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Which scanner ?

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Reviewing some old photographs I need to buy a scanner for negatives, slides and paper images.
Perhaps one for paper images should be a separated one... not bigger than A3.
I haven't so far made any search about this equipment. The need started yesterday night.
Any suggestions, please ?
Thank you ! :)
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Epson 850 is used most.

Add the software Vuescan by Hamrick. This or SilverFast is a great help! Vuescan is excellent and cost far less.

The Canon flatbed is cheaper and also has infrared to recognize scratches and correct them.

Asher
 

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Thank you Asher :)
We have been opening drawers... we found old fantastic pics from my father and myself.
Not to mention 35 mm slides, negatives, and videos... VHS, tapes from Sony you name it !

A mountain of work to scan ! :)

That scaner is too expensive...
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thank you Asher :)
We have been opening drawers... we found old fantastic pics from my father and myself.
Not to mention 35 mm slides, negatives, and videos... VHS, tapes from Sony you name it !

A mountain of work to scan ! :)

That scaner is too expensive...

The Canon or the Epson below will be perfect then! Still get Vuescan as it improves all scanner results!

Canon CanoScan 9000F MKII Photo, Film and Negative Scanner, Flatbed ~ $180 or Epson Perfection V600

Close to the same price or less!


Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
Epson or Canon will do a great job for prints and sheet film, less so for 35mm slides and negatives.

Dedicated film scanners have become hard to find. If you need to scan lots of 35mm slides, the reflecta digitdia series are worth considering, as they are the only ones which can work unattended. Avoid other film scanners for 35mm.

A simpler solution is to simply use the digital camera you already have and a macro lens. Fast, decent quality, but setting up the process is a bit involved.

VHS tapes need a VCR connected to your computer. VHS recordings are of surprisingly low quality. VHS "high-band" was a little bit better. In any case, you will need a "USB video capture adapter". From 10€ upwards on eBay. For 20x more, this solves all analog video problems, but is overkill for VHS.
 

Antonio Correia

Well-known member
Thank you so much Jerome, for your valuable comments ! :)
The simpler solution is the one I like best even the setting up process involved is a question of having a look at some video-instructions and do the job over and over until it turns out to be OK.
If the final outcome is not a "super quality" it is not that important.

All images are pretty old. Some are from my father, about 50 years old and some are mine, from the seventies.
Slides, negatives and videos are from the 70's and I am sure some of the latter just vanished in the ether of time...
Here is an image my father made which was scanned by himself. I can't tell you how I have this image in digital format because I forgot when and how I did it.
I guess I know the location where this was made. This little boy will be - if alive - about the same age I am now.
i-mHmXWX4-X3.jpg
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thank you so much Jerome, for your valuable comments ! :)
The simpler solution is the one I like best even the setting up process involved is a question of having a look at some video-instructions and do the job over and over until it turns out to be OK.
If the final outcome is not a "super quality" it is not that important.

All images are pretty old. Some are from my father, about 50 years old and some are mine, from the seventies.
Slides, negatives and videos are from the 70's and I am sure some of the latter just vanished in the ether of time...
Here is an image my father made which was scanned by himself. I can't tell you how I have this image in digital format because I forgot when and how I did it.
I guess I know the location where this was made. This little boy will be - if alive - about the same age I am now.
i-mHmXWX4-X3.jpg

Two important skills, to feed oneself and rearrange one’s family jewels!

Super picture and it transcends what it was!

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Epson or Canon will do a great job for prints and sheet film, less so for 35mm slides and negatives.

Jerome,

You are correct about limitations, but even the inexpensive flatbed scanners can often produce separate scans of each slide. I just don’t remember where this feature starts to appear in the pricing structure

Dedicated film scanners have become hard to find. If you need to scan lots of 35mm slides, the reflecta digitdia series are worth considering, as they are the only ones which can work unattended. Avoid other film scanners for 35mm.[_/quote]


These are a revelation to me and I appreciate the helpful link. If one has a lot of slides then an auto feeder or a slave intern is a necessity!

But what about the Nikon, Minolta and Canon scanners? Are they not available any longer or you just don’t recommend them.

A simpler solution is to simply use the digital camera you already have and a macro lens. Fast, decent quality, but setting up the process is a bit involved.
This, Jerome, is a most attractive solutionas the cost of an illuminated slide or film holder is going to be far more economical. I wonder if there are auto-feeders? But I imagine, since one knows one’s camera like an extension of one’s body, one could go through individual slides fast. Negatives could be a huge challenge, but a flatbed scanner with Vuescan can turn even a hard to comprehend color negative into something presentable.

VHS tapes need a VCR connected to your computer. VHS recordings are of surprisingly low quality. VHS "high-band" was a little bit better. In any case, you will need a "USB video capture adapter". From 10€ upwards on eBay. For 20x more, this solves all analog video problems, but is overkill for VHS.

Am so impressed with the BlackMagic device that seems to take data directly from the sensor.

@ Antonio, you may have more choices. A lot of companies do this conversion for you at a good price. I would do a search in your area.

Asher
 

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
But what about the Nikon, Minolta and Canon scanners? Are they not available any longer or you just don’t recommend them.

These brands discontinued film scanners over 10 years ago. Second hand Nikon quickscan still fetch high prices, though.

Present manufacturers include Plustek and Reflecta. The cheaper devices from them are terrible, the top line can be ok, but software is often buggy. The only professional device remaining (outside of minilabs) are the Hasselblad (Imacon) Flexscan, which have not been updated for years and costs the price of a small car.

Drum scanners have been out of production for a decade as well. Some people still use them, usually connected to a computer system of the same era. Same story about the 10 years old Creo/Kodak stitching flatbeds.

The US division of Phase One offers a scanning table for their MF backs. Apparently, it is popular for museums which have to scan old glass plates, etc...

Epson has a souped-up flatbed in diverse incarnations, Canon has a slightly less good flatbed.

That is about the extent of the scanner market.
 
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