Flatbed scanners for 120 roll film

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Sapphie

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Lee
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Hi

I am just trying film again after about 15 years. At the moment just getting the negatives developed and scanned by Filmdev.

However, I have a large archive of 120 and 35 photos - mostly slides, that I *could* look to start digitising if I can be bothered.

There is talk in other threads of the Epson V550 being a good, reasonable cost choice. So, this has led to to ask if anyone knows of any resource that lists other older Epson flatbed models that work for 120 slides and negatives, with a view to picking one up quite cheaply?

Of course I don't want to start with a clumsy machine that will put me off as I know that scanning is already time-consuming.

End use probably just to stare at on the computer but could venture into 16x20 prints maybe.

Also, with colour *negative* scanning, does the Epson software do the inversion easily, i.e. do you end up with a good 'positive' image to start with?

Thanks
Lee
 
I found the Epson software to be terrible. And that's on the "new" V550. It's the same on their print utility with their printers sadly.

Because of that, I use Silverfast which gives me great "positive" images to stick into Lightroom. Others have used VueScan but I didn't get on with it. Both offer a trial, so I'd give both a go to see which works best for you. I actually found Silverfast to be quite an efficient bulk-job-doer too once I got into the swing of it.

The V550 is a good reasonable choice. There are worse and better out there, better for less money but more hassle (getting it to work with modern OS), and better for 35mm only (no need for a large carrier). The Internet seems to agree though that it's a solid choice at that price point. Having the ability to do 6400ppi scans would be really handy for 16x20 enlargements of 35mm too.
 
I find my Epson V600 scans 120 negs and positives very well, and I believe that the 600 is almost the same as the 550, with a couple more bells and whistles. I use the Epson software for ease and it seems to work fine on 120. Coincidentally, I've just put an example 120 6x9 scan from it on this thread, if that's any use to you: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/film-virgin.685349/
 
Mr Badger said:
I use the Epson software for ease and it seems to work fine on 120
Click to expand...

...just to add: - I've no complaints with Epson software at least it's easy to use compared to Vuescan or silverfast.....they may be better if you want to take the time learning how to use em.
When you think about it, if they are so brilliant why didn't Epson (over the years) copy some of their ideas or if everything is watertight patented then pay a fee to include into Epson software.
 
Sapphie said:
Of course I don't want to start with a clumsy machine that will put me off as I know that scanning is already time-consuming.
Click to expand...

Scanning is a lot of work and most of the scanners, even really high-end models, are quite clumsy and unintuitive. As such, my Epson lives on the top shelf of the closet and I pay someone else—who owns better equipment and is more skilled with that equipment—to worry about the complexities of scanning.
 
skysh4rk said:
Scanning is a lot of work
Click to expand...

Nah it's not... Bang it in the holder, preview it, fiddle about with sliders till it looks ok, scan, fiddle some more in Photoshop and save.

Although I will admit that this may be why RJ's shots are better than mine :D
 
Andysnap said:
Nah it's not... Bang it in the holder, preview it, fiddle about with sliders till it looks ok, scan, fiddle some more in Photoshop and save.

Although I will admit that this may be why RJ's shots are better than mine :D
Click to expand...
:agree: although it can be very time consuming and if it doesn't offer the wanted results first scan, somewhat frustrating trying to obtain the correct settings, but hey I find PP frustrating anyway:p
 
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