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+--- Thread: good 35mm negative scanner? (/showthread.php?tid=23582)
good 35mm negative scanner? - clay - 12-05-2006
My dad would like to get my mom a film scanner for xmas so she can start the gargantuan task of converting all her negs to digital. She has probably thousands of negatives, mostly 35mm, but probably some common older format as well.
It'd be great if there were a scanner that could do batches of negs. at a time--a feature that I see on several models that I've looked at.
We want good quality, but don't need museum quality. I'd guess $400 is the upper limit on this. She already has a decent flatbed scanner, so she wouldn't need that capability. I'd like something with either USB/USB 2 or Firewire connectivity. She's currently on a 14" ibook.
I've looked at a few Canons (8400F, 9950F), an Epson (4490), and a couple Microteks(i800, i700). I've used relatively recent Canon scanners as well as a microtek or two, so I'm familiar with their software, but I don't know much about film scanning.
Any recommendations or personal experiences to share?
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - BigGuynRusty - 12-05-2006
Maybe I am alone on this but I have never used a home scanner that did any good on slides or negatives. I ended up sending them out.
BGnR
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - mattkime - 12-05-2006
It really depends upon how much work she's willing to take on.
First.....edit. Don't scan then edit. Edit first. You might want to get a scanner that can do 8x10 transparency because then you can scan a whole sheet of filed negs and pick from them.
As for scanning 35mm, you definitely want to go with a dedicated film scanner. It will be simpler, faster, and better.
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - ka jowct - 12-05-2006
I can't see the point of doing as much work as your mom will have to do, only to get mediocre results. Scanning film is a LOT of work and there is quite a learning curve (there has been for me, anyway).
Think about sending some of this material out to be scanned.
I'd get the mid-range Nikon ($900?). You can always sell the scanner when she's done (except that it will be years from now!).
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - C(-)ris - 12-05-2006
We use Nikon CoolScan III and IV scanners for our negatives at the newspaper. They are dedicated negative scanners and work great! The III is a SCSI scanner and the IV is a newer USB(or FW?) model. I have seen the III go for around $250 used. You can probably pick one up on ebay, and then sell it when you are done for close to the same cost. I have one setup with a SCSI to FW adapter that works great with Vuescan.
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - davester - 12-05-2006
I have a different perspective after going through this decision making process and doing some scanning. IMHO you should rethink what you're doing and what the cost in time and tears will be. A film scanner will be incredibly arduous and slow. Oh yeah, don't forget the huge amount of time to clean every negative, then crop, rotate, color correct and enhance all those shots. Multiply that by "thousands" of negatives and you (or your mom) will be in for a very long and unpleasant task. Not only that, but your results will probably not be that great. The viable alternatives are to use the professionals (by far the best solution) or use a high rez flatbed scanner.
As far as the pros are concerned, I think this service http://www.digmypics.com/OE/Pricing.aspx has the best combo of price and product, though Costco is cheaper if you don't want to pay that kind of money. It's pretty certain that either will provide you with a lot better product than you can do by yourself. If cost is an issue, it would be cheaper for you (or mom) to get a temporary minimum wage job or sell stuff on ebay for the hours it would take to do the scanning (and you'd come out way ahead $-wise too).
A high rez flatbed scanner (Epsons seem to have by far the best bang for the buck) can produce almost as good a negative/slide scans as a dedicated film scanner and can do a whole slew (12/4) of negs/slides at once. Check out this review: http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%204870/page_1.htm . This successor to this scanner can be had for only $310 refurbed. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63060806 .
Even with all that, I highly recommend that you do what I did. Come up a priority list for your photos, then buy a cheapie light table and loupe, and sort through all your negs to "high grade" the ones that you really want to reproduce. I found that only about 5% of my slides were really worth scanning. To archive the ones you don't scan, take them to the bank and put in a safe deposit box.
My three cents!
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - samintx - 12-05-2006
Scanning slides and negative isn't a big thing. Even my simple mind scans them on my Alfa scanner with very good results. Maybe not as good as sending out but it doesn't envolve anymore learning curve than scanning a piece of paper. I'm happy with the results.
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - Chupa Chupa - 12-05-2006
One thing to keep in mind with the Nikon scanners....they don't have UB software yet and the older software won't run under Rosetta. I found this out the hard way when brought my Coolscan IV in from the garage to connect with my MP. You have to go 3rd party route to get it to work with a Intel Mac.
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - grad - 12-05-2006
Just send it out to be scanned. You could even use Costco.
I think a gift that forces her to learn scanning software, prioritize your negatives with a light box and loupe, feed hundreds upon hundreds of negatives through a feeder, organize the scanned documents, and do a crap load of tedious work over the course of months wouldn't be that great a christmas gift...
... what would be great is if she could wake up christmas morning and have the prints in her hand... to flip through... tell you stories about... and feel great about.
Awwwww. Merry Christmas. (Insert Hallmark quote here)
Re: good 35mm negative scanner? - raz - 12-05-2006
A dedicated film scanner will give the best results, but will take the most time. I find that 10 minutes per slide is about the minimum. (Note: Get the excellent VueScan software. That way you can be editing slide 1 while scanning slide 2)
If she's really dealing with thousands of slides, that's a full time job for a year. She may enjoy that kind of work - some people do, but I'd doubt it. Especially on a 14" screen.
So, I'd seriously consider letting the pros do it.
However, if you do decide to scan slides, do not buy anything that doesn't have Digital ICE (or its successor GEM). The automatic dust removal alone will save hours of correction time.