Scanning 35mm film with Canoscan 210 / 700f

und34dcow · Jan 6, 2011

Greetings for all the film lovers out there,

I'm trying to get back to amateur photography after a couple years break. I've never really liked digital, but as I grow older I find less and less time to play around in the darkroom (not to mention, the city I live in now has almost none available). So I was reading up on the scanning option.

I don't shoot that much (almost entirely in B&W) so I find spending $300 on a scanner for this sole purpose a little too much. I managed to find one for my needs/budget - Canon Canoscan LiDE 210 (4800dpi)

Wanted to ask if anyone has any experience with it and how well does the scanner work with 35mm B&W films. There is also a better model LiDE 700f (9600dpi), however, I'm not sure if I need higher resolution? I mostly print on an A4 size paper and occasionally go A3.

Would appreciate if anyone who used Canoscan LiDE for B&W could give me some feedback.

Cheers

Jakefreese · Jan 6, 2011

subscribed...

I have been looking at the cano scan 9000f. I have been looking more an more into scanning abilities myself. I need to find out what the 4base, 16base, 16base tif, that the place I was planning on sending film to. There is a pretty big difference in cost of scanning from the 4 to 16 so I want to figure out what kinda scanner would be needed for the 16. I will look into the one you are looking at too

Josh66 · Jan 6, 2011

Does that scanner come with film holders? I don't think it does... I suppose you could make your own, but from what I'm reading about it, I'm not sure that it's suitable for scanning film. I did a few quick searches, looking at the specs and such - I'm not seeing the word "film" in any of them.

I have a Canon LiDE 100, which externally looks very similar to the LiDE 210. Mine is basically just a document/photo scanner.

For film, I've used a PlusTek OpticFilm 7300 and an Epson V600. Both are around $250.

Honestly, I don't know of a film scanner for less than that.

For 35mm negatives, 3200 - 4800 dpi is what you would typically be looking at.

The only problem I can see with it is whether you will need to make film holders or not. You will probably have to convert the scans from negative to positive in something like Photoshop. Dedicated film scanners will do that for you.

I don't think it's really meant to scan film, but you *should* still be able to make it work - it will just involve more work on your part.

und34dcow · Jan 7, 2011

I might've been mistaken about LIDE 210, but i'm sure LIDE 700f can scan negative.

The price is quite a bargain ($110 on newegg), but I couldn't find any samples or more in-depth reviews describing quality (especially for B&W). People say it's slow for negatives, but for someone who doesn't look to mass archive and only shoots a couple rolls a month it should be fine. The 9600dpi seems to be an overkill though.

Anyway, any other scanners from that price range worth looking at?
Epson v300/v330 seems to be an alternative.

Josh66 · Jan 7, 2011

Most negative scanners are slow, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

The Epson V300 appears to just be a document/photo scanner, but the V330 does scan film and comes with a holder for 1 strip of 6 frames, or 4 mounted slides.

It looks like the highest optical resolution is 4800 (and up to 12800 with hardware interpolation). 4800 is about the highest you'll want for film anyway, so that's not a big deal.

4800dpi will give you dimensions of about 4500x6800 pixels from a 35mm frame, which is plenty for most uses. (That's about 30 MP...)

I haven't used it, but the V330 does look like a pretty good choice for the price.

The LiDE 700F looks like it could be good too. The only real difference I see off the top of my head is that the Canon scanner only has a film holder for 1 strip of 6 frames, while the Epson gives you the option of also scanning mounted slides.

The Canon has higher resolution, but I agree that it's probably overkill - and not something I would worry about too much.

Epson is generally compatible with more operating systems... Might be something to consider ... maybe not.

The price difference on Newegg is only $10 (the Epson is $120, Canon is $110).

If it were me, I would go with the Epson for the ability to scan slides.

und34dcow · Jan 8, 2011

Thanks, I was thinking the same, because scanning 1 slide at a time could drive me crazy. I'd rather drive 50miles to the dark room if I had to waste time like this. Manage to find one at beachcamera.com for $105+free shipping and no tax to CA. Will play with it and see. Best

Fender5388 · Jan 8, 2011

i got a canon canoscan 9000f for christmas, i love it and its under 200 dollars. im also i photo student in college and plan on using it for all my film stuff next semester. it scans 35mm, MF, and slides. also a flatbed scanner for anything up to 8.5 x 11

stroker · Jan 12, 2011

O|||||||O said:
Does that scanner come with film holders? I don't think it does... I suppose you could make your own, but from what I'm reading about it, I'm not sure that it's suitable for scanning film. I did a few quick searches, looking at the specs and such - I'm not seeing the word "film" in any of them.

I have a Canon LiDE 100, which externally looks very similar to the LiDE 210. Mine is basically just a document/photo scanner.

For film, I've used a PlusTek OpticFilm 7300 and an Epson V600. Both are around $250.

Honestly, I don't know of a film scanner for less than that.

For 35mm negatives, 3200 - 4800 dpi is what you would typically be looking at.

The only problem I can see with it is whether you will need to make film holders or not. You will probably have to convert the scans from negative to positive in something like Photoshop. Dedicated film scanners will do that for you.

I don't think it's really meant to scan film, but you *should* still be able to make it work - it will just involve more work on your part.

Where would i find this software? I did a quick google search for it but nothing came up

Josh66 · Jan 12, 2011

...What software? Photoshop?

If you mean the software that automatically converts it from negative to positive, that comes with the scanner. It's probably actually part of the scanner driver.

Ron G · Jan 12, 2011

You can convert a negative to positive and back with Irfanview and that is free.Almost any scanner software allows you to make that setting when configuring the scanner to scan.Surely a scanner that will scan transparencies will have that option.Ron G

und34dcow · Jan 14, 2011

Received the Epson V330 and I'm quite satisfied with the technical aspects of the scanner. Film holder is quite good and the scanner works without any issues.

I do have a question about software though. Have read that it might heavily influence the output of the scanned negatives. Did not have time to try different settings on the software provided by Epson, but as a productive worker at my company I've spent some time researching and read that VueScan can produce better output (for a fee of $30 if I recall correctly).

Anyone have tried it with an Epson scanner?

Josh66 · Jan 14, 2011

I tried the free trial, and it seemed to work fine.

For film, I always kinda preferred LaserSoft's SilverFast software.

These days, I use 'Image Scan for Linux!', for Linux - obviously. That and VueScan are pretty much the only Linux options, and iScan works fine and is free, so that's what I use.

Try the free trial (they paste a dollar sign $ watermark all over the images until you pay for it) and see if you like it. The free trial is the full software, just with the annoying watermark.

Ron G · Jan 14, 2011

I use Vuescan and it will work with just about any scanner that you are likely to find.
The professional version is $89.00 as I remember but gives you lifetime upgrades and Mr Hamrick works on it constantly to make it better.If you are having a problem with it or want something changed he will work with you to make sure that you are happy.
Try to find the Scanning Tips book by Wayne Fulton for some great hints on scanning.He has an online version for free.Ron G

und34dcow · Jan 14, 2011

Thanks for the tips. Will give VueScan a try.

Just glance through Fulton's book and it looks great. This should keep me busy for the weekend. Will see if I can upload some results soon.

alexb · Feb 9, 2011

I'm using an Epson V500 so slide scans and I have much better results with LaserSoft's SilverFast software. It has some option very very good to increase scan density range of your scanners.