Scanner for old B&W negatives and pictures

[harryo]

I am just about to start a project digitizing some older B&W film

and photos. I have negatives ranging in size from what looks like 1

3/4" square to 3.5" x 6" formats. The photos ranges in size upto

8"x10".

 

What scanner do you recommend for this project. Remember it is

strictly B&W and older film. Resulting pictures I want to produce

will be a maximu size of 8"x10".

 

Thanks in advance.

[tonysvision]

I suggest looking at the current Epson Perfection Photo flatbeds. I've been using the Perfection 4870 Photo for a year or so, and find it excellent for the work you describe. You will need to manually edit dust specks from scanned negatives, though - the Digital Ice dust removal which works well with color and B&W chromogenic films gets weird with silver-based negatives.

[mingus1]

Cheaper still is the 3170 if it's just for B&W,

[john-stricklen]

If you have a 3.5x6 negative, you will need a scanner capable of large format. Given that I would highly recommend the Epson perfection line. I have the 4180 and it is great for negatives and prints, both B&W and color. The digital ICE doesn't work on the silver negatives because it relies on the transmission characteristics of the color emulsion.

[noreen]

Harry, thank you for asking this question. I was about to pose an identical one. My

situation is the acquisition of a Yashica-A from a friend, but also some antique negatives,

picked up at an auction, that I would like to scan and produce prints no larger than 8x10".

 

I believe these are from the teens, but I'm not sure; they measure a bit more than 3 1/4"

square. Whether or not they're printable is anybody's guess. They aren't the flattest

things in the universe and the contrast seems questionable. I can only hope the first roll

of Tmax I put through the Yashica are more promising!

 

Now, I've heard that Epson software (at least that accompanies the 3170, which is more in

line with my own budget) can do nasty things to Macs on OS X. My iBook is running

10.3.9, and there is at least one report on Amazon of the software doing such damage a

computer on this system that Norton Disk Utility was needed to repair it. I do, however,

have Vuescan, which I use to run a Coolscan V. Can I bypass these difficulties with

Vuescan? And will negatives of this larger, 3 1/4" size, work with the 3170, or any other

decent under-$200 flatbed?

 

(I should also note that I won't be working exclusively in b&w with the Yashica.)

[cjogo]

I have been scanning "turn-of the century" negs & prints for many years ---we scan with a used , $50 Epson 2450. It is not the best for negatives--but great on prints! We use the Minolta Pro > for up to :: 6X9 negs