Scanners ~ what to look for

[Box Brownie]

Hi all

SWMBO has asked for a scanner for Xmas.

Now this is only(?) for scanning occasional documents and the like. In the past I had thought that a combo device (scanner, colour inkjet printer) but as it stands we have limited space = none to place another printer.

So a scanner might indeed be the best bet i.e. it can be stored in a smallish space when not in use?

The question is what makes & models should I be looking at .......?

PS if it can scan 35mm and 120 sized negs and slides that might be a benefit

PPS we both need to sometimes print colour.........can we make space........so any "all-in-one" recommendations welcome

 

[stevelmx5]

Hi all

SWMBO has asked for a scanner for Xmas.

Now this is only(?) for scanning occasional documents and the like. In the past I had thought that a combo device (scanner, colour inkjet printer) but as it stands we have limited space = none to place another printer.

So a scanner might indeed be the best bet i.e. it can be stored in a smallish space when not in use?

The question is what makes & models should I be looking at .......?

PS if it can scan 35mm and 120 sized negs and slides that might be a benefit

PPS we both need to sometimes print colour.........can we make space........so any "all-in-one" recommendations welcome

As far as I know, there aren't any all in one scanners that will also scan negatives so unfortunately that rules out an all-in-one. The only type of scanners that will do both documents and negatives will be flatbeds so you need to decide if you can fit another unit in alongside your printer. Any of the Epson V series flatbeds will deliver excellent results with 120 film (and documents) but 35mm film will be better with a dedicated 135 scanner like one of the Plustek units.

Personally, I'd recommend a V550 (V500 isn't available new any more) as it will scan any A4 document to want to do but will also so a good job with your film.

 

[ChrisR]

35mm film isn't bad with the Epsons... yes, a dedicated scanner may give better results, but that's extra space and expense, and for most of us I think the V550 would be quite acceptable.

If you don't want to scan film, then the A4 all-in-ones give a pretty good result. I even scanned a bunch of 6*9 black and white negatives on a Canon MG5250 all-in-one and inverted them with gimp; not that much worse than when I got them done with a "proper" scanner! That printer gives some pretty nice photo prints too, with decent paper and a bit of care. I'm even managing to get black and white prints with relatively little colour cast...

EDIT: BTW the goto site for film scanner reviews is http://www.filmscanner.info/en/

 

[Nikon f1.8]

There is an Epson v600 scanner in the for sales section, that will do the job nicely, we had a one at my previous works it gave good results. Just depends how much space you have as they are not that slim.

 

[kenm]

Alarmingly, I have a Plustek 35mm scanner, an Epson V5xx, and a Canon Pixma all in one printer. The Canon is great, it prints decent photos, scans, copies and all sorts, and wasn't really very expensive. However, it won't scan film. The Plustek sits in its case most of the time, but it doesn't take up much desk space, so I get it out when needed and put it away again when done. The Epson is the only thing I have that will do up to 120 format, but it hardly ever gets used. Unless you are doing a lot of 120 scanning the Pixma together with plugging in the Plustek when you want 35mm will be a decent compromise on space versus versitility.

 

[Box Brownie]

Thanks all for the thoughts & insights.

By way of looking at one option ~ I was looking at the Canon TS8050 the 9050 as scanner printers with 6 inks lending themselves to occasional photo printing usage as well.

As i said space is at a premium.........so thinking needed as to best overall option(s).

 

[MartynK]

Don't any of your local businesses/shops offer scanning and colour printing, if you only want to do this occasionally?

 

[AMcUK]

FWIW - I abandoned home photo printing a long time ago due to the usual problems of very irregular use leading to dried out heads, excessive cleaning and ink use, unreliable output due to inexperience.
I use Photobox for printing - if I want more than about 10 prints it's simpler and quicker to upload and wait for the post than spend hours mucking about in the office I appreciate others have other uses and home printing suits them fine.

I replaced my useless HP Inkjet with a cheap Brother black and white laser - super fast time to first page, fast pages per minute (not minutes per page) and very low cost per page meant it was more useful.
I replaced that with a colour "laser" (actually LED) Brother printer - it's not up to photo quality but it is up to school homework, maps, etickets etc and it's very cheap and fast. It's also network ready and the latest version is duplex too.
Toner lasts for ages and ages and compatible toner on eBay is cheap and just as good. I would never go back to an inkjet unless I had need for regular photo printing and even then I'd keep the laser for documents.
The only downside is the printer is quite bulky and heavy but being networked doesn't need to be close to the PC.

I had a flat bed scanner that wasn't compatible with Win8/10 so I got an Epson v370 photo scanner. That includes 35mm negative strip and slide scanning but no other transparency formats.
Quality is good but it installed a load of software and the actual scanning software is a bit clunky. It's main use is document scanning - expenses and invoices. I also use it to scan the odd photo print which it does admirably.

I'd go for the V550 from Epson and consider a laser/LED printer if you don't need photo printing often.

When buying a scanner used look out for the couriers - I agreed a great price on a v550 but between us we couldn't find a courier who would cover it for transport and neither of us wanted to risk uninsured damage so I ended up buying new.