Another Novice Question - Scanners

Sir SR

Sir SR

Messages
5,635
Name
Shaheed
Edit My Images
No
Hi all.

So I've had my first foray into film photography and LOVED it.

The problem now is that I have another ten rolls of film that I will shoot and the cost of developing and scanning is going to add up very quickly!! I got the large scans from peak last time

I'm shooting 6x6 and would want to scan developed films.

What kind of file size would I get from scanning at home, what scanner would I need and are there any other tips people can pass on?

Thanks again

Shaheed
 
One of the more popular scanners is the Epson V500 or the newer V550. Both scan 35mm and 120 so is probably just what you want. You can get reasonable scans from it but the quality of the images won't be what you've been getting from a pro lab. Think the V550 was about £180 when I looked last, so it pays for itself pretty quick when you're not paying a lab to scan.

If you're going to scan your own film, then you might want to look at developing your own black and white film as well, as that's a big money and time saver too. In my opinion, one of the most exciting things about using film is home developing, and seeing how different film/developed combinations and developing times affect the end result etc.
 
Well you are in luck as even cheap scanners can give good results scanning MF film...try the Epson 4000 series at a very cheap price (say S\H £25) and go on from there. I've shown the difference between a 6X7 neg scanned with a cheap 4180 photo and V750 and the 4180 loses out the more you enlarge.
 
6x6 @ 2400dpi = approx 5600x5600px (call it around 30 mega-pixies!)

Clever money (bang for the buck) is a Epson V500 (now been superseded by the V600 at the very least, but it's the same engine/software, just updated plastic wrapped around it.) Get a s/h V500 and if you don't get on with scanning (some don't - its a slow process, and can be a PITA) you'll sell it for pretty much what you paid for it.


as for scanning tips, there's thread after thread after thread of them - we try and keep things in one place, but everybody starts their own thread with their own problems...
 
Last edited:
Carl Hall said:
One of the more popular scanners is the Epson V500 or the newer V550. Both scan 35mm and 120 so is probably just what you want. You can get reasonable scans from it but the quality of the images won't be what you've been getting from a pro lab. Think the V550 was about £180 when I looked last, so it pays for itself pretty quick when you're not paying a lab to scan.

If you're going to scan your own film, then you might want to look at developing your own black and white film as well, as that's a big money and time saver too. In my opinion, one of the most exciting things about using film is home developing, and seeing how different film/developed combinations and developing times affect the end result etc.
Click to expand...

Yeah, baby steps first for me I think! I'll check out those scanners!

I'm scared of ruining the films of i self develop[emoji85] Although as a newbie to film I'm not totally sure what's involved!!
 
Black and white devving is a piece of cake and just brilliant fun. If you think you were excited waiting for your rolls to come back from Peak wait until you open the top of the tank and pull out a roll of home devved negs.... top blown. :runaway::woot:

If we were nearer (I have for some reason assumed you are in London, I may be wrong) I could run you through it. If I can do it and get it right then anyone can. :D
 
Sir SR said:
Yeah, baby steps first for me I think! I'll check out those scanners!

I'm scared of ruining the films of i self develop[emoji85] Although as a newbie to film I'm not totally sure what's involved!!
Click to expand...

It's pretty much:
  • Roll film onto developing spool inside of a dark bag, and then put into the tank.
  • Take the tank out of the dark bag now that the film's safely inside in the dark
  • Pour developer into the tank, agitating for the first 60 seconds, and then ten seconds every 60 seconds afte that
  • When you get to the correct amount of time, pour the developer down the drain
  • Pour stop into tank, agitate for 60 seconds
  • Pour stop back into bottle (reusable)
  • Pour fixer into tank, agitate for 60 seconds and then 10 seconds every 60 seconds after
  • Pour fixer back into bottle (reusable)
  • Stick the tank under the tap to rinse with water for ten mins
  • Open the tank and take the film out, then hang to dry.
All of it can be done in the daylight or with the lights on, as you're using the dark bag in the first step.

It really is much easier than you would think. The first time you open the tank to see images on the film is an awesome feeling :D
 
Seriously, you have to at least give home development a try, because the feeling you get when you open the tank and see images on the negative is amazing. "It worked! I did that!"

(And yes, it goes wrong too, sometimes.)

As far as scanning goes, I second the v500 recommendations. It produces a passable 35mm scan and a very nice medium format scan. I usually scan whilst doing something else, otherwise you'll go slowly mad waiting for it to finish.
 
abdoujaparov said:
Seriously, you have to at least give home development a try, because the feeling you get when you open the tank and see images on the negative is amazing. "It worked! I did that!"

(And yes, it goes wrong too, sometimes.)

As far as scanning goes, I second the v500 recommendations. It produces a passable 35mm scan and a very nice medium format scan. I usually scan whilst doing something else, otherwise you'll go slowly mad waiting for it to finish.
Click to expand...

I definitely will give it a try, but baby steps for me first. I've only just shot my first two rolls of film, so I will progress to scanning then to developing.

But I do agree that self developing will be ace!!
 
^^^^^^^^^^^

I use the V500 and scan up to 6x9,I find the process very easy Epson software and obtain as good results that I receive when getting scans from AG.

The V500 can be had for around the £100 mark,but,make sure that all the holder and cables are there.

Good luck.
 
Sir SR said:
The problem now is that I have another ten rolls of film that I will shoot and the cost of developing and scanning is going to add up very quickly!! I got the large scans from peak last time

I'm shooting 6x6 and would want to scan developed films.

What kind of file size would I get from scanning at home, what scanner would I need and are there any other tips people can pass on?
Click to expand...

If you can't get the results you're looking to achieve, the savings from scanning at home are a bit of a false economy. Make sure that you can get what you want out of a flatbed scanner before diving in. I'm not saying do or don't get a scanner, just make sure that it aligns with your aims in terms of colour, detail, output (e.g., web usage, printing), etc.

Just to balance out the responses, I personally don't find the results from the flatbeds good enough for my purposes with regard to colour negative photography; I wouldn't even use my Epson—which currently resides under the bed—to scan the photographs from my Holga.

I find that flatbed scanning works fairly well for black and white photography, although I typically prefer to work in the darkroom with those negatives, if possible.

Just find the workflow that best suits your needs, regardless of what everyone else is doing or saying.
 
Sir SR said:
I definitely will give it a try, but baby steps for me first. I've only just shot my first two rolls of film, so I will progress to scanning then to developing.

But I do agree that self developing will be ace!!
Click to expand...
tbh mate looking at the quality of the photos from your 1st couple of films, money you spend on kit will be very well spent. the images are fantastic
 
skysh4rk said:
If you can't get the results you're looking to achieve, the savings from scanning at home are a bit of a false economy. Make sure that you can get what you want out of a flatbed scanner before diving in. I'm not saying do or don't get a scanner, just make sure that it aligns with your aims in terms of colour, detail, output (e.g., web usage, printing), etc.

Just to balance out the responses, I personally don't find the results from the flatbeds good enough for my purposes with regard to colour negative photography; I wouldn't even use my Epson—which currently resides under the bed—to scan the photographs from my Holga.

I find that flatbed scanning works fairly well for black and white photography, although I typically prefer to work in the darkroom with those negatives, if possible.

Just find the workflow that best suits your needs, regardless of what everyone else is doing or saying.
Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing balance to the force.

I'll likely shoot both colour and black and white. I do like the way potra renders.

What alternatives are there to flatbed scanning it does it get too pricey?
 
niko said:
tbh mate looking at the quality of the photos from your 1st couple of films, money you spend on kit will be very well spent. the images are fantastic
Click to expand...

That's very kind of you to say. Just went to a friends house and they've just bought a beautiful mustard armchair. He caught me staring at it - told him that it would look awesome for portrait use.

......he's busy practising his poses now [emoji85][emoji85][emoji85]
 
Sir SR said:
That's very kind of you to say. Just went to a friends house and they've just bought a beautiful mustard armchair. He caught me staring at it - told him that it would look awesome for portrait use.

......he's busy practising his poses now [emoji85][emoji85][emoji85]
Click to expand...
:Dace,
 
Miss 35mm out....go straight to MF....(y)

Miss scanning out....go straight to printing....(y)


Sorted !


I dunno how you get me for the money
 
Yep. I've tried scanning colour. Usually an image that I've had scanned Proffesionally. My efforts are rubbish. Too much time in front of my computer with Photoshop for poor results. Black and White however is good fun and I'm very happy with what I get.
I've got an Epson 4990
 
joxby said:
Miss 35mm out....go straight to MF....(y)

Miss scanning out....go straight to printing....(y)


Sorted !


I dunno how you get me for the money
Click to expand...

I did go straight to MF film, leaving out 35mm!!

I do like to share my work digitally as well as printing. Maybe the compromise will be a lab doing the colour scanning and I'll have a go at mono!!
 
Last edited:
Sir SR said:
What alternatives are there to flatbed scanning it does it get too pricey?
Click to expand...

Well, I use a lab for developing and scanning colour and then do the black and white myself (developed by me and then either scanned digitally on a flatbed and/or printed traditionally in the darkroom).
 
Yes, scanning colour negative film can quite hard, as you (or the software) have to compensate for the orange mask when inverting. My own results have been ok-ish in most cases, but I've had enough problems that I get all my colour neg stuff processed and scanned commercially (here is a thread about some problems I had with colour scanning and how it was improved...). Maybe easier if you have a good handle on colour correction!

Have a look at Filmdev who do 120 as well as 135, process and a reasonable medium scan for £5. See some recent comments in the Film Processing in the UK thread.

I now process my own black and white, and scan the results, and as others have said, it's very satisfying. In theory it's quicker, but I can't get mine done at the moment as there are too many people in the house! Everything for processing goes into a small blue crate that lives under the stairs...

It would seem to make sense that slide film should scan easily, but in practice there tend to be problems as the scanner light is often not powerful enough to give full shadow detail (IIRC). If you have a good slide frame, might be worth getting it drum-scanned professionally.
 
Sir SR said:
I'm scared of ruining the films of i self develop[emoji85] Although as a newbie to film I'm not totally sure what's involved!!
Click to expand...

Don't be :) B & W developing is straightforward, and there's usually a bit of wriggle room with the times and temperatures. I was doing this when I was about 12, and I wasn't any sort of child prodigy!
 
TheBigYin said:
6x6 @ 2400dpi = approx 5600x5600px (call it around 30 mega-pixies!)
Click to expand...
If you are talking about the V500 then its maximum actual resolution is about 1250DPI but you need to scan at 2400DPI to achieve that, so its actual detail level would be ~2800x2800. For reference going above that will give absolute no improvement.
 
Last edited:
For 35mm, there is for me only one option - the Pakon F135. It scans an entire roll in 5-10 minutes depending on what version you have.

For MF and above, it's flatbeds, or a dedicated film / drum scanner, which as noted can take a while. To mitigate wasted time scanning poor images, I take photos of the negatives on my smartphone and use the 'screen invert' function to try and get an idea of what they're like, and therefore whether it's worth scanning.

I use ColorPerfect for inverting both black and white and colour negatives. You still have to understand how it works because tweaking is still required but results are very, very good.

I would definitely encourage the OP to get into home scanning, and the mantra is really practice, practice, practice. It's worth it!
 
Last edited:
For 35mm , Fuji Frontier SP-500 Scans upto 5400x3600 and Pakon F-135+ 3000x2000. Takes around 3-5 mins
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top