35 b&w film scanner

[Haigh]

Dear RFF members.
I am an Oz photographer who needs to scan 35mm Tri-x negs for book reproduction. So far I seem confined to an Epson flatbed 700 or a Nikon dedicated scanner at about A$4500 which is too dear for me. I would appreciate any suggestions this knowlegeable forum might have for me. I also wish to avoid paying a lab to make scans over which I have no control.

Best wishes,

Gary Haigh

Australia

 

[LeicaVirgin1]

Re: Scanner...

Re: Scanner...

Gary-

Greetings from hot Southern California. I have used both the Nikon Cool Scan 5000 & the Epson V750Pro.

I went with the Epson V750Pro. The reason is that I scan much faster, many more shots at a decent rez. size at a time. Also, I can scan 6x6, 4x5, & even 8x10 negs., & or transpariences. Most of my stuff is 35mm B&W anyway. I have a lot of negs. & transparencies! :bang:

The only issue is getting the film absolutely flat which almost never happens; Especially with newly processed Tri-X, :bang: (T-MAX 400 v.2 scans best, or Fuji Across, or Neopan, or Ilfords Delta series). 😀

However, for just under $1K, (US), I'd say the EpsonV750Pro is a winner; easy to use and gives me consistent results if you pay attention to detail. Does not hang-up either like the Nikon dedicated can do at times especially with slides. Warning: WATCH OUT FOR DUST! 🙁

Scans prints up to 8x10 as well. 😀

I have enclosed an attachment of a jpg. that was brought in as a TIFF @ 4800 Dpi, (16 bit/GrayScale w/Unsharp Mask turned on), off of Tri-X negative converted to a Large JPEG for some work. I then scaled it down for this site. I dont think it's that bad considering I shot it with a leica M & a leica lens. 😉

NO PHOTOSHOP, just the built-in "Unsharp Mask" tool that came with the software bundle of the Epson V750Pro.

Please see below for attachment.


Best,

LV1

 

[N. Bruce Nelson]

Re:

Re:

Dear Gary,

Check out http://www.plustek.com/

I was in a similar situation, and just got a used Plustek 7200. Based on examples I found on the web it does a decent job with b & w scans. I haven't had a chance to use mine yet. I usually use Linux, and there are only Windows drivers for it at the moment. I don't know about Mac, I think they may have just come out with one. In any case it seems like it might be affordable with reasonble performance for the price. I will post some examples when I get the operating system thing figured out.

Kind regards,

N. Bruce Nelson
San Francisco Bay area

 

[lewis44]

The Nikon LS-5000 is about $1100 US New and they are still around.
You can scan a full roll at a time with an adapter.
If you need to do quite a lot and use Tri-X or other B&W Silver film the Dust removal will not work, so a lot of spotting the dust in Photoshop will keep you "Plenty Busy"
For a 35mm scanner, the Nikon and the Minolta 5400 are the best, image quality wise
I have no clue about flatbed's

 

[historicist]

In London there are places you can go and hire a scanner by the hour or day, usually a very good one like an Imacon.

Might be worth checking out if there is such a service near you, I amagine most big cities have them.

 

[matt335]

Hey Gary,
I use a V700 and its great, plus I also have used a pro service where I've had scans done on a pro system for $50AU a scan. It's expensive but they are great quality. I guess it depends on how many photos and the printing output quality of your book which way you go?

 

[pete63uk]

I asked this elsewhere but here seems better, can you use one of those slr attachments for photographing slides?

 

[venchka]

Folks use flatbeds for publication all the time. For the 1 in 100 negatives that begs to be printed BIG! pay for a proper drum scan.

 

[brainwood]

I decided on the secondhand route rather than paying big bucks for a scanner. I got a Minolta dimage 35 mm dedicated scanner for under £200 . It works well and produces good resolutions scans upto a4 @300dpi which is big enough for me. I'm sure they would print well at A3 but so far I have not felt the need. Have look on eBay and see what's around. I think the scan Elite is the higher spec. But the scan dual has the same scanner inside with different less powerful software
hope this helps
chris