Since I have a lot of rolls of slide film I've taken, dozens of rolls of print film, and have just found the motherlode of negs in the stuff at Dad's house I'm going through, I'm seriously thinking of a film/slide scanner. I don't know if good ones can be had for under $400 or not. I want good results (mainly for the web, and also for reprinting on the photo inkjet printer), but don't need the utmost in quality either--I can do enough in Photoshop to make them presentable if I need to. I have a legal-size scanner right now, one of the older ones that scans decently , and am able to get good scans of some of my photos that way. And another gotcha--I have quite a few rolls of APS film also. I've heard of some scanners having APS adapters. Anyone here have such a scanner, or any pointers on what to look for? TIA,
Rudy, I agonized about the same thing a few months ago after my Dad passed away and Mom found a few hundred 35mm slides in boxes that I'm going to burn to DVD for a family Christmas gift this year. I just couldn't justify the cost of a slide scanner for something that I probably wouldn't ever use again after I finished the project. After a lot of research I bought the flatbed Epson Perfection 2450 for around $360 total. It's Firewire, is lightning fast, and gets the highest-quality results I've ever seen for a scanner in that price range. It's also got a 4-slide adaptor and two-neg-strip adaptor that have yet to fail me. Just one fella's opinion...
Interesting...can you actually get that good resolution on a flatbed for negatives and slides? I thought I had heard of adapters for flatbed scanners, but didn't know if the results would be as good scanning something so small on a scanner designed for 8-1/2x11. I think even my HP may have once had a neg/slide adapter option. I love shooting my digital Olympus, but when I go back to traveling, I'll still lug arouond the SLR with the zoom and wide-angle lens, so I'm thinking I would still get a lot of good use out of a neg/slide scanner.
Hmmm...wonder if something like this is any good? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2732101526&category=11208
I remember the magazine Popular Photography doing a big article comparing scanners, so you might want to search around the archives in their web site. I'm having 'net trouble here at home (hrumf) with their site, but I found this on the Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual III. I've heard positive things about Minolta's scanners from other people as well. http://www.popularphotography.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=628 Before digital cameras ruled the world, I used Nikon CoolScan scanners for some years. I don't know what's in the lineup now, and they have some pricey models. Don't know if they have anything under $300 though. I'm out of the loop. Dan C
Here's a test on a group of scanners: http://www.popularphotography.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=420&page_number=1 Dan C
I did find a Nikon Coolscan: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931160498&category=15223 And a refurbed Minolta: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931276603&category=15223 Check that Pop Photo write-up--everything's way out of reach price-wise. They do point out, though, that most flatbeds are not good for scanning film--the resolution on many scanner's isn't good enough, and the scanner can't focus on the tiny image. Looks like some of the scanners do offer an APS option. Kodak even sold a dedicated APS film scanner.
I bought an Acer Scanwit 2720 a few years ago which I think is no longer made. They sold a better model for awhile (2740) which has the "Digital I.C.E." feature which takes out scratches automatically. Probably not as good as the Nikons or Minoltas, but I'm very happy with it for the price. At 2700 DPI I can see the grain in 800 speed film. Yields about a 9 megapixel image out of a 35mm negative. I don't think that HP model has a tray for the slides or negatives so automating the scanning process would be tough. The Acer has a tray that you can put in 4 slides or 6 negatives and walk to the fridge while its scanning them.
Sorry 'bout that! The Minolta Scan Dual III looks like a winner though for under $300. I also would stay away from flat-bed scanners for film, unless you spend huge bucks on a pro model. Dan C
Here is a review of the scanner that I own: http://www.photoscientia.co.uk/Review.htm Here is a web page with reviews of several film scanners: http://www.imaging-resource.com/SCAN1.HTM
