HELP!! What Scanner?? Sub-$300

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leroi

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Jun 11, 2013
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Guys I am new here and to film rangefinders but I am really loving my experience so far. I started Sony NEX 3 a little over a year ago and moved to a NEX 5N and now I have discovered film!! I have acquired over the past couple months a Yashica Electro 35 GSN, Olympus XA, and a Kiev 4. I started with color but quickly moved to developing my own B&W after the pains of trying to get film developed locally. I am starting to get the developing process down but now my problem is getting the negatives scanned. I have tried a couple CVS stores and my new local COSTCO and don't love the results, the inconsistency, or the turn around time. I would like to buy a scanner that is fast and at least sufficient quality to print 5x7s and it would be fantastic if I could do 8x10s.

My criteria in order:
-Fast
-Quality (only care about B&W, only need up to 8x10)
-Ability to scan whole roll (but at least 6 frames without babysitting)

So far I have looked at about every forum thread Google can produce from my scanner searches. There are a couple options I have seen so far that look like they could fit the bill:

Nikon Coolscan LS-2000 (eBay seller has fully refurbished with 1 yr warranty for $300)
Epson V600
Canon Canoscan 9000F MKII
Plustek Opticfilm 8100 (problem is each frame has to be advanced)
Pacific Image PrimeFilm 7250Pro3 (significant # of bad reviews but most seem geared toward software and color performance, scans whole roll)

So Scanner Experts please set me straight!! I want to get something relatively soon so that I can perform the whole process of picture to print at home and not have to rely on the minimum wage hourly employee down the street.
 
Plustek. It doesn't do batch scanning, but it's BY FAR the best value for the money. It's a brilliant scanner.
 
I'd just go for the Epson V600, because eventually you'll end up going larger in format. ;)
 
I think I am going to go with either a refurbished Nikon LS-2000 or LS-30. They seem to fit my needs of being relatively fast and can scan a strip of 6 frames automatically. Any input on which I should get?
 
I've got the LS-2000, a Canon FS4000US, an HP Scanjet G4050, and an Epson 4990. The Nikon scanner is bar none the fastest scanner I own, about a minute and a half to two minutes per frame. Sure it's only 2700 dpi, but it also requires very little tweaking in post compared to the other scanners. Part of that speed though is because the scanner scans both the IR and RGB spectrums in the same pass. Most other scanners have to do it in two passes (Minoltas being the exception). Of course that won't help with black and white since the silver content in the film gets in the way of the IR spectrum but when you do scan color you just keep going. The Canon, while being of higher quality (dpi) takes close to 13 minutes per frame with Multi-Exposure (helps with slide film) and IR dust removal active.

The big downside is getting the SCSI interface working with a newer computer. This interface predates 64 bit computers, so if you have a 64 bit OS or the newest Apple OS that may be something to consider. I use VueScan on Windows 7-64 as NikonScan just won't work.

The SA-20 (and I believe the SA-21) are the automatic film strip feeders. You can also use the MA-20 with FH-3 but that's a manual feed situation. Make sure you know what you're getting.
 
I've had my Epson 3170 for years. I've been very satisfied with the results for prints up to 8x10. Haven't tried anything larger really. Using Vuescan. I've scanned about 50 rolls for a recent project and pretty well have Vuescan dialed in for batch scanning. It will do 2 6-frame strips at time.
 
Use your 5N, a good legacy macro lens and a belows+slide holder: $150 aprox. Excellent results for BW (I think better than what you will get with the scanners you mentioned), though a bit trickier for color negatives.
That's what I'm using now to scan my negatives and it finished with many years of flatbed scanning frustration... You can check the results in my Flickr.
 
For colour negs, you just need to colour the back light so that the red, green and blue channels appear lined up in the middle in the histogram exposure @ 5600K. Instead of one to the far left and one to the far right.
 
Athiril said:
For colour negs, you just need to colour the back light so that the red, green and blue channels appear lined up in the middle in the histogram exposure @ 5600K. Instead of one to the far left and one to the far right.
Click to expand...

I'm planning to try that using the colour enlarger I have as light source. Thanks.
 
Here's a thought...

Get a Pakon F-135. I have seen them on EBay for $150 and up but the high priced ones never sell.

They say that the F-135 cannot scan black and white but the newest software corrected that.

Scans a whole roll of 35mm in 5 minutes or less.
 
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