Canoscan 2400UF first Impressions for MF Scanning

So my 2400UF just arrived about a half hour ago and I've only

done one or two test scans with it so far, but for now the thing is

exceeding my expectations.

 

I've done scans of a cross-processed 6x7 negative of mine, a

pretty dense neg which should put the dynamic range of the

scanner to the test, and I got a beautiful scan. A comparable

negative in 35mm came out with very bad clipping problems

from my Canon 2710 filmscanner.

 

Resolution at 2400dpi seems very good, though definitely not as

sharp as a dedicated filmscanner (I can't resolve out the

individual film grains as well as I can from my 2710) and color

rendition even from my crossprocessed neg was extremely

good. The FARE dust/noise reduction seems to work quite nicely

as well.

 

The negative holders are VERY well-designed, they hold

filmstrips for 35mm or Medium format, supporting up to 3

simultaneous 35mm negs or up to a 6x9 cm MF negative,

masks are supplied so you can mask out extra frames and/or

blank space. The negative frames are also designed to fit snugly

in place on the scanner bed, so your scans will always be

square - much better design than I've seen on other flatbeds,

imho. They're perhaps a little bit on the flimsy side, but certainly

sturdy enough, I'd say. (Not like the rock-solid but badly

designed microtek frames, for instance.)

 

The only other flatbed I've used for filmscanning was a high-end

Microtek - I have gotten better scans, better color rendition, and

better resolution from this $500 scanner than my friend's $3000

Artixscan, by _far_

 

Anyway, for the moment, I think my $440 was well spent on this

machine, would be interested to hear other people's thoughts

and/or answer questions.

--

Charles Bandes

http://people.ne.mediaone.net/glyph/MainPhoto.html

Could you post links to some examples of images you've scanned with the 2400? Details of small areas at high resolution would be nice!

Hi Charles,

I have been very interested in this scanner since I first heard about it several months ago. I have awaited its arrival and I am eager to see some results. I would like to use it for my 6x7 negatives and slides. Please show some scans and provide details.

 

Thanks,

Bill Branham

I can't figure out how to post an image here :(

 

Sorry to be such a dope. Will keep trying

Thanks for the input. I'm looking myself. Have your tried B&W film? Especially silver films.

Hi Charles.<br>You can either just give us the URL of images on a server, or use a bit of HTML script. The syntax for posting images is:<br>{img src="URL of the image" align=left hspace=10}<br>Where you need to substitute triangular brackets for curly ones (the left and right arrows at bottom right of the keyboard, shifted stop and comma), and to substitute the web address of your image file for the words "URL of the image". The inverted commas are necessary around the address.<br>The parameters 'align' and 'hspace' are optional, and just affect the positioning of the picture.

My partner and I bought an HP Scanjet 7400c (flatbed) last weekend to scan her 6x6 pinhole negs and now I'm envious! For $500 the thing puts out an amazingly good scan @ 2400 dpi. I scanned an old 35mm Kodachrome ysterday and was impressed with the results: I'm going to do a dirct comparison with my CanoScan FS 2710 as soon as I get a SCSI cable for the HP; I'm currently running it USB and it's very slow. This scanner is going to force me to buy a MF camera! Damn, and here I thought I was through with film. Considering the price difference between, say, a Nikon 8000 ($2000) I'd say it is well worth the money. Hell, I could buy a nice used Hasselblad for the difference.

 

Image courtesy of Denise Sallee.

<img src="http://www.ravenvision.com/images/willendorfboulder.jpg">

Hi Charles, is the image quality which Peter provided typical for Canon 2400 too, in that sense, I won't consider it.

I scan my 35mm format films by Photosmart s20 and quite satisfied with the results ( even at one half the max resolution i.e. 1200 dpi ). In Hongkong, some amateur-grade labs also provide films to CD service, suprisingly, at a very low cost, HKD$30-40 per film. Unfortunately, they have not yet extended the same service into 120 films. I don't have firewire and SCIS in my desktop, also at such a low price (~HKD$3,400 ), I am really interested in the new Canon scanner.

Eric. Remember, that image is from a pinhole camera.<br>Now has anyone got any <i>sharp</i> slides or negs they can scan for us on the 2400U?

Just to show what can be done with a modest flatbed scanner, here's a 120 neg scanned on a cheap Mustek 600dpi flatbed + tranny lid, together with a detail from it.<p><img src="ftp://cmpc29.ph.bham.ac.uk/spiralkids.jpg" align=left hspace=30><img src="ftp://cmpc29.ph.bham.ac.uk/detail.jpg" align=left hspace=30><br>

I purchased the CanoScan D2400uf a few weeks ago directly

from Canon. I have been looking for a modestly priced scanner

that would give me acceptable images from both 35mm and 120

transparencies. Before this scanner, that meant $1500 or more.

But I am thrilled with the scans I am getting from the D2400uf.

Keep in mind, I am only looking for monitor scans, to load unto

the web and to put on CDs, not printable images. But the ones I

have scanned have printed very well. (Haven�t tried any negs

yet). I have experimented with many flat bed scanners, and have

had ok luck with my 67 trans, but never have I been able to get a

quality scan from a 35mm slide until now.

 

I have just registered a new domain name that I will be

transferring my web site to next month, but in the meantime I

have loaded a few images scanned with the D2400uf there if you

would like to see them. www.davidrdaniel.com.

 

dave

Hi,

I recently bought a 2400UF, mainly for learning digital processing. I want to scan slides (MF, 35mm and LF 4x5"). I do !!not!! want to use a digital camera in future.

My first tests with MF- and 35mm slides where a bit disengaging. Why? It seemed to me, that I get a drastical loss of resolution (even when scanning with 2400 dpi or 35mm with 4800 dpi), sharpeness and brilliance. When scanning 35mm, there is a focus offset between stripes of film and framed slides. How can the scanner deal with that. There is no possibility of adjusting focus.

Or do I only expect too much, beeing spoiled by the quality of analog photography, especially MF????

My plans are to buy the new Nikon 8000 or the new Minolta for MF for processing semi profi jobs. But this must wait until I am more experienced, until prices have dropped and there will be more feedback to the mentioned filmscanners