Scanner for mounted 35mm slides

BrianD3

First question - does anyone know what make and model the following scanner is?
http://readeroffers.irishtimes.com/i-CC-ITDS1070/35MM-FILM-NEGATIVES-AND-SLIDES-TO-DIGITAL/

Also does anyone have any comments on the suitabilty of this scanner for digitising a large number of mounted 35mm slides. Looking at the price of high end film scanners I presume that very cheap ones like the one above are going to be relatively crap. What other options are available? I have read good review for Nikon Coolscan scanners but these are a lot dearer. There are also Plustek scanners which are around 200-250 euros on various online sites, are these any good?

Thanks.

mike65

Take the middle path - epson v700

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%20V700/page_18.htm

Mike

DaireQuinlan

Yeah I'd say that IT one is pretty crap. TBH at the moment the coolscans are the only way to go. Unfortunately they're incredibly difficult to find new and even 2nd hand a coolscan V will probably set you back at least €500 or so. I'd look for a reasonably good flatbed. The epson that mike65 mentions is generally well regarded.

BrianD3

Thanks for the comments. Re: flatbed scanners with slide adapters, I have no use for a scanner except for scanning slides - so I figured that a dedicated film/slide scanner at the same price would be better due to being more specific and less versatile. Am i right or wrong?

DaireQuinlan

BrianD3 wrote: »

Thanks for the comments. Re: flatbed scanners with slide adapters, I have no use for a scanner except for scanning slides - so I figured that a dedicated film/slide scanner at the same price would be better due to being more specific and less versatile. Am i right or wrong?

In general (and that nameless piece of junk from the IT not withstanding) I'd say yeah thats the case, the epson is often touted as having scan quality 'close to dedicated film scanners' . When I was looking for a scanner I dismissed the plusteks because they didn't really have the quality compared to the coolscans. If all you want to do is 35mm and you're on a budget I guess the Plusteks would probably do the job, just make sure that whatever you buy has hardware based Infrared dust removal. Normally called ICE. Don't buy something that only has software based cleaning, its worse than useless. If they don't specifically say that its IR and hardware based then it probably isn't :-)

mike65

Just to clarlify, I have the epson v700 and it does a sterling job.

Mike

stcstc

i have a v750 pro, it produces very good results.

be careful with the dust removal systems as mentioned above. BUT if your scanning B&W negs most ice systems dostruggle and even dont work.

DaireQuinlan

stcstc wrote: »

BUT if your scanning B&W negs most ice systems dostruggle and even dont work.

That is true, the IR will interpret the silver as dust and try and remove it in the scan, with predictable, hilarious*, results. The OP is talking mounted slides though. I presumed he was talking E6 stuff which ICE is ideal for. Actually, a plus point of the epson 700/750 is that you can batch scan a whole load of slides all at once, is that the case guys (who own one of the above scanners) ?

*results are far from hilarious.

stcstc

oh yea the batch scanning is great, I quite often have 700 slides to scan for my audio visual work.

and being able to scan 12 at once is great, can leave the machine just sitting there scanning while i work on something else

one this i would suggest though is getting a set of 3rd party film holders, the ones from epson are not great.

BrianD3

Thanks again for the advice, I was just looking at some specs for the Plustek 7500i (260 quid on dabs.ie) It appears to have hardware based IR dust removal system called iSRD. It got a fairly good review here
http://www.filmscanner.info/en/PlustekOpticFilm7500i.html

Alun

The review is less than enthusiastic about the results obtained with that iSRD system though. See down towards the end of the review.

DaireQuinlan

Actually, from that same site, the IT one looks similar to (and is probably the same only un-branded) as this ...
http://www.filmscanner.info/en/ReflectaXScan.html

It does indeed get a pretty mediocre review.

BrianD3

Yep, I've also seen the "Irish times" scanners on ebay, seems to be a sort of generic cheap scanner that comes in a variety of non-name brands. Not a good sign.

Just looking at the sample scans on the filmscanner site the Plustek 7500i seems to produce results closer to those of Nikon Coolscan 5000 than to those of the Irish Times scanner.

Nikon


Plustek


Irish Times

BrianD3

Ok, we have pretty much decided on the Plustek, either the 7500i or the 7200i. The next question is where to buy. I enquired in a couple of camera shops and they didn't seem to know anything about film scanners so it seems like a fairly speciaist item. I have found them on
www.picstop.co.uk
www.dabs.ie
www.pixmania.ie

Anyone got any comments or know of any other shops, online or otherwise? Would be willing to pay a bit more to buy in a normal shop.

mike65

I've used dabs and pixmania without trouble, dabs were quick.

Mike

Carlow52

http://readeroffers.irishtimes.com/i-cc-itds1070/35mm-film-negatives-and-slides-to-digital/

Is the item in question.

Would welcome any comments on this or recommendations for alternative kit to do several 1000 of each by 3 individuals so the cost can be split 3 ways.

In an ideal world the kit should be Mac compatible but maybe this is an expensive ask.
Thanks

artyeva

it looks remarkably like this one from maplin.

i was passing maplin in galway the other day and they have it on sale for €85.49

i'm not sure about the quality of either, though. i'll leave that to the more qualified members on here, maybe they can advise you better!!