Spec me a scanner guyz..

[joxby]

...and Gals.

So, I'm looking to cut down my scanning time but still retain a semblance of usable scan.
I use a Minolta dedicated currently, its the dogs danglies but scanning takes forever one frame at a time, I don't think I need it day to day since scans aren't my focus of image production these days, so I'm looking to replace it with a flatbed that will scan more in a pass.
I'm not gonna need the 4K dpi of the minolta either.
So I've done my research but I thought I'd put the question out there in case I've missed something, between us all at this forum we must have used just about everything there is.
My requirements are -

To scan 120 primarily, (anything more is a bonus)
Reflective scanning not required.
Digital Ice would be nice.
True 1500dpi min, no quoted claims
To scan more than 3 frames of 6x6 per pass
I don't want to have to fanny about shimming carriers in the corridor of uncertain focus and Dmax anywhere over 3.5 will be fine.
Preferably something manufactured in the last 5 years to present

I'll be keeping the Minolta in the loft cos I'll never own another one, its not a money raising exercise, there is no budget though I think I can rule out anything over a grand, I'm not looking for a Flextight or Heidelberg for 1500dpi...

What say you oh wise and wonderful..

 

[sphexx]

I seem to read about a lot of people using digital cameras for “scanning” speed and getting acceptable results.

 

[skysh4rk]

I'll be keeping the Minolta in the loft cos I'll never own another one, its not a money raising exercise, there is no budget though I think I can rule out anything over a grand, I'm not looking for a Flextight or Heidelberg for 1500dpi...

What say you oh wise and wonderful..

The scanners of Film Dev or Canadian Film Lab.

 

[excalibur2]

To scan 120 primarily, (anything more is a bonus)

Well most Epson flatbeds do a good job with 120, I tested a cheap 4180 photo with a V750 and the 4180 loses the more you enlarge.... also the V750 can get a bit more detail out of the shadows. My choice would be S/H 3200, 4990, v550 OR V700\V750.
Without checking all the models, the V750 can probably do more 120 negs in one scan...for 35mm it can do 24 frames at a time. Also scanning prints is very handy and they can all do that.

 

[Peter B]

the V750 can probably do more 120 negs in one scan...for 35mm it can do 24 frames at a time. Also scanning prints is very handy and they can all do that.

Going on from what Brian said, I was having problems with my V700 previewing and then not scanning, so I changed the preview scan to 3200 and scan the full 2 strips of 3 square 6x6 negs in one go. The scan is 20.5 MB and is roughly 28 x 18 MP, which is OK for the web, but possibly not for quality printing? You then open the file in PS, duplicate it and crop the dup to the frame you want to process.

 

[joxby]

They're not scans to print.
I don't intend to preview scan unless that is a requirement of the process, which will be something to consider from a time/effort perspective.
I like the 6 in one go of the v700, v800 looks like its only 3..:/

 

[excalibur2]

They're not scans to print.
I don't intend to preview scan unless that is a requirement of the process, which will be something to consider from a time/effort perspective.
I like the 6 in one go of the v700, v800 looks like its only 3..:/

Dunno about the V800 but just to add the V700\750 can do twelve 35mm slides in one scan.
Also if you are just going to post here @ 1000px on the longest side a £10 Epson flatbed is good enough..Pentax Pete uses a scanner out of the ark for 35mm and the results are good.

 

[joxby]

Its for 120 Brian, the v800 looking at the holder, only scans half what the v700 would
Not interested in £10 flatbeds, the requirements are listed in the op and at the moment besides it being old tech, the v700 is the only one coming anywhere near unfortunately.
I wonder if there are any caveats attached to scanning 6 6x6 frames in one go, like file size limitations or whatever.

 

[StephenM]

I've used Epson flatbeds since the 2400 (I think!) days, but I gave up on both Silverfast and Epson Scan after a very short while. Multiple scans is probably a function of the scanning software rather than hardware, and VueScan has no problems with 35mm. On larger negatives, I've always scanned individually to tweak the settings, but I can't see that VueScan would have a problem. However, not all 120 negatives are equal, and some are more equal (to larger formats) than others. The supplied holders assume 6x6, a size that isn't my first choice, and because of the extra length you only get 2.5 frames in a strip. This is a major irritation to me with my 6x7s. I scan 4 frames from the two strips and then adjust for the other two.

Since you're not printing, my experience isn't relevant, but I'll still say that with an earlier Epson (3200 or 4490) a 6x7 black and white scan printed at A3 still shows more detail under a magnifier than my old eyes can make out unaided on the print.

 

[excalibur2]

Its for 120 Brian, the v800 looking at the holder, only scans half what the v700 would
Not interested in £10 flatbeds, the requirements are listed in the op and at the moment besides it being old tech, the v700 is the only one coming anywhere near unfortunately.
I wonder if there are any caveats attached to scanning 6 6x6 frames in one go, like file size limitations or whatever.

Well on the V750 I scan my 120s in one go but with the Epson software you can select each frame or do the lot together and adjust in Photoshop.....the 6X7 negs are a bit annoying as if they had made the scanner just a bit longer, you could do two more extra in each scan.
Anyway a review of the v700 or V750
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson V700/page_1.htm

Shots enlarged to about 6ft wide on a computer screen comparing cheap 4180 to V750...rb67 65mm

 

[Peter B]

They're not scans to print.
I don't intend to preview scan unless that is a requirement of the process, which will be something to consider from a time/effort perspective.
I like the 6 in one go of the v700, v800 looks like its only 3..:/

Should have said I'm using Vuescan Professional for this, so I can't speak for what other software can scan in one go. What I was trying to say is that I can scan all 6 square negs using Preview, but I then don't have to scan individual negs as the Preview was done at 3200.

 

[joxby]

ahh, well at least the scanner is capable even if you might need non proprietary software

there really doesn't seem to be much else short of a Umax or H'berg that'll batch scan a handful at a time

 

[FujiLove]

John – Am I right in thinking that you mostly wet print your negatives? So your scans will be for sharing online and/or for use as a 'digital contact sheet'?

If so, have you considered just scanning the prints with a bog-standard flatbed? It's a lot less hassle than scanning film, particularly colour negatives where inverting the orange mask is a PITA.

I prefer a real wet-printed contact sheet over scans because you can physically store them with the negatives. And you can pick up a very nice loupe for a quarter of the price of a decent scanner.

Just a thought.

 

[joxby]

Yes, wet printing is what I like to do.
I'd like to say I don't scan for proof, but in truth I probably do see potential more readily in a positive image, though I have lots of prints I never scanned as negs.
I actually just photograph my prints if I want a digital repro, I'm thinking I might go the same way with negs.
It doesn't seem to matter that a photo of a print isn't the best reproduction for display, but it requires the least effort to digifi film or print.
It doesn't matter which way you cut it, scanning is a means to an end and requires some effort if you're going to do it properly, but it doesn't create my "end", it just takes time away from printing.
I'm thinking that even though a v700 will do 6 frames in one go, its still just faff I don't want to give any time to...

 

[Mr Badger]

I use an Epson V600 Photo flatbed for 120 negs, it can scan 1 strip of three 6x6 shots per time, or 1 strip of two 6x9, etc. so it's not as quick to load as one that will handle two strips of 120 negs at a time. Having said that, can your computer (or the scanner software) actually handle scanning and saving two strips of negs at the same time more quickly than loading and scanning two separate strips (if that makes sense!)? Also, would it be harder to keep the dust and fluff of 2 strips of negs, rather than just dealing with one strip at a time?!

I've carried out a few comparison tests and (unless I'm doing something wrong, which remains possible!) I've found that there doesn't seem to be any point in scanning at over 3200 dpi resolution on the V600 as it seems the detail drops off after that (presumably as a result of an interpolated scan or whatever it's called). However, this seems to keep 6x6 black and white scans to around the 6 mb file size mark and give nice looking results, so I'm not complaining! I'm not sure what the V700 scans best at but the info will probably be out there somewhere! As a starting point, I'd probably try 3200 dpi and then see if 4800 dpi looks any better when pixel peeping?

I've found the results for 35mm film are OK, but I'm sure a dedicated 35mm film scanner such as the Plustek 8100 or 8200 would give better results, so if I had desk space and the spare cash I'd probably buy one of those and use that for 35mm. However, scanning two strips of 35mm negs in one go on my V600 has its advantages, so I'd probably still use the flatbed for an initial 'proof' type scan, then use a dedicated 35mm scanner singly on the chosen few shots!

Anyway, back on topic with 120 roll film... here's a couple of examples from the V600, both scanned at 3200 dpi (with any subsequent tweaking/resizing done in Photoshop Elements). Firstly a 6x6 scan from a Yashica 635 TLR (with Yashinon lens) on Fuji Neopan Acros 100; secondly a 6x9 scan from an Ensign Selfix 820 with Ross Xpres on Ilford XP2 400 (shot at 200 ISO). Click on either to open in Flickr to view at larger size.

To be honest, I'm quite happy with the results from scanning 120 film with my V600 but I'd be interested to see how they compare to a film lab quality hi-resolution scan. Trouble is, I've yet to shoot a roll of 120 where I think all the photos are worthy of a hi-res lab scan, so I'll have to wait a while yet to do that comparison! Hope this has been useful and best of luck deciding what to do.

Jeep by J White, on Flickr

Trees and lane by J White, on Flickr

 

[excalibur2]

I use an Epson V600 Photo flatbed for 120 negs, it can scan 1 strip of three 6x6 shots per time, or 1 strip of two 6x9, etc. so it's not as quick to load as one that will handle two strips of 120 negs at a time. Having said that, can your computer (or the scanner software) actually handle scanning and saving two strips of negs at the same time more quickly than loading and scanning two separate strips (if that makes sense!)? Also, would it be harder to keep the dust and fluff of 2 strips of negs, rather than just dealing with one strip at a time?!

I've carried out a few comparison tests and (unless I'm doing something wrong, which remains possible!) I've found that there doesn't seem to be any point in scanning at over 3200 dpi resolution on the V600 as it seems the detail drops off after that (presumably as a result of an interpolated scan or whatever it's called). However, this seems to keep 6x6 black and white scans to around the 6 mb file size mark and give nice looking results, so I'm not complaining! I'm not sure what the V700 scans best at but the info will probably be out there somewhere! As a starting point, I'd probably try 3200 dpi and then see if 4800 dpi looks any better when pixel peeping?

I've found the results for 35mm film are OK, but I'm sure a dedicated 35mm film scanner such as the Plustek 8100 or 8200 would give better results, so if I had desk space and the spare cash I'd probably buy one of those and use that for 35mm. However, scanning two strips of 35mm negs in one go on my V600 has its advantages, so I'd probably still use the flatbed for an initial 'proof' type scan, then use a dedicated 35mm scanner singly on the chosen few shots!

Anyway, back on topic with 120 roll film... here's a couple of examples from the V600, both scanned at 3200 dpi (with any subsequent tweaking/resizing done in Photoshop Elements). Firstly a 6x6 scan from a Yashica 635 TLR (with Yashinon lens) on Fuji Neopan Acros 100; secondly a 6x9 scan from an Ensign Selfix 820 with Ross Xpres on Ilford XP2 400 (shot at 200 ISO). Click on either to open in Flickr to view at larger size.

To be honest, I'm quite happy with the results from scanning 120 film with my V600 but I'd be interested to see how they compare to a film lab quality hi-resolution scan. Trouble is, I've yet to shoot a roll of 120 where I think all the photos are worthy of a hi-res lab scan, so I'll have to wait a while yet to do that comparison! Hope this has been useful and best of luck deciding what to do.

Jeep by J White, on Flickr

Trees and lane by J White, on Flickr

Well I bought my V750 years ago and found for 35mm it couldn't beat the resolution (getting detail out of the neg) from Tesco and Asda Fuji frontier m\cs so haven't used it much (for 35mm)...but as the scans (from Tesco and Asda) were low dpi could always get a better quality result for any winning shots by using Epson software on the V750 to increase the pixels per sq cm....and noticed at the beginning increasing the dpi scan didn't get any more detail out of the neg but just looked better for large prints or crops (more pixels per sq cm).