Scanner

[Hanky]

Hi everyone

For my father in law I am looking for a negative/slide scanner which is reasonably priced and easy to use. I own a Minolta dual IV, wich I bought a few years ago and still like. Is there maybe a flatbed scanner with a possibility to scan slides/negatives ?

Thanks

Henk Bouma

 

[benhasajeep]

What is your price range?

I have the epson 4990pro which just came down in price since they brought out the V750. The 4990 is about $550 now.

But they also make a lower priced one called the 4490. Which still has the dedicated light unit and digital ice (no light adapter needed for negative scans). And right now is only $200 with a rebate. I have not tried the 4490 but it has some of the same stats of the 4990.

The nice thing about the 4490 and 4990 is they both have a "home" mode where you just have to push a button. And it will scan and deppending on simple menu choices that it will remeber, do in the scanner, color, dust, alignment and a couple other things automatically. But they also have a pro mode where you have control over everything. I think the 4490 is about the best deal going at the time. Rebate on it so probably have a newer version comming out. The 4490 will only scan 35mm and 120 film though. No 4x5 or 8x10 which the 4990 does.

Microtek have some good scanners but are a little bit more for one with built in film scanning (no light adapter needed).

I say for $200 the 4490 is the way to go at the moment.

 

[Hanky]

Thanks for responding so fast !

the Epson sounds like a good deal and good quality, I was looking for something around $ 200.
Question: can you scan both slides and negatives ?

Henk

 

[benhasajeep]

Thanks for responding so fast !

the Epson sounds like a good deal and good quality, I was looking for something around $ 200.
Question: can you scan both slides and negatives ?

Henk

Yes, slides and negatives. I think you need software to turn the negatives to prints though. I don't think the scanner automatically turns negatives to positives for printing like slides. Slides are the easiest. Just scan and print if they came out good.

I have only scanned prints and slides on mine. Not home to check the software that came with it.

 

[usayit]

Most of the epson photo flatbeds will also do negatives and slides... its just a matter of deciding just how much the quality of the final scan is worth to you. Epson's line of photo flatbed scanners have a very wide range of prices. I have an old 3170 photo and pretty happy with it. It comes bundled with software that will turn the negatives into positives automatically.

 

[PixStudio]

Hi Henk,

We use a couple of scanners. A Nikon Coolscan V for 35mm slides and negs, and an Epson F-3200 for medium and large format. The Epson is a dedicated film scanner and is really versatile. It can scan from 35mm up to 6x4 with a number of different film holders. It's a really good compromise between flatbeds and the really expensive dedicated large format scanners. The only drawback is that it doesn't have digital ICE, but the Epson dust and scratch removal is pretty good.


Chris