I,ve been thinking about buying a negative scanner to transfer my old slides and negatives onto cd/hard drive for storage , does anyone know how good the one Aldi has in thier shops or even Maplins or are they not adequate in quality at that price range ?
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Choosing a slide/negative scanner
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I can't say about the Aldi one or even the ones that maplins have in. But it's worth buying something decent, use it, and then sell it on.
Some years ago I bought a Minolta dimage film scanner for around £100 or so. It took absolutely ages to transfer my slides and negatives to digital, but I then sold it for £120. Pot luck of course and I'd have been happy to have broke even.
Don't know if that helps Brian? But at least once you turn them into digital files they won't deteriorate.
cheers
Some years ago I bought a Minolta dimage film scanner for around £100 or so. It took absolutely ages to transfer my slides and negatives to digital, but I then sold it for £120. Pot luck of course and I'd have been happy to have broke even.
Don't know if that helps Brian? But at least once you turn them into digital files they won't deteriorate.
cheers
TheBigYin
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They're better than nothing. But not much better.
one of the cheaper new options would be a Epson V330 - Ebuyer have them for £78 apparently. Second Hand Epson 2580 and 3490's crop up on ebay for around £50 if you're not worried about buying second hand. Moving up to half-decent flatbeds the Canoscan 8900 and Epson V500 are thought pretty highly of, at around £200 new. If you're serious about scanning quality, then a dedicated film scanner is probably the way to go - look for the Minolta Dimage 5400 or possibly the Nikon Coolscan 5000's - but be prepared for the price to be a bit of a shocker.
I'd second the "buy something decent, scan your backl catalogue, and sell it on for nearly the same as you paid for it" if you're not shooting film on an on-going basis, btw.
Personally, I'm still shooting film, and on a sensible budget I opted for a Canoscan 8800F - anything in the Mahoosive "Show us yer Film Shots" thread with my name by it, will most likely have been scanned on this scanner - if you want some idea of what it can do.
one of the cheaper new options would be a Epson V330 - Ebuyer have them for £78 apparently. Second Hand Epson 2580 and 3490's crop up on ebay for around £50 if you're not worried about buying second hand. Moving up to half-decent flatbeds the Canoscan 8900 and Epson V500 are thought pretty highly of, at around £200 new. If you're serious about scanning quality, then a dedicated film scanner is probably the way to go - look for the Minolta Dimage 5400 or possibly the Nikon Coolscan 5000's - but be prepared for the price to be a bit of a shocker.
I'd second the "buy something decent, scan your backl catalogue, and sell it on for nearly the same as you paid for it" if you're not shooting film on an on-going basis, btw.
Personally, I'm still shooting film, and on a sensible budget I opted for a Canoscan 8800F - anything in the Mahoosive "Show us yer Film Shots" thread with my name by it, will most likely have been scanned on this scanner - if you want some idea of what it can do.
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Around £815 when PC Pro reviewed it in 2005.
The cheapest recent completed auction on eBay sold for £875.00 and the most expensive for £1,470.00, with most of them around £1200.
e2a: Nikon UK seem to have finally discontinued the 5000 last year, leaving the top end 9000 as their only dedicated film scanner (around £2800 in the shops, if they can actually get one as I hear availability is severely constrained).
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Konica-Minolt...0527774706?pt=UK_Scanners&hash=item2eb06303f2
If you have deep pockets then the minoltas are really good! A decent second hand film scanner is definitely the best way to do it. If you do get a cheap one then you'll be annoyed with the results then will have to scan the whole lot in again so it's best to save up and get the best thing available that isn't silly money.
http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/c-film-scanners.htm
The plustek at £219 might do the job. I don't know plustek well enough to know whether they're optically any good as it is all very well saying you have a massive 7200 dpi if the transport is made from porridge so you still won't get a decent image.
If you have deep pockets then the minoltas are really good! A decent second hand film scanner is definitely the best way to do it. If you do get a cheap one then you'll be annoyed with the results then will have to scan the whole lot in again so it's best to save up and get the best thing available that isn't silly money.
http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/c-film-scanners.htm
The plustek at £219 might do the job. I don't know plustek well enough to know whether they're optically any good as it is all very well saying you have a massive 7200 dpi if the transport is made from porridge so you still won't get a decent image.
TheBigYin
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Around £815 when PC Pro reviewed it in 2005.
The cheapest recent completed auction on eBay sold for £875.00 and the most expensive for £1,470.00, with most of them around £1200.
Crikey, Penfold!
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I know a certain Cowasaki of this parish had a number of issues with the plustek's - suffice to say he's not in posession of one now! I'm sure he'll be along at some point to elaborate on what happened :shrug:
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TheBigYin
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Jeeze - that thing must be 7 foot tall! I had problems making room on my desk for the Canoscan
£4950 and he can't run it because he doesn't have the software?
Ahhh... but it powers up OK
It reminds me of a printer I tried to sell once. An Iris realist drum printer which cost £22000 new. I put it on ebay... not a chance, no interest at all. It's still there if you want it? £25 anyone?
ah well...
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Yep. Our company has just started a joint venture with another large media outfit (we do print procurement) and they've moved their artwork studio into our premises.
I was having a chat with their Studio Director on Friday lunch time, suggesting that if he happened to have any old film scanners knocking about that they wanted to dispose of, to let me know, thinking they might have an old Nikon 5000 or 9000 still about.
He says to me that they got rid of all their film repro stuff about two years ago (Cromalin proofing system, etc) including a three year old, £80,000 drum scanner that they couldn't sell or give away to anyone. In the end they had to pay someone to take it away for scrap. :|
I was having a chat with their Studio Director on Friday lunch time, suggesting that if he happened to have any old film scanners knocking about that they wanted to dispose of, to let me know, thinking they might have an old Nikon 5000 or 9000 still about.
He says to me that they got rid of all their film repro stuff about two years ago (Cromalin proofing system, etc) including a three year old, £80,000 drum scanner that they couldn't sell or give away to anyone. In the end they had to pay someone to take it away for scrap. :|
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I've been wondering the the same sort of thing as the OP but now I'm sort of thinking, do I need a neg scanner?
6x6, very low personal volumes, mainly B+W. The V500 (can get for < 170ish) looks adequate.
But do I need one or just want one? Any one any idea if there's a seriously marked advantage to scanning at 6400 or simply re-digi-photographing on a 10MP dSLR?
TBH, I'm after a digital equivalent of a contact sheet; I can't wet chem print.
But that gives me another pain. Once re-photographed, it's not like being wet printed. The contrast's all over. I can't tell if that's my rubbish developing, the copying process or what
I have no reliable yard-stick as, erm, a yard stick
6x6, very low personal volumes, mainly B+W. The V500 (can get for < 170ish) looks adequate.
But do I need one or just want one? Any one any idea if there's a seriously marked advantage to scanning at 6400 or simply re-digi-photographing on a 10MP dSLR?
TBH, I'm after a digital equivalent of a contact sheet; I can't wet chem print.
But that gives me another pain. Once re-photographed, it's not like being wet printed. The contrast's all over. I can't tell if that's my rubbish developing, the copying process or what
I have no reliable yard-stick as, erm, a yard stick
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TheBigYin
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In that case I'd be shipping them out to a scanning service - life's too short to beggar about with that many images.
You could lose a month of your life just dust spotting the slides!