Scanner choices and computer
- Thread starter Eugene T
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I think you're in the best place for tech, unless you want to post in the film area for film scans.
www.talkphotography.co.uk
Talk Film & Conventional
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Ok things have moved on in the past years. i,m looking again at film scanners as i want to put all my pictures onto digital.
I see the Epson V500 has been discontinued so what is out there at a reasonable cost and compatibility ?.
If it doesn't operate on Linux its no good for me .
I see the Epson V500 has been discontinued so what is out there at a reasonable cost and compatibility ?.
If it doesn't operate on Linux its no good for me .
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From info here it seems that you can run the Plustek OpticFilm 8200/8200i on Linux if you use free Vuescan software. This will cover 35mm negs and slides and is quick and easy to use.
If you want to scan medium and large format negs then a flat bed Epsom perfection V500 photo will also work with linux based on https://www.moonmoonio.com/en/blog/epson_v600_film_scanning_on_linux.
GAS for a better focussing camera is getting to me at the moment so I'm going to put both in the for sale section
If you want to scan medium and large format negs then a flat bed Epsom perfection V500 photo will also work with linux based on https://www.moonmoonio.com/en/blog/epson_v600_film_scanning_on_linux.
GAS for a better focussing camera is getting to me at the moment so I'm going to put both in the for sale section
ChrisR
I'm a well known grump...
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OK, I don't know much about scanners on Linux, so take some of this with a pinch of salt!
The Plustek scanners are very good with 135 film. I have had a Plustek 7500i since 2012, and despite the occasional hiccups it is still going strong. You need to advance the film strip holder manually for each frame, so the overall experience is very manual and quite slow.
Two words of warning, though. First, Vuescan Pro is not free. It used to be pay once, upgrades for life, sadly no longer. You can buy it one-off and you'll get support and upgrades for a year, or buy it on subscription.
Second, at a time when I was a bit worried about the reliability of my (then 10-year-old) 7500i, I bought a Plustek 8200i (note, the i indcates it has an infrared channel for automatic "dust removal"; this does NOT work well on black and white films). My 8200i came with Silverfast SE software, which I don't like, so I changed to use Vuescan. However, I had persistent framing problems, and eventually Ed Hamrick (THE Vuescan guy) told me that the 8200i had a "silent" model change at some point, after which the library that Vuescan had been using would no longer work properly. They refused to license the new library to Vuescan, restricting it to Silverfast! I returned my 8200i and eventually, after a mighty battle, got my money back. (See for example https://www.hamrick.com/blog/what-is-the-best-film-scanner.html)
The good news out of this is that I believe the 8100 model is not affected by this issue!
If you use 120, you could as vintageman says be interested in the Epson Perfection scanners (all discontinued AFAIK but sill available and all usable via Vuescan, so presumably Linux). The V500 and V600 are OK for 120, but problematic for 4x5 (I managed by scanning 4x5 sheets in two parts and stitching them together in Affinity Photo, which was a PITA). The resolution for 135 is not as good as the Plusteks. The V750 to V850 are physically bigger, will scan larger sizes up to 8x10, have better resolution, and will allow some level of batch scanning (I believe; not sure if the V600 can do that).
Then the alternative that many people (all the cool kids!!!) are choosing these days is to "camera scan" your negatives and slides, then process them in your favourite editing software. Of course negatives need to be inverted; if you use Lightroom (I don't) then you can get the Negative Lab Pro plugin that seems to be one of the best available. If you have C1Pro on a subscription, the latest releases have scanning modules that I have not yet tried. darktable has its negadoctor module, etc etc. There is also a wide range of hardware tools and kits to help you camera scan, or you can do it yourself with a solid tripod and a good macro lens! ( don't have a suitable digicam so I haven't tried this either).
Good luck! And as Gav suggests, please drop in on Talk Film & Conventional and let us know what you're up to there.
Chris
The Plustek scanners are very good with 135 film. I have had a Plustek 7500i since 2012, and despite the occasional hiccups it is still going strong. You need to advance the film strip holder manually for each frame, so the overall experience is very manual and quite slow.
Two words of warning, though. First, Vuescan Pro is not free. It used to be pay once, upgrades for life, sadly no longer. You can buy it one-off and you'll get support and upgrades for a year, or buy it on subscription.
Second, at a time when I was a bit worried about the reliability of my (then 10-year-old) 7500i, I bought a Plustek 8200i (note, the i indcates it has an infrared channel for automatic "dust removal"; this does NOT work well on black and white films). My 8200i came with Silverfast SE software, which I don't like, so I changed to use Vuescan. However, I had persistent framing problems, and eventually Ed Hamrick (THE Vuescan guy) told me that the 8200i had a "silent" model change at some point, after which the library that Vuescan had been using would no longer work properly. They refused to license the new library to Vuescan, restricting it to Silverfast! I returned my 8200i and eventually, after a mighty battle, got my money back. (See for example https://www.hamrick.com/blog/what-is-the-best-film-scanner.html)
The good news out of this is that I believe the 8100 model is not affected by this issue!
If you use 120, you could as vintageman says be interested in the Epson Perfection scanners (all discontinued AFAIK but sill available and all usable via Vuescan, so presumably Linux). The V500 and V600 are OK for 120, but problematic for 4x5 (I managed by scanning 4x5 sheets in two parts and stitching them together in Affinity Photo, which was a PITA). The resolution for 135 is not as good as the Plusteks. The V750 to V850 are physically bigger, will scan larger sizes up to 8x10, have better resolution, and will allow some level of batch scanning (I believe; not sure if the V600 can do that).
Then the alternative that many people (all the cool kids!!!) are choosing these days is to "camera scan" your negatives and slides, then process them in your favourite editing software. Of course negatives need to be inverted; if you use Lightroom (I don't) then you can get the Negative Lab Pro plugin that seems to be one of the best available. If you have C1Pro on a subscription, the latest releases have scanning modules that I have not yet tried. darktable has its negadoctor module, etc etc. There is also a wide range of hardware tools and kits to help you camera scan, or you can do it yourself with a solid tripod and a good macro lens! ( don't have a suitable digicam so I haven't tried this either).
Good luck! And as Gav suggests, please drop in on Talk Film & Conventional and let us know what you're up to there.
Chris
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