What specs should I look for when buying a film scanner?

[evan_sears]

I don't want to spend more than $400.

[jack paradise]

Specs are misleading. There is no standard to which the equipment manufacturers adhere to, so they pretty much leave to the marketing dept to describe the equipment.

 

Look for equipment reviews and user comments.

 

Case in point: The Epson 4870 scanner whose resolution is at 4800 dpi. It really does produce a file size based on 4800dpi. But test have shown that the effective resolution is in reality at 1600-1700 dpi. Another Epson scanner, the E3200 has a resolution of 3200dpi. It's effective resolution is somewhere at the 1100-1200 dpi level.

 

It's not just Epson. They all do it.

 

You say you dont want to spend more than $400. So to meet that budget, you'll probably go by the mfg's specs and make a buying decision from there. You will surely get what you paid for. No more, no less. A $400 film scanner is not the equal of a $600 film scanner.

 

My advice: save up for a Nikon Coolscan V or get a lightly used (if that's possible) Nikon Coolscan LS4000.

[steven_clark]

Minolta Scan Dual IV. It won't give you ICE but it will give you decent resolving power.

[neal_shields]

dynamic range.

[mendel_leisk]

Clarify, are you scanning 35mm?

 

FWIW, I'd hang the $400 cap and just get the best damn prosumer scanner possible, whichever that might be...

[bobmichaels]

First attempt to make an honest self determination if you want:

1) great looking prints at max desktop printer size or

2) sitting back and looking at your scanner with pride knowing you have the best spec'd scanner currently on the market.

 

If 1) then consider price, speed and learning curve. Just about any recent model will do. 2820 dpi will suffice with any reasonable print size. People tend to ignore scan speed until they really get into scanning.

 

If 2), then you must determine if dynamic range is an important spec to you or if you realize it's a meaningless arithmetically determined marketing number that has no basis in reality. If the former, add that spec into the equation. If the latter, then just consider resolution. That's an easy spec to take pride in. Of couse you then need to ignore that most of that big dpi number will be thrown away by your printer.

 

Suggestion: go read and digest www.scantips.com. You'll learn a lot. Spend your money on film. Spend your time on shooting more and learning how to maximize Photoshop. Realize that film choice, lens quality and use of a tripod will have more impact on your print quality.

[catcher]

Don't know much about specs, but I'll make a recommendation for the Minolta Scan Dual IV. You can get it easily for under $300. Depending on multi-samplin, etc. it can take up to 30 minutes to scan a tray of 4 slides, but the results are worth the wait in my book. No ICE, but just be careful with your film and you'll be fine. You can't go wrong with it if you're on a budget. Unless you really need to scan larger formats, don't even consider a flat bed.