Cheapo ebay scanners?

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hamradio

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It seems like there are quite a few <$100 negative scanners on ebay...it looks like they all only do 35mm. Not a huge issue for me, as about 95% of what I shoot is 35mm...if I was shooting MF, I'd bring it to a prolab for scans.

Anyway, is one even worth buying? What is quality like? Primary use would be for scanning b&w negs. I don't have money for a coolscan or similar. Another plus is that they appear to have a pretty small footprint and would be quite portable.

Another concern is, if one is actually worth buying, would using other software with it be possible? It seems like the supplied software for all them is for Windows.

Examples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-VuPoint-35m...in_0?hash=item3ef7e5c991&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.com/Film-Negative-S...in_0?hash=item5d25e09fde&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
 
If you're patient you can pick one up pretty cheap. You could also consider buying a cheap scsi card and getting an older coolscan. They work in Vuescan no problem (though are a little trickier to get to work in Leopard if you're a mac person, although there is a scsi card you can get for about $20 off ebay that actually works in Os X, despite apple dropping essentially all scsi support). Sure, a coolscan I, II, or III isn't going to be 'as good' as the new ones, but they routinely sell for $30 or so and will provide much better scans than riteaid and even photo places (without paying extra for good scans).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Canon-CanoScan-...in_0?hash=item3ef7c1d6ba&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I bought one of those for around $80 in mint condition with only a power cable. Seller guaranteed it worked, though he had no negative carriers, and none were to be found on ebay. Called canon direct and they sent me one for $18 shipped.

Before I got the carrier from Canon, I found another one of the same model, with carriers, box, etc for about $5 less than I paid, on craigslist, in Canada. I think I still have his email somewhere. I sent him an email and since no one made any offers on it he said he was more than happy to send it from Vancouver to New Orleans. Would've been around $100 shipped total.

The only problem with some of the older scanners is that they're mostly all scsi, and the ones that have usb (like my trusty canoscan) have USB 1.0 or 1.1 so the scan speed is about half speed using usb as opposed to SCSI.


EDIT: Regarding the two you linked, I was looking at getting one of those originally, since they're brand new. What turned me off is that they won't work in Os X, even with vuescan, so I'd have to do all my scanning on my laptop instead of my hackintosh. Also, the reviews I read were very mixed with the gist of them being 'For the price you really can't complain.' I don't think they have Digital ICE either, though to be fair, I've not once used the Digital ICE/FARE on my scanner as I mostly shoot B&W.
 
Last edited:
hamradio said:
It seems like there are quite a few <$100 negative scanners on ebay...it looks like they all only do 35mm. Not a huge issue for me, as about 95% of what I shoot is 35mm...if I was shooting MF, I'd bring it to a prolab for scans.

Anyway, is one even worth buying? What is quality like? Primary use would be for scanning b&w negs. I don't have money for a coolscan or similar. Another plus is that they appear to have a pretty small footprint and would be quite portable.

Another concern is, if one is actually worth buying, would using other software with it be possible? It seems like the supplied software for all them is for Windows.

Examples:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-VuPoint-35m...in_0?hash=item3ef7e5c991&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

http://cgi.ebay.com/Film-Negative-S...in_0?hash=item5d25e09fde&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Click to expand...

Those are not actually scanners. They are digital cameras in a box. I have not used them, but I would not expect wonderful results.

If you're short on funds, I recommend the Epson 4490, which is a flatbed scanner that is often sold as a refurb on Epson's website cheaply. Works with a lot of OS's and runs well with Vuescan as well.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63060806
 
Hmmm. Unfortunately, I don't think I can get scsi support on my laptop, and have no desktop to put an scsi card into.


Looks like adorama sells one, too...

http://www.adorama.com/WVF2D100.html


Edit- ah, I see why they are now so cheap. I knew there was a catch with the cheap 'scanners'.

Would something like the epson give far superior results?
 
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Wow. After looking at some sample scans from the 4490, I am quite impressed with it for the price. I think I'll have to purchase one soon.


Thanks for the recommendation!
 
hamradio said:
Wow. After looking at some sample scans from the 4490, I am quite impressed with it for the price. I think I'll have to purchase one soon.


Thanks for the recommendation!
Click to expand...

You're welcome. The 4490 is my main medium-format scanner, and I am quite pleased with it. I even use it to scan my old 1980's 110 negatives, and it works tolerably well.

It is surpassed in speed and quality by my Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV, but not by much, and the Minolta is a) not made anymore and b) only for 35mm and c) does not have Digital ICE scratch removal, which can be nice sometimes (it does have a deleterious effect on sharpness).

So it's not 'all that', but it's about the best I think a person can do for a c-note and have 35mm and medium format capability. I also recommend investing in Vuescan (www.hamrick.com). It takes awhile to master, but updates are free forever (and frequent) and it runs on a pile o' operating systems and will work with other scanners you may get in the future.
 
There's pc-card/pcmcia scsi adapters, but I'd go with bmattock's suggestion. Until I stumbled upon my current scanner I was looking at getting an Epson flatbed.
 
I've had great experience with my Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III, and it cost about $200 off an auction site here in europe.
 
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