35mm only scanner: inexpensive options?

Don't know why nobody mentions the Polarois Sprintscan 35plus.
Can you read German? Then look here:

http://www.photoinfos.com/Scanner/PolaroidSprintscan35plus.htm

This guy has tested the Polaroid against a Nikon Coolscan 4000 ED.
Conclusion: the Polaroid does a better job with classic b/w emulsions like APX and TRI-X. It can be bought in the US for next to nothing. That's why I decided to order 2, because I thought it would be better to have a spare scanner. That was 4 years ago. The scanner prooved to be very reliable and fast (30 sec. for a 2700 dpi scan). The results I get are great!
The only downside is you need a SCSI adapter in your PC. The scanner then works perfect with vuescan. 2700 dpi gives you about 10mp, enough to print A3. Should be available in the US for no more than $50. If you can get one w/o the negative strip holder, you can contact me. I have a dozen brand new ones in stock.

Examples:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47154683@N00/3944596382/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47154683@N00/3156907460/




wallace
 
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I have seen the Nikon and other 35mm scanners at shows for a few hundred dollars, and I modified my strip feeder to take full rolls, now if I can just get the processors to stop cutting my film. ;-)

My uber tech guy tells me almost all scanners run great with Linux -- made me think about a dedicated set up-- but I am the uber procrastinator, -- have no idea if I will ever get around to scanning all that needs to be scanned.

I did scan a lot of my slides that I use at work, beats carrying the 8 trays of slides for my Geo class, along with the projector, and finding someone to change the trays for me.

My local shop got a Coolscan 5000, which is, as I understand it, the same as the 4000 but USB in place of firewire, modified the strip feeder, and put the Konica scanner away, the Konica is still a good scanner, but he had trouble getting it to work with the software on a newer computer and this was the easier path as we have similar skills in tech stuff.

Regards, John
Regards, John
 
JohnTF said:
I have seen the Nikon and other 35mm scanners at shows for a few hundred dollars, and I modified my strip feeder to take full rolls, now if I can just get the processors to stop cutting my film. ;-)
Click to expand...
Back up a bit: which scanner did you mod the strip feeder on? The Nikon Coolscan III I was given recently came with the optional filmstrip feeder, which of course only handles strips up to six frames. If there's a reliable means of modding this to scan an entire uncut roll, I'd love to know about it.

As far as getting your lab to stop cutting up your negs, just keep asking, emphatically. My local CVS now has my M.O. down cold. Their lab has low staff turnover, so they know me well enough to remember my preferences (process-only, uncut). At worst, I only need remind them once. No problems.


- Barrett
 
I love flatbeds for quickly scanning a roll. My Epson 4490 gives fine output and I can batch 12 shots at a time. For prints, I recently got a Minolta Scan Dual IV, and although I don't see that much more detail from it its dynamic range, contrast and color reproduction are much better. Files just look much better from the dedicated scanner. Also, it's very small. Vuescan is great too, but I prefer to take a TIF into Capture NX for finetuning.
 
The HP s20/s20xi scans 35mm film and slides plus photos up to 5x7".
Compact, uses modern USB connection and works with Windows XP.
These typically sell for under $100 in good used condition on eBay.

Chris
 
amateriat said:
Back up a bit: which scanner did you mod the strip feeder on? The Nikon Coolscan III I was given recently came with the optional filmstrip feeder, which of course only handles strips up to six frames. If there's a reliable means of modding this to scan an entire uncut roll, I'd love to know about it.

As far as getting your lab to stop cutting up your negs, just keep asking, emphatically. My local CVS now has my M.O. down cold. Their lab has low staff turnover, so they know me well enough to remember my preferences (process-only, uncut). At worst, I only need remind them once. No problems.


- Barrett
Click to expand...

The main thing in the 4000/5000 is that the strip feeder sets the highest number to 6, if you can set it to 38 or so, it feeds the entire roll through and pulls them back one at a time, filing the scans as it goes, i.e. acting like a full roll feeder, SA 26?.

The modification I first saw involved taking the strip feeder apart and soldering two of the pins on a circuit board. A later one just had a thin wire bent in to an oval to connect the right pins without even opening up the feeder, and though I can think of no reason to do so, it could be reversed.

My friend's shop just uses plastic bins and microfiber cloth to catch the film. The feeders, as you know, are expensive, I paid more for the multi slide feeder than I paid for the scanner.

It has been posted here I am fairly certain, and probably a Google search should turn up the guys site.

It should work if they take the same feeder? I am certain someone here should know what the facts are.

I have a photo of the modification somewhere on my hard drive, if you email me, I will try to look it up and attach it to a reply.

The website I am thinking of had a lot of information on scanning in general, and using vuescan and Nikon software with the Coolscans.

Sorry I do not have the information at hand.

There are people I hear that prefer the firewire connection, my scanner had the card for my computer included, and when I swap out my desktop, I will look for one with firewire, or an open slot. Does Sony use another name for it?


J
 
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