Trying to find an inexpensive scanner that gives decent quality scans

[diver1]

<p>I've just recently started to shoot medium format with a Holga camera, I'm already fed up of photo lab scans, they never give me a scan that's bigger than a 7 mega pixel image and if I want a higher resolution scan they charge 15.00$ per photo! I now want to get a scanner but I don't want to spend the cash for a high end model, keep in mind that I'm shooting with a Holga and not a Hasselblad or a Mamiya so the best quality scanner is not what i'm looking for, just a model that does a good enough scan at a decent price, any suggestions? thanks.</p>

[carbon_dragon]

Something like the Epson Perfection V700? It's a flatbed, but it has a light up lid that allows you to scan transparencies.

Won't be as detailed as a 35mm scanner scanning 35mm, but it think it's pretty good and you can scan very large

transparencies.

[cabbiinc]

<p>The Epson Perfection V500 would be more suited for what Steve is asking about.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>I've had good luck with the Canoscan machines ( http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/scanners/film_negative_scanners ). They go from list prices at US$130 to $200. These are even decent for 35mm, but are very good indeed for larger format.</p>

[randrew1]

<p>My solution was to buy a Kodak RFS 3570 scanner. These were about $8000 in 1995 but can be purchased on eBay for $200 - $400. This has worked well for me, but there are some limitations:</p>

<ul>

<li>requires a SCSI port</li>

<li>limited to 6MP per scan</li>

<li>Many used scanners are sold without the film holders which are nearly impossible to find now. </li>

</ul>

[john_shriver]

<p>For Holga film, <em>anything</em> that can scan 120 film will do.<br>

A used Epson 2450 would be just fine, so long as it includes the film holders. It's only USB 1.1, so high-resolution scans are sloooooooooooooooow! But you don't need high-resolution scans for Holga negatives. I still have my 2450 (it will probably go to college with my daughter for her Holga work), but I upgraded to a V750 for much more speed and the ability to handle 5x7 negatives.<br>

A used Epson 4990 would also be very fine, it's a USB 2.0 replacement for the 2450.<br>

If you want to buy new, Epson V500 is probably the minimum, but probably over your budget.<br>

If you're in an area with active Craigslist, might be the best place to find the scanners, they don't ship well if not really properly packed. But do learn the prices from completed sales on eBay -- should be cheap!</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Steve: The V600 is slightly more expensive than the V500 but a lot less than the V700. The advantage of the V600 is that you can scan (3) 6x7 at a time rather than one for the V500. The V600 also applies ICE to both film and photo prints while the V500 only does this with film. Both scan the same amount of 35mm. </p>

<p>If you have old prints that are creased or marred or scratched, ICE really helps fix them up. Note that ICE only works on color film but not on B/W film. You can scan B/W but not apply ICE. Good luck on whatever you decide. Alan.</p>

[walter_degroot]

<p>ron andrews. I do not know about Mac<br>

but with a pc w 2000 xp or newer a real scsi card like an Adaptec works.,<br>

The connector may differ but that is a cable problem.<br>

Likely no driver will be required.<br>

BUT as said, the Holga, with it's plastic lens and other optical defects, does not need a high quality scanner<br>

I think many holga owners will be saddened later, If the capture an image and find they can do little with it afterwards.<br>

many of the old cameras are Holga Like,<br>

but have much sharper lenses..</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>For instance, the Boston area Craigslist has an Epson 3200 (in-between the 2450 and 4990) for $75. They are around $40 to $50 on eBay, of course plus shipping.<br>

2450's go for about $25 on eBay.<br>

Hmm, 4990 is past your probable budget, used ones at $250 on eBay. V500 is cheaper than that used.<br>

Walter -- on problem with older scanners is that the software doesn't work with newer operating systems. If I want to use Nikon Scan on my Mac Mini, I have to run it under Windows XP in Parallels virtual machine. The MacOS driver doesn't work on 10.7 or newer. At least the Kodak RFS-3570 is supported by VueScan, so it's not an "OS Orphan". </p>

[Mike Gammill]

<p>Here's what my Epson V600 can do with 120 (4.5 x 6 cm). I scanned at 2400 dpi in grayscale mode. Reduced size for posting here. </p><div></div>

[diver1]

<p>Thanks for the input guys, so far I think the Epson perfection V500 or the V600 would be the best choice for the amount of money I plan to spend on this, thanks.</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>Just to clarify my point above :If you have old prints that are creased or marred or scratched, ICE really helps fix them up. Note that ICE only works on color film but not on B/W film. You can scan B/W but not apply ICE. Good luck on whatever you decide. ICE on prints only with the V600, not the V500. Alan</p>

[diver1]

<p>I just got one last question, when scanning negatives should I have the scanner software correct for exposer or would I be better off correcting that with Photoshop?</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>I've gotten good results on my V600 scanning with the Epson scanner software in auto exposure setting in Configuration and in Post with Elements 8. Stay away from back-light and the other auto exposure settings however. In the end, you can try it both ways and experiment to see what works for you. It does take time to get your routine up to speed.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>Adjust the black and white points correctly when scanning. You can do some simple curves adjustment. But do the heavy lifting in your photo editor. If the exposure was really far off, do a 16-bit scan instead of an 8-bit scan, to avoid posterization.</p>

 

[walter_degroot]

<p>I have looked on line with the canon 9000?<br>

mentioned JDM's post at the top<br>

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=B11B198011<br>

and the epson. it took some work to find the page<br>

and not all epsobns seem to be photo scanners<br>

but the v600 is still available.<br>

the others I saw last winter are not on the site.</p>

<p>I REALLY would like to see info on a dedicated and available scanner</p>

[david_henderson]

<blockquote>

<p>when scanning negatives should I have the scanner software correct for exposer or would I be better off correcting that with Photoshop?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The answer is a bit of both. You'll probably find it easier to make detailed adjustments to exposure, contrast, and colour in Photoshop, and indeed in my experience its pretty much a folorn hope to make scans that are ready to use all the time.<br>

But, you have to get the exposure close enough to avoid clipping essential detail in shadows or highlights. Photoshop can't work on what isn't there.</p>

[AlanKlein]

<p>David: What procedures do you follow during the scan?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>If it weren't so far on in the history of my scanning in 10s of thousands of slides -- if I could go back to the beginning, that is -- I would get one of the 4000dpi Nikon scanners. However, what I did get was the old dedicated Canoscan FS4000US. The scans are fine, even excellent, but the interfaces on the scanner are USB1 (pouring molasses through a tiny straw), or Fast SCSI (OK, but not as fast as other connections). I soon got a SCSI card for my old tower machine and that old computer (running Mac OS X 10.4) is now almost completely dedicated to the scanner. I have repeatedly looked for SCSI>whatever converters, but some seem to have been offered in the past, but they all seem (from the internet discussion of them) to work poorly to not at all.<br /> As I have said before, I thought I had more time than money, but no body wants to spend <em>that much</em> time.<br /> The prices on the Nikon scanners of the same type have stayed very high, and it's too late for me. I'd certainly recommend finding as fast a scanner as you can find, and no less than 4000 dpi, unless you are completely sure that you will never do more than post jpgs on the internet. A 4000dpi image is about the same size in pixel dimensions as a 22MP digital camera image.</p>

<p>There is a long debate about the utility of these and also digital cameras and copy stand setups. It's too complicated to sum up here, so look at the thread: http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00aVMv<br /> A search on this site and Google will reveal a LOT more discussions with people pretty much leaving the debate with their opinions unaltered. :|</p>

<p>I also have a CanoScan 9950F (a predecessor of the 9000) which I broke in "fixing" it.<br>

Why is it we have to relearn the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle over and over again? It still does ok as a film scanner, but the bottom lamp for normal opaque scans does poorly, so after this discussion started, I decided to bite the bullet and get the 9000.... so in a few days to a week, I should have experience with the new one.</p>

[robert lee]

<blockquote>

<p>I've just recently started to shoot medium format with a Holga camera ... they never give me a scan that's bigger than a 7 mega pixel image and if I want a higher resolution scan they charge 15.00$ per photo!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The key here is <em>Holga</em>. On technical merits, the "lens" on this thing is about on par with what you can do with a couple of old fashioned Coke bottles.<br>

<br>

Here's what to do:</p>

<ol>

<li>Go to the <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/BuyEpson/ccHome.jsp">Epson refurb store</a></li>

<li>Find the least expensive, MF capable used scanner</li>

<li>Buy it if it's less than $120; wait for a new lot to come around otherwise.</li>

</ol>

<p>Alternatively,</p>

<ol>

<li>Get a sheet or two of vellum paper. Tape it to a window that isn't under direct sun.</li>

<li>Tape the negative to the vellum</li>

<li>Shoot the negative with your digicam. Invert in Photoshop.</li>

</ol>

<p>You definitely don't want to spend more money than what a couple of weeks worth Starbucks coffee drinks cost. </p>

[jeff_sudduth]

<p>I've just recently started to shoot medium format <strong>with a Holga camera</strong>...</p>

<p>That was your first mistake. If this is one of those overpriced fix apeture fixed focus plastic lens cameras the damage has been done. Get an Epson V500 and call it a day. In the future check ebay out for something like a complete ETRS kit with 75mm lens, camera body, speed grip, 120 film back, and prism finder for $300 or less in good shape. With good film and good technique it will DESTROY virtually ALL DSLRs. THEN worry about getting the <a href="http://plustek.com/usa/products/opticfilm-series/opticfilm-120/introduction.html">Plustek OpticFilm 120</a>... if the scanner lives up to the presale hype.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV600Photo.html">Also if you get the v500 or v600 scan at a maximum of 3200 dpi</a>. Anything above that is a waste and makes an unnecessarily unwieldy file. The v700 is allegedly a higher resolution scanner. It doesn't seem like it is enough of a quality increase for me to spend HUNDREDS of dollars more. I got my V500 for less than $130 on sale. a v700 costs FOUR times as much. By the time you start getting up into that kind of money it is time to start saving for the OpticFilm 120... assuming that thing comes in at $1,500. But of course you will need to upgrade your camera before that. Hi res scans of Holga negatives/transparencies makes no sense.</p>

[wblynch]

<p>Holga is fine for a start. At least it gets a person used to film and medium format. It is now easy and cheap to move up in medium format quality.<br>

I have a Diana that I use but it isn't all that satisfying compared to a Minolta Autocord ($85) or a Mamiya M645 ($200).</p>

<p>In actuality, I have used my 99 cent Brownie Hawkeye Flash about 10x more than the Diana and it is waayyy more satisfying. It is downright fun because it at least has a quality glass lens.</p>

<p>Either way, welcome to Medium Format Film !</p>

<p> </p>

[stevierose]

<p>I know that you are asking about which scanner to buy, but, I think that part of the problem you state is related to the pro labs you use. I would suggest you check out the following labs: 1. Indie Film Lab; 2. Richard Photo Lab, or 3. North Coast Photographic Services (you can google these). They all offer high quality film development and high resolution scans at a very reasonable cost. As an example, Indie Film Lab charges $15 for dip and dunk film processing of 120 film and large high quality scans that are color corrected and done by a human and $18 for their extra large scans. C41 or BW film. They charge around 3 bucks to scan an existing negative. They use state of the art Fuji and Noritsu scanners. Richard Photo Lab charges slightly more, and NCPS is about the same. All these places are way into service and doing a great job with film. You can send your film to them in a Priority Mail small flat rate box for about $5, and download the scans to your computer. So I guess it depends on how much film you shoot and who much time you want to spend in front of a computer and scanner. At these prices, I'd rather let someone who is great at it handle this for me. </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>For the record: got my CanoScan 9000F. I have to confess at first glance, I'm beginning to wonder if I need to get the older 9950F back into service.<br>

I still messing around with it, though.</p>

[Bill Bowes]

<p>Hello all. The Holga might get you going, but if everything turns "serious" (photography is classified as an ""addiction"" by many), you might want to think seriously about a decent quality Medium Format camera. Even a 35mm camera will beat the Holga. Some great deals on Ebay and your local CL.<br />I use a V600 scanner ($175 new) with the stock software. My negs are exposed/developed for wet printing, so I have not used the VueScan download software much. Very little post processing is needed on the scans.<br />The whole exercise is for enjoyment...keep that in mind. Bill</p><div></div>