Best Film Scanner?
zach30345
Registered Users Posts: 95 Big grins
ok so from everyone's past experiences what to do you think is the a good film scanner that is reasonably priced? Also after i develop the negatives in the darkroom they will be safe to go in the scanner right?
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Quality film scanners are a dying breed.
The Epson V500 flatbed is OK for 35mm, but not optimal. The V700 is better but around twice as expensive. The Canon CanoScan 8800F can also scan film and gets better reviews than the Epson V500.
The Epson scanners have "Digital ICE" but it does not work well with B&W film, so sctratches and dust will have to be dealt with through other methods.
The best solution, IMO, is a dedicated fims scanner like the Nikon Coolscan V ED, but they are not cheap and still require a lot of post work. It is also a very slow process.
One final method is to use a digital camera with a macro lens and slide/film copier method. It can be relatively inexpensive and produces results OK for review of the negatives.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
My honest recommendation is that if you are shooting for a digital result, either color or B&W, then shoot with a digital camera.
My experience is with both a Minolta Scan Dual Scan Dual IV, a dedicated 35mm slide and negative scanner, and back in July with the Epson V500, which I used for a few 35mm negative strips and some medium format B&W negatives.
In each case I was scanning previously shot old film that needed to be scanned for some purpose.
In no case would I shoot new 35mm film "wanting" to scan and digitize.
Shooting with a digital camera is much faster and more reliable and consistently produces quality results when you need a digital image file. It also amortizes into less cost per image over the life of the camera.
Purchase a scanner like the Canon CanoScan 8800F only if you have "tons" of time on your hands or if you have previously shot images that "must" be scanned for some reason.
If that hasn't scared you away from a scanner approach to digital imaging, check the examples from the CanoScan 8800F here (none mine):
http://forums.skateperception.com/index.php?s=&showtopic=148796&view=findpost&p=2022207
http://flickr.com/photos/24226673@N08/2608837948
http://flickr.com/photos/24226673@N08/2618459299
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Marc talked about this in Utah - copying slides with his 1DsMklll - faster and easier than most film scanners. That is how they copied slides back in the day too. I used this one as a matter of fact - http://www.alanwood.net/photography/olympus/slide-copier.html
I own a Nikon CoolScan IV film scanner and an Epson 700 flat bedscanner , and both do creditable jobs, but they are slow and tedious to get results that do not begin to compare with files I get my my DSLRs. I converted years worth of slides with these scanners a few years ago. I would not dream of shooting film to them scan it later - the time involved is just not worth the results.
As for B&W - I shoot with a Canon 40D, 50D, 5D - They all will make superb B&W images ( at least in my opinion )
99% of the B&W images in my galleries were shot with a DSLR and converted in PS or LR. I don't separate my B&W conversions as separate galleries from my colored images, so you'll just have to look for them here - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Here is an example from earlier this year and the original slides are from 1973:
... and a link to the full-sized image (6MB file):
http://ziggy53.smugmug.com/photos/250028291_Y9n5B-O.jpg
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I used to duplicate slides with a conventional film SLR by turning over the color enlarger head and using the diffused light source as a background. The camera would use a T-mount to attach to the carrier on the rail and the enlarger lens. It was a very easy and repeatable process. The dupe slides were a tad contrasty, but that was before software
Depending on your enlarger head, you could most likely replicate this approach if you have a DSLR.
M