Neg Scanner Reccomendations for low budget?

<p>Hi i am a Photography student who is looking for a decent neg scanner to use out of term time. (The uni scanners are terrible). My budget is very low, preferably under £200. i need the scanner for scanning 35mm negs and 120 negs. These images will be displayed on the web and also printed at A3 size. Is there such a thing out there that could meet my requirements?</p>

<p>IMO you would be hard pressed to find something, and it would only be found on the used market. 120 film is pretty expensive to scan, the scanners are expensive and they present film flatness issues. IMO, you can find an epson flatbed used that can do something, but it will most likely take a LOT of time and effort to get an image you like. Fluid mounting may help.</p>

<p>If you plan on holding on to a scanner for a long time (years) then IMO start saving until you can but a good one. If you have immediate short term projects, you may be better off having a lab scan the images. Not cheap either, but you may be able to find a lab that is reasonable. </p>

Hi Alex,

 

I would check out the Canon 8800F. Scans both 35mm and 120, either negs or slides. It has a pretty moderate price tag

(£219 according to Canon's UK Site), and considering what it sells for, it's a very good scanner.

 

I've got it's predecessor the 8600F and have been very happy with it, with ChromeRA prints up to 24" x 18" with very good

results. As it seems you're on a budget, you may consider checking out Ebay for an 8600 or 8800 as well. I use it dominantly for color slides, but have scanned Kodak Portra 160 and Fuji Pro 160 neg film. I have noticed the color controls in the scanners software tends to amplify grain in strange ways, so do your adjustments in Photoshop, but that's a small nit at best.

 

http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Scanners/Flatbed_with_Film_Scanning/canoscan_8800f/index.asp<div></div>

<p>You could try the Epson V500. I haven't tried prints that large, but it could be possible, especially with 120. JR</p>

<p>Shouldnt be a problem at all with the v500. I havent printed at that size, but I know I could. :P</p>

<p>Really? Its been a while since I tried an Epson, but my experience has been that they don't scan MF as well as 35mm. The prints I still have from the Epson were from 35mm only, never had a successful MF scan/print from that scanner. A3 is a hard print size because its large, but still small enough that it may be examined quite closely.</p>

<p>Canon scanners are usually pretty good, I would suggest looking into that scanner.</p>

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<p>Is there such a thing out there that could meet my requirements?</p>

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<p>Not in my opinion, no. The problem is not with the web application but with the prints and in particular the size of prints you want, especially from 35mm. People's needs and standards vary, and there are plenty who do what you propose, but I'd want a decent film scan to support prints that size. Of course if the bulk of your scanning need were to view on screen, you could use a flatbed for that and buy in film scans for those you want to print</p>

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<p>Dont forget that if you need to enlarge bigtime, you can use Genuine Fractals to help you out. </p>