What scanner for negatives and prints?

kirbinster

I am thinking (with extreme trepidation) of getting a scanning device to digitize all the old snapshots and negatives that are sitting in draws from when the kids were little. I would appreciate any advice from those that have done this on what is involved, how long does it take, how good are the results, and what device I should consider getting to do this.

Thanks in advance.

kirbinster

Anyone at all familiar with this unit: Canon CanoScan LiDE 500F Color Scanner ? Is it any good?

ziggy53

I used an Epson V500 to scan some negatives and it is pretty good for the money. It can scan both color and B&W megatives and also slides. For color negatives it has Digital ICE which really does help remove dust and scratches automatically, saving tons of user time. For 35mm it is certainly good enough for snapshots and sorting.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/496399-REG/Epson_B11B189011_Perfection_V500_Flatbed_Photo.html
http://www.adorama.com/IESV500.html

Film curvature may impact on quality but that would be true of any of the less expensive options. You can get 3rd party film holders which can improve scanning by allowing variable offset distances to the scanboard.

http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/models/v500.html

Third party software is avalable to improve compatibility with Vista but I had no problems with the scanner and Win XP.

VueScan:
http://www.hamrick.com/

Reviews:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2213394,00.asp
http://www.shutterbug.net/news/091907epson/


The CanoScan 8800F is the Canon model I would suggest and it gets similar if not slightly better reviews, but it does not seem to have the following that the Epson has generated.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/518510-REG/Canon_2168B002_CanoScan_8800F_Flatbed_Scanner.html
http://www.adorama.com/ICACS8800F.html

Shizam

I highly suggest at least looking into a scanning service and seeing how much it'll cost to get all of your stuff scanned and if that price is < what you value an entire weekend then go with it. I'm just guessing you have a 'fair amount' of stuff to scan and on a flatbed scanner scanning prints is pretty brainless/easy but scanning slides takes a little more positioning (in the holder) and calibrating and scanning negatives is all that and then some.

I used a Epson V750 pro (flatbed) to do 4x5 and 120mm then tried doing 35mm slides and negatives in there and it was so frustrating to get it just right that it sent me to a dedicated 35mm slide scanner (Coolscan 5000). I'm not suggesting you buy one (I still shoot 35mm so need scanning going forward) but if you plan on doing this yourself then see about renting a Coolscan 5000 for the weekend ($60 for the weekend out here) and it'll chew through slides and negatives fast and give high quality. Then scan the prints on a flatbed.

Also I second the use of Digital Ice, great software, comes with most scanners nowadays.

Sam

Art Scott

I am considering getting a copy stand and just copying all the photos I have....copy in raw and bea ble to change what I want or need to change......and.............................
I am considering getting a slide/neg copier that attaches to camera (or on the front of the lens) to copy all negs and slides.....yup a few extra cliks on the shutter but do not have to buy another large piece of equipment that after project is done will just sit................