Good MF-Scanner for 1000 bucks?

[peter_bongard]

Hi!

I'm planning to buy a new scanner, mainly to do MF-Scans. My Budget is about

1000 Euros. Do you have any recommendations? It should give me the highest

resolution (for the money) and Digital ICE. My main candidates so far are the

Epson V700 or V750-models. I've previously owned a Microtek Artixscan 120tf

(aka Polaroid Sprintscan 120) but wasn't too fond of it because of its banding-

issues, the lack of ICE and the unpredictable sharpness-issue. Any other

alternatives than the Epson Flatbeds for that money?

Thanks,

Peter

[marbing]

I like the Microtek Scanmaker i900.

 

http://www.microtek.nl/Product.php?ThisPage=&Product=Detail&P_Id=107

[custom film holders for fl]

If you do a lot of searching and monitoring of sites for used scanners, you might be able to find a steal of a deal on a decent used dedicate film scanner for 1000 Euros.

<p> Doug<p>

<a href="http://www.betterscanning.com">New film holder designs for Epson, Agfa and Microtek</a>

[peter_bongard]

How does the i900 compare to the Epson V700? Does it have ICE for Film?

[marbing]

ICE is for prints but I never use it in any case since the scanner comes with Silverfast AI 6 which includes its own Defect Removal tool

 

http://www.silverfast.com/highlights/srd/en.html

 

That works for both film and prints.

[ilkka_nissila]

ICE only works for transparent media, not prints. A software-based dust removal tool applies itself everywhere, while ICE is only applied to areas with dust in them. Thus the reduction in image quality by ICE is much less significant than that of other methods.

[josphy]

Could you get a used Nikon 8000 for that price?

[harryo]

You should be able to find yourself a good Nikon 8000 scanner for 1000 Euros. Stay away from the flatbeds as they'll turn you MF system into a 35mm very quickly.

[marbing]

I also believed that digital ICE was only for transparencies but the Microtek scanner appears to have a version that is specifically for resotration of prints and does NOT work for transparencies and negatives.

 

http://www.microtek.nl/Product.php?ThisPage=&Product=Detail&P_Id=107

(Scroll down to the bottom of the features list)

 

For this reason, I still prefer the Silverfast tool. I have the ability to localize any defect repair to specific parts of the image and thus not have any resolution degradation for the rest of the shot. Also, Digital ICE does work very well on colour negatives and transparencies but does not work at all on B&W negatives (except the chromagenic types) and, since most of my old scratched negatives are pre-chromagenic, the Silverfast solution accomodates ALL possible media.

[custom film holders for fl]

There are different versions of ICE. The i900's just works on prints. The recent Epson flatbeds have ICE for prints and ICE for film. The Nikon 9000 has the "pro" version for film which adds a rating for Kodachrome films.

<p> Doug<p>

<a href="http://www.betterscanning.com">New film holder designs for Epson, Agfa and Microtek</a>

[peter_bongard]

I understand that the Glass-Holders are a must for the Nikon 8000 in order to keep the film flat. Will ICE still work with these Glass-Holders?

-Peter

[ilkka_nissila]

Yes, it does work with glass. However, obviously to minimize problems you try to keep everything clean.

[walterh]

Peter I use the LS800 with 120 films without glass most of the time. Usually I get good focus. A glass holder is only a "must" for those exceptions where the film just does not "want" to be flat in the holder. With newly developed film it may be primarily a problem of practise to load the film flat by giving it the right amount of tension.

[thomas_sullivan]

just wondering if anyone has seen an in depth review of the Epson V750 itself (ie I've seen the 700 reviews....am impressed...but really would like to see how good the 750 is). I currently use an Epson 1640 photo scanner (flatbed) for my medium format, so ANYTHING will be better......but the 750 has really caught my eye. thanks in advance.

[farhad]

I've got a Mikrotek i900 and have to warn you about what I see as a few major defects for

scanning film:<br>1. The 35mm holder just cannot seem to hold the film flat enough to

get a sharp scan<br>2. The MF holder requires you to cut your negatives up into single

frames of 6x6 or 2 frames of 645 - totally ridiculous. Additionally, I haven't scanned ONE

sharp image from negative since buying this scanner. The reflective scans work well

though. There is a company that sells improved MF holders, I haven't tried them, so do

your own research, but here's the link: <a href="http://www.betterscanning.com/

scanning/

usingagdual.html">http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/usingagdual.html</a>