film scanners

Anyone could give me some advice on which film scanner to buy and

why ? And whats the difference between a normal transparency adapter

and a film scanner ?

the difference is sharpness and resolution but this may or may not be a factor for you

depending n what size film and how large you want to output the images.

There's a number of places to go, I've got a link on my profile, and theres scantips.com. Basically a transparency adapter is like a lightbox for a flatbed scanner, you put the film between it and the scanbed and the flatbed scanner (if it supports this) can scan the film. A film scanner is a dedicated device with optimized optics and illumination for scanning and are generally built using higher quality components for recording your film with greater detail.

 

What would help us is if you would tell us a few things: What you intend to do with the scans. If you're going to use them for web display the demands are lower, however if you're going to be printing and archiving scans you may want a higher quality record of your film.

 

The second issue is what do you need to scan, and this is affected by budget. If you're not willing to put down the money some flatbeds can do a decent job with scanning film (via a transparency adapter). Also if you need the ability to scan papers and prints these are ideal. If you can afford a film scanner you'll get better scan quality for more demanding uses, but these can't scan reflective materials, only film.

 

So back comes that issue, how much do you think you want to spend?

You should check out the Digital Darkroom Forum... there are many discussions on scanning, and also how to work with the files after scanning. Also, try doing a search (of Photo.net) and type in Dynamic Range (also try d-max) For 35mm film, a film scanner is really worth the costs, and expect to pay about $300 for a decent one. If you just need screen images, then you can get by with less.

Cezar,

 

Could I suggest reading Wayne Fulton's Scanning Tips page?

It may help clarifying some of the notions or misconceptions, as well as info on transparency adapter and film scanners.

This should help, especially you control all the variables (media intended to scan, output needs, both final purpose and quality/size requirements).

And if there's anything you can help us here setting some of these conditions, we can do better ourselves trying to give you relevant info.

 

I can give you my personal experience, having used (and still using) both types.

I have a good, but rather old (I'd even say outdated) Nikon LS-1000 film scanner. I use this for scanning my slides. The main scope is archival and occasional printing full resolution scans (2700 dpi on 35mm slide or film). I have a process (self-designed and implemented) that creates few resolutions from everything that I scan, so I make CDs to store every 35mm slide film that is worth saving. All images will have index images that makes easy identification and retrieval of images when I need them.

 

Buth nothing beats the convenience of a flatbed scanner with transparency adapter (I guess Epson Perfection 1250).

Color adjustment is done almost perfect using their scanner driver, both done from PS or other imaging tool, including the supplied software from Epson.

Except for keeping the scans in lower resolutions, more suitable for Web pages and viewing (I use 512x768 size for Web), no other tweaks seem to be needed to get a good match with what's on my slides. I typically shoot Velvia, Provia100/100F and haven't found many situations when a scan on this rather cheap scanner didn't match 1-1 with the colors on the slide (to my subjective viewing, of course!).

The other benefit is that I can snap a picture quickly to do a web quality scan with minimum effort and frustration, plus I also scan various paper documents for my personal/business use.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Viorel

The Creo EverSmart Supreme film scanner, of course. Why? Because it's

probably the best around.... to be used with negatives and transparencies

dipped in isoreflective oil.

Thanks macman, its on my Christmas wishlist.

In school we use: KODAK PROFESSIONAL RFS 3600 Film Scanner. It scans film & slides. Quality is swell as well too. *thumbs up*

The scanner you buy depends on how much you want to spend. They range from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. I scan film and slides for a living and use Nikon scanners only. They produce consistent results and incorporate Digital ICE technology, not all scanners do.

 

A transparency adapter holds film in both flatbed scanners and certain film scanners. I have found that these adapters are a real pain to use. So flatbed scanners need to use an adapter to scan film. Film scanners on the other hand only scan film and slides. Most have automatic loading for strips of film. When an adapter is used with a film scanners it's usually because the negative strip is too short or messed up in some way.

 

Of course if you don't want to hassle with all this I can do it for ya :) http://www.pearsonimaging.com