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
they seem pretty cheap for what they are at 3600dpi but maybe there's a catch

 

[Helen B]

The number of pixels per inch that the scanners produce is not a very good indication of the resolution they can manage. This is mainly because of the quality of their lenses and the precision with which they are built.

The true resolution of the Nikon 5000 and 8000/9000 is close to the nominal resolution of 4000 ppi. The Epson is likely to have a true resolution of around 1800 ppi even though the nominal resolution is much higher.

If you don't mind its slow speed, I think that the Minolta 5400 Elite is one of the best 35 mm scanners for the price - about $300 used.

Best,
Helen

 

[whistule]

many thanks. In real terms when do you start to notice the difference between the negative scanners; I mean would a 1800 'true' dpi scan of a negative print with noticable degradation to A2 ?

 

[Helen B]

It depends a lot on your standards. I'd say that an 1800 ppi scan looked bad at any more than 6x enlargement, so an A2 from 35 mm would show what I would describe as 'noticeable degradation'. As a rule of thumb, you can divide the scan resolution by 300 to arrive at a very approximate value for the degree of enlargement you can get before there is some degradation. It depends a lot on the nature of the image and the post processing techniques as much as on the capabilities of the scanner or the film itself.

For example, some Epson inkjet printers do a very good job when printing a file that is sent to them at 288 ppi (it is a native resolution of the printer when the printer itself is set to 1440 or 2880 dpi quality), so a scan made at 4000 ppi can be enlarged almost 14x without any interpolation.

Best,
Helen

 

[usayit]

Good Epson V700 review:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson V700/page_1.htm

Of the handful of flatbed's have I have used, this is the only one that impressed me. Of course, go dedicated if you can afford. It is a matter of how much quality is acceptable for you. I also "almost" purchased the Nikon 5000 but decided I liked the ability to scan MF and larger items.

For me, the best way is to try them out.... make sure to read the return policy very carefully.