Help me find a film scanner

stephenrd

Hi all,


I'm looking for a decent film scanner, either new or second hand for about 400 - 500 Euro.

I need it to do both 35mm and medium format negatives, ideally have some sort of dust removal function, and have a resolution of around 3000 to 4000 dpi but I'm not too fussed on that as long as its a decent scanner.


I'm doing my best looking on ebay and ideally I'd love to find a second hand nikon cool scan as I've had experience with these before but they're all so bloody expensive :mad:

Could anyone recommend one in that price range either second hand or new.. or failing that does anyone know of a decent second hand resource other than ebay where I might have some luck?

I've been looking at the Nikons and Minoltas (really hard to come by) and I'm slightly suspicious of the Plusteks but not sure why!


Hope you can help


Thanks

Stephen

dazftw

I have a canon canoscan 8400F which I paid like 170 for and I find its perfect.. much better than the scans the lab use to give me

Have a browse and see for yourself..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dazftw/collections/72157617400882813/

Unless you need this for your work and such I don't think you need to fork over 500 euro for a scanner..

Simplicius

I use an Epson V750 Pro , this is the best on the market for midrange scanners. I got it for around €550 through Amazon but got it delivered to Northern Ireland and a friend picked it up. Since then sterling has changed a lot it was .96

The scanner is all you'll really need for film scanning imho. As anything for framing or exhibition needs to be printed on fibre.

likewise look at my most recent picture those are all low rest neg scans with the epson. A mid range scanner no matter how good they claim will never replace the quality of a fibre print done by someone who knows their way around a darkroom.

kumate_champ07

from an irish company
205 euro
http://www.dabs.ie/products/plustek-opticfilm-7200i-film-scanner-4NY6.html?refs=4294959566

Plustek OpticFilm 7200i Film Scanner, very highly regarded

i think it only does 35mm tho, the epson v700 and canon 8800 are other options for medium format 120 and 135.

stephenrd

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful indeed.


Simplicius - regarding the Epson.. this might be a silly question, but seeing that its a flatbed scanner holding multiple negatives at once, does it scan everything at the same time and then seperate it all at software level, or does it scan everything individually?


As for the Plustec, it looks very tempting for that sort of money. Do you know anyone that is using it on a regular basis? I've heard the software can be quite unstable at times and I'm also running OSX and have no idea if its even compatible. It only says windows on dabs.


Thanks

DaireQuinlan

The medium format is a bit of a stickler here. If you were just looking for 35mm I'd say to look for a second hand coolscan or minolta dimage, they have scan quality second to none in that price range. Unfortunately the cheapest coolscan that does medium format is a tad more expensive ...

So looks like you're probably limited to a flatbed. I've got a canonscan 8600 that I use for medium format it's okay for web work, but it definately looks pretty poor compared to my coolscan. I'd go with simplicius and get the epson 750, there's a less expensive version aswell IIRC that has most of the features of the pro model. Has the advantage aswell that if you ever decide to shoot 4x5 you can scan that too As flatbeds go I've never seen anyone give it a bad review.

I'd steer clear of those plusteks. Sure they're cheap, but you get what you pay for. Judging from reviews I've read and impressions from people online they just look like cheap flatbed optics packaged up to look like a more expensive dedicated scanner. Back when I was originally looking for a scanner a few years back they consistently came bottom of the heap in reviews.

stephenrd

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

The medium format is a bit of a stickler here. If you were just looking for 35mm I'd say to look for a second hand coolscan or minolta dimage, they have scan quality second to none in that price range. Unfortunately the cheapest coolscan that does medium format is a tad more expensive ...

So looks like you're probably limited to a flatbed. I've got a canonscan 8600 that I use for medium format it's okay for web work, but it definately looks pretty poor compared to my coolscan. I'd go with simplicius and get the epson 750, there's a less expensive version aswell IIRC that has most of the features of the pro model. Has the advantage aswell that if you ever decide to shoot 4x5 you can scan that too As flatbeds go I've never seen anyone give it a bad review.

I'd steer clear of those plusteks. Sure they're cheap, but you get what you pay for. Judging from reviews I've read and impressions from people online they just look like cheap flatbed optics packaged up to look like a more expensive dedicated scanner. Back when I was originally looking for a scanner a few years back they consistently came bottom of the heap in reviews.

I'm leaning towards the coolscan at this stage. I wanted to go for medium format too just to cover myself in the future, but for the time being I'd be happy to settle for a decent 35mm scanner. For the odd time that I do shoot 120 I normally use a friend's scanner.

There is a great review of the Epson here: http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%20V750/page_1.htm

I'd most certainly be looking for one second hand at my budget so is there anything I should be looking out for? The coolscan 4000 seems to be my best bet.


Thanks