ptpdprinter
Veteran
I have been happy with mine. I don't even mind the Silverfast scanning software.
Best Film Scanner for under $500? Under $1000?
- Thread starter sheins1928
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Bob Michaels
nobody special
I still occasionally print from 15 year old files created by my ScanDual III and never find them lacking. Those older ScanDual III and IV's are great for those of us who only care what our photos look like and not specs.
The only reason I sold the SD III was that I had bought a MultiPro to be able to also scan medium format film. Those III and IV's were going for about $125 back then. If you want great scans from a low cost scanner, those or the Nikon equivalents, certainly are the way to go.
willie_901
Veteran
My experience with Plustek and Vuescan has been positive. However, it does take a while to get the most out of these.
bmattock
Veteran
Make sure you get the negative and slide trays when you buy used though. They are very hard to come by and cannot be purchased from Sony (who ended up with the Minolta-Konica business).
I have a III and a IV and one negative, one slide tray between the two, which is fine for me. And since I have them, it makes buying a used one possible, since they typically sell without trays of any kind. But if you're a new user buying used scanners, you really need to be sure you get one with the trays or you're buying a pig in a poke.
bmattock
Veteran
I really want to try a Plustek, but I only run Linux and unfortunately the Plustek is not supported under Linux. I could faff around with a virtual machine and then buy a copy of Windows, but to be honest, it's too much work for me.
benmacphoto
Well-known
Nikon CoolScan 4000 is easily the best scanner under $500 for 35mm
The 8000 would be good for 120 but they are getting long in the tooth and harder to find.
The 8000 would be good for 120 but they are getting long in the tooth and harder to find.
Bob Michaels
nobody special
Is the Plustek not supported by Vuescan, which is supported under Linux?
Remember the Vuescan trial version is free.
bmattock
Veteran
I'm a long-time Vuescan Pro user - I believe I registered mine in 2003 and I still get updates weekly if not more often - now THAT is service!
Vuescan of course does run under Linux which is how I use my ScanDual III, IV, and my Epson PHOTO Perfection 2400 (my 4490 died recently). It's wonderful!
But no, according to Vuescan, they do support the Plustek (and Pacific Image, another I'd like to try) but only under Windows and Apple, not under Linux.
bmattock
Veteran
I am sure you're right about the quality, but I think the prices have escalated well beyond $500. I think you'd have to be very patient to find one for $500, and then you'd need to be sure you could get all the accessories to make it work (trays, etc). Prices I have seen tend to start at $600 USD and that's the dregs, not the good stuff.
benmacphoto
Well-known
Recently sold a 4000 at work for $450 with the SA-21, was for sale for almost 2 months.
The 8000 does sell for more, $1000 with accessories.
stompyq
Well-known
Use a DSLR with a macro lens. Better than all the obsolete scanners that have been mentioned. There are threads here on RFF that will help you get started. I have owned the coolscan 4000 and V750 and my DSLR with dirt cheap macro beats both handily
bmattock
Veteran
Depends on the use case, and requires a reasonable quality DSLR with a wide dynamic range. Not against it - I want to try it - but it's not for everyone.
bmattock
Veteran
I don't have access to your employer, but I do have access to eBay, which is where I formed my opinion. But whatever.
stompyq
Well-known
Any DSLR within the last couple of years can be used. I compared images scanned with a Nikon D7000 (which is what 7 years old now?) against the coolscan and the DSLR was superior. The newer high MP bodies are far ahead of the D7000. All you need is something with live view. m43 cameras are also quite good (small and cheap)
albireo
Established
This sounds interesting, however
1. how do you ensure perfect parallelism between the film plane and the sensor plane? I assume you use an enlarger stand. Which is good, but then you'll need to factor in the cost for the stand, and the space taken in a room by the setup.
2. Not everybody shooting film has a digital camera anymore. Plenty of people in my age group are ditching dSLRs altogether and taking the odd digital snapshot on their phones.
3. How do you do ICE scratch removal with a dSLR? No problem doing an infrared run with an 'obsolete' scanner, but loads of photoshop work on your dSLR setup if the negative is less than optimal
4. What do you use as a light table? If the answer is a real light table - great, but you need to factor in the cost and space taken by that. If not - let's say you use an ipad on a white page. Suboptimal IME - shoot with a good macro lens with 1:1 factor and you'll see the RGB pixel mesh from the ipad.
So yeah - glad it works for you but I don't think it's for everybody
Nokton48
Veteran
I have wanted a large format scanner for a while. I shoot mainly 4x5/9x12, but sometimes 5x7 and a bit of 8x10.
After a lot of internet data mining, I just bought a good condition Epson Perfection 4990, and four neg holders for it.
I have a 4490 and it has worked well for 120/70mm. I may sell the 4490 if the 4990 works out well, which I think it will.
I have a Nikon LS2000 which does the job well for me with 35mm.
Epson Perfection 4990 Scanner by Nokton48, on Flickr
Epson 4990 4x5 Film Holder by Nokton48, on Flickr
Epson 4990 8x10 holder by Nokton48, on Flickr
After a lot of internet data mining, I just bought a good condition Epson Perfection 4990, and four neg holders for it.
I have a 4490 and it has worked well for 120/70mm. I may sell the 4490 if the 4990 works out well, which I think it will.
I have a Nikon LS2000 which does the job well for me with 35mm.
Epson Perfection 4990 Scanner by Nokton48, on FlickrEpson 4990 4x5 Film Holder by Nokton48, on FlickrEpson 4990 8x10 holder by Nokton48, on Flickr
