ScanCafe, a short review

[derek_hofmann]

<p>I sent off 9 rolls of 35mm film and about 300 loose photographs to ScanCafe for scanning. Because I used only a point-and-shoot camera for the negatives, I chose the least expensive option, 3000 dpi.<br /> <br /> Once scanning is complete, they put low resolution images online for you to organize and choose which to discard. The web site for this is slow but usable. I noticed that a couple of scans had a yellowish tint, and one had a pinkish tint. They're supposed to do color correction when they scan, but there doesn't seem to be a way to request color (re-)correction for those images from the web site.<br /> <br /> The scans of the negatives I received on the DVD are very sharp. So sharp that they show film grain that I didn't originally notice in my 4x6" prints.<br /> <br /> I didn't notice until I got the DVD back that a number of scans had red-eye, which they're supposed to remove. At least one has a faint vertical scratch that looks like it may have been caused by movement of the film through my camera. Another has some white spots that may have been dust. Am I being too picky? Only a few out of hundreds have issues that should have been corrected.<br /> <br /> ScanCafe isn't perfect, but for 29 cents per 3000dpi scan, I don't think you can beat the price. DigMyPics.com charges 39 cents per 2500 dpi scan (or 49 cents at 3200dpi) and don't seem to offer manual scratch removal or red-eye removal, at least as standard options, but you get TIFFs for free at that price, a 19 cent upgrade at ScanCafe.<br /> <br /> I'm interested in reading other reviews of both services and their competition. I'm thinking of having my parents' old negatives and slides scanned.</p>

[lmnphotog]

<p>I just used scan cafe for my wedding pictures. I had a bunch of 35 mm film scanned. Wanted the veristality of digital and as a extra back up just in case. Process was great. Sadly have not really reviewed all the pictures like I wanted. Had some printed and they looked fine. <br>

FYI - They gave me an offer if I paid $150 for a gift card they gave me one in the amount of $300. Look out for those deals. So it was 50% off for me really. I did my negatives in waves since I am a nut when it comes to the safety of them. I overnighted them personally. Receievd offer after I sent first batch. Then used the gift card for the rest.<br>

Overall I thought it was a great service. Would like to try to submit old photos to have scanned and fixed.</p>

[carbon_dragon]

<p>Seems like a great price when you consider how much time I spent buying a Nikon Coolscan V and scanning in all my stuff myself. I like to hope I got better scans but it took a collossal amount of time and effort, and then there is the cost of the scanner.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Derek, could you post an unedited sample shot with a 100% crop?</p>

<p>I'ld like to see what these services can provide for the price you indicated. Looks like a good price for such high rez scans. </p>

<p>Does ScanCafe scan to 16bit Tiff as well?</p>

<p>Thanks for posting this!</p>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>TIFFs are 19 cents extra. I don't know how many bits they are.<br>

Here's a resized sample shot. The colors are a little odd on this one compared to the print. The sky is yellower and the brick pavement is redder in the scan.</p><div></div>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>Here's a 100% crop.</p>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>This one has better colors. Keep in mind that these were all taken with a $50 point-and-shoot camera, so quality won't be the best.</p><div></div>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>100% crop.</p><div></div>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Thanks for posting the samples, Derek.</p>

<p>They're about typical of what I used to get from local minilab scans, but mine having higher contrast where the highlights like the cloud in your image would get blown and shadows plugged up. The color in those scans looks more true to life than the saturated results from the minilabs.</p>

[roger_smith4]

<p>The scans look pretty good to me. Just as you don't expect perfection out of jpegs produced by a digital camera I wouldn't expect better out of scans. These are good starting points which you can manipulate further. Red eye is very easy to fix with Lightroom, Photoshop elements or other programs.</p>

[derek_hofmann]

<p>Unfortunately, I didn't pay for the non-lossy TIFFs, so if I need to modify the images now, I'll be adding another generation of image loss.</p>

[h_d4]

<p>I am in the process of reviewing about 3300 scans. I am happy with the quality I see in the small, review versions of the scans. I was prepared for the time it took to get them so that was not a problem (about 4 weeks). <br>

THE PROBLEM: Even with a hig bandwidth, high speed computer, the review process is slow and tedious. I have communicated with them several times - they keep saying to use firefox (which I use) and that there might be a "temporary glitch" in their system. <br>

Unfortunately it seems this "temporary glitch' is occurring every day and at all times, since i have been working at this for about 10 dyas at all different times. I've tried several computers in different locations, all with brodband or T1 access. <br>

The scancafe pages are slow to respond, sometimes seem to hang o freeze entirely, you can't tell if something is going to happen or if the system has stopped responding, navigating back and forth between folders is slow, tedious, painful. Overall, the review process has been a bummer. <br>

I get the feeling the scancafe people WANT you to get frustrated, giveup "rejecting" scans, and just hit the "checkout now" button and buy all the scans. So beware - they say you can cut your costs by rejecting up to 1/2 the scans, but they (or their system) makes it tedious and time consuming to do so. Makes you go "hmmmmmm". ;)</p>

[gregory_king1]

<p>I have some 400ISO 645 negs to scan professionally. The film was pretty old, so I think it contributed to them being very low contrast. Combined with the film speed, the grain is very pronounced.</p>

<p>Murphy's Law dictates that I finally got some shots worth scanning beyond the capabilities of my V500.</p>

<p>I'm wondering if Scancafe would be a good option, or would slideconverter be a better option. They are "only" using a V750, but I'm thinking their wetmounting of the slides may do good things for the grain. I'm concerned that a higher-resolution scan from Scancafe may just get me a big scan of grain.<br>

<br />Thoughts?</p>

[nick_maldonado]

<p>@Derek<br /> i Work for www.digmypics.com and wanted to let you know that we normally don't do red eye correction, however we do go over each image by hand to slightly color enhance and remove any excess dust and fix some scratches. Before you pay you're allowed to review and if there's anything you need to be fixed with your images to be happy with them we'll do our best to accommodate. We don't want you left with a bad taste in your mouth about our service. Best of luck!<br />Nick Maldonado </p>

[steve_rasmussen]

<p>I sent some of my quality medium format slides to them in the hopes that their hi rez scans would be good enough for publication purposes. Not even close. I sent the same material, three times to them and each time, major mistakes were seen. They did the work, then the rework, then the re-rework. They do not learn from their mistakes. Avoid!</p>