narsuitus
Well-known
I voted for flatbed scanner because that is what I would use if I shot 35mm black&white film. However, the only black&white film I use is medium format and large format.
How do you scan your 35mm B&W film?
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brennanphotoguy
Well-known
Pakon F135+ for about 4.5 years. Got it for $200 from AAA Imaging before everyone caught on. Should have bought another one.
froyd
Veteran
I think the 120 is in my future. Can't find anything else with the same ratio of quality and convenience.
I've grown used to Vuescan with my current scanner, and I'm now pretty comfortable with it. I know it supports the Plustek but I'm wondering if the results are inferior than the Silvfast combo. Have you had a chance to compare the two?
NandoTheNinja
Member
i use a canoscan 9000f mrk ii, i got it because at the time i needed a 35mm and medium format scanner, so i thought a flatbed was the way to go. but now i only shoot 35mm bw film and i'm not verry happy with the results. The scans are usually very blochy, and dispite que advertised 9600 dpi, i've read that it actually only produces an image with 5 million pixels or so out of a 35mm frame, the rest are doubled or tripled pixels.
(here is where i found that information)
http://www.filmscanner.info/en/CanonCanoScan9000FMark2.html
(here is where i found that information)
http://www.filmscanner.info/en/CanonCanoScan9000FMark2.html
brennanphotoguy
Well-known
Just sold my Pakon for a Pacific Image PrimeFilm XA with VueScan. So far so good. Slower but much better images.
briansilcox
Established
Imacon (Hasseblad) 848. Using Flexcolor drivers, had custom color profiles made for Kodachrome, Fujichrome. Scans B/W with canned grayscale profile, but I adjust gamma, white, and black points for each scan as required for varying exposure/ film density. Holders include 4x5, 6x9, 6x7, 6x6, 135 and a custom made full frame 135. One of the better equipment investments I ever made.
Pentode
Well-known
I'd love to have a dedicated multi-format scanner, but it's just not in the budget for me currently. For now, I stick with the flatbed (V500) - with mixed results.
SaveKodak
Well-known
I just purchased a Pacific Image PF120. It's remarkably cheap for a dedicated medium format scanner (<$1500 new). It has it's quirks but I am finding it comparable to the quality I got from the Coolscan 9000 I used to use, and its' much faster. My 6x7 scans are about 60mp and very detailed. It may lack 1 or 2 bells/whistles, but I am quite pleased.
Greg M.
Member
I use an Epson Perfection Photo V370 for B&W 35mm... and an old Epson Perfection Photo 2450 (which needs to be driven by an O*L*D Titanium Powerbook, and the pix ported over to another computer, via USB drive, because the TiBook is SO OLD that it won't work with my wifi/router).
The 2450 is used for B&W 120 and 4x5 negatives... not enough resolution for happy 35mm scans. I rarely scan color, because I have Digital Cameras for color shooting. I use Epson's software/drivers, because they offer 14-bit depth, in "Professional" mode. Bit Depth is the reason why I like or dislike a scanner or software... more bits means more/better tonality. Almost anything that you buy will give you resolution, but if your photos are too dark/too light/too contrasty/ T*O*O contrasty... who wants to look at your scans?
I make a VERY flat scan (gray shadows, gray highlights, the center slider in the Levels Pane moved... usually... 'way to the left to where the overall exposure looks about right. I make it a 16 bit Tiff, and open it in Adobe Camera Raw. There, I move the "black" slider to the right, to about where it looks OK... then the exposure slider to where it looks OK... then, usually, the "recovery" slider to the right, to make sure that all the important highlights will survive subsequent diddling. I move to the Sharpness and Noise Control pane, and sharpen it, and move the Color and Luminance Noise Reduction sliders about a quarter of the way to the right. This is done to mediate the grain, a wee bit. I then send the image to Photoshop, where I make sure that it is completely color desaturated, and toned up to where it looks like whateveritwas that I photographed... unsharp mask to taste (experiment, experiment, experiment... it's a personal decision), make it an 8-bit image, and save as a Jpeg.
I do all this to preserve as much image information as possible. I spent a lot of time, energy, and money making nice negatives... why make a crappy scan?
BTW... for the old Printers in this group... one of the many reasons why I like these scanners is the diffuse light source, in the lids. My scans look JUST like the prints I used to make, in my Diffusion Head Enlarger.
The 2450 is used for B&W 120 and 4x5 negatives... not enough resolution for happy 35mm scans. I rarely scan color, because I have Digital Cameras for color shooting. I use Epson's software/drivers, because they offer 14-bit depth, in "Professional" mode. Bit Depth is the reason why I like or dislike a scanner or software... more bits means more/better tonality. Almost anything that you buy will give you resolution, but if your photos are too dark/too light/too contrasty/ T*O*O contrasty... who wants to look at your scans?
I make a VERY flat scan (gray shadows, gray highlights, the center slider in the Levels Pane moved... usually... 'way to the left to where the overall exposure looks about right. I make it a 16 bit Tiff, and open it in Adobe Camera Raw. There, I move the "black" slider to the right, to about where it looks OK... then the exposure slider to where it looks OK... then, usually, the "recovery" slider to the right, to make sure that all the important highlights will survive subsequent diddling. I move to the Sharpness and Noise Control pane, and sharpen it, and move the Color and Luminance Noise Reduction sliders about a quarter of the way to the right. This is done to mediate the grain, a wee bit. I then send the image to Photoshop, where I make sure that it is completely color desaturated, and toned up to where it looks like whateveritwas that I photographed... unsharp mask to taste (experiment, experiment, experiment... it's a personal decision), make it an 8-bit image, and save as a Jpeg.
I do all this to preserve as much image information as possible. I spent a lot of time, energy, and money making nice negatives... why make a crappy scan?
BTW... for the old Printers in this group... one of the many reasons why I like these scanners is the diffuse light source, in the lids. My scans look JUST like the prints I used to make, in my Diffusion Head Enlarger.
ckuwajima
Celso
Using Epson v800 w/ Silverfast. Still learning to get better results and struggling to cope with dust.
Ok results so far.
Ok results so far.
PKR
Veteran
Wet scan with flatbed scanners. Big improvement in quality.
http://aztek.com/Epson V750 KAMI Kit.html
Most of my stuff is wet scanned on credo iq3. Epson V750 is great printed up to 16 by 20. Anything bigger, the credo scans are really better.
http://aztek.com/Epson V750 KAMI Kit.html
Most of my stuff is wet scanned on credo iq3. Epson V750 is great printed up to 16 by 20. Anything bigger, the credo scans are really better.
curmudgeon
Member
Leitz BEOON with a Fuji X-E2 and 50/4 Componon.
roscoetuff
Well-known
Just acquired a Plustek 8200 scanner which I'm running with Vuescan on a Windows 10 machine, but have only done some preliminary B&W with it. Finding this exactly the upgrade I needed from DSLR scans of my negatives that were simply disappointing for the number of variables involved between setting macro focus, enlarger (used as a camera holder) alignment, negative holder, etc.... and the prospect of resolving issues one-by-one slowly seemed fraught with potential dead-ends. As the question became whether or not to try a standardized, "canned" option instead or continue with the "roll your own" where the latter seemed more open-ended on cost and quality results less certain. So I bailed on roll-your-own.
Given that the whole of the "return to film" is new to me - including the development of my own negatives, I'd begun to wonder "Why am I doing this?" But the results in making the change to Plustek... look VERY promising. Indeed, my negatives were far better than I thought, so the switch to film, B&W and a Leica M4-2 rangefinder for creative work now looks less and less of an adventure, and a more sensible course than I feared it was beginning to turn. Now.... I'm very pleased with the output and look forward to doing some scaled-up prints in 20 x 17 as a test.
Given that the whole of the "return to film" is new to me - including the development of my own negatives, I'd begun to wonder "Why am I doing this?" But the results in making the change to Plustek... look VERY promising. Indeed, my negatives were far better than I thought, so the switch to film, B&W and a Leica M4-2 rangefinder for creative work now looks less and less of an adventure, and a more sensible course than I feared it was beginning to turn. Now.... I'm very pleased with the output and look forward to doing some scaled-up prints in 20 x 17 as a test.
jim0266
Established
Leica BEOON with a Sony A7 and 50/2.8 APO Rodagon.
jrose125
Established
I develop all of my B&W at home and always got mine scanned professionally at a local lab, but they charge so damn much that I decided it would be more economical for me to pick up a scanner and scan them myself...
So I bought an Epson V550 direct from Epson for $140 (Tax and Shipping Included) and it arrived today. I only had one roll to scan but was impressed by the results. It's definitely not "Professional Quaity" but I don't have to pay $0.40 a frame so I'm happy with it
So I bought an Epson V550 direct from Epson for $140 (Tax and Shipping Included) and it arrived today. I only had one roll to scan but was impressed by the results. It's definitely not "Professional Quaity" but I don't have to pay $0.40 a frame so I'm happy with it
welshzorki
Established
I'm trying to work out commercial V home scanning. I don't shoot much bit waiting a couple of weeks for processing and scanning is killing me. I'm happy to get back to home processing a couple of film ls a month because i'd enjoy it and it would be quick, a scanner is the issue, i can't really justify blowing a few hundred quid on a scanner just to make the process wuicker so are there cheaper options that will provide good quality, most of my images will only end up online but i still want good results.
Huss
Veteran
Nikon D750 DSLR + macro lens , then..
1/ If scanning 35mm film, I use the Nikon ES-1 slide duplicator with a film holder.
Illuminated with a slave flash, camera pointing directly at it.
2/ If scanning 120/220 film, same camera and lens, but I use a copy stand and light pad.
If you have any decent digital camera you can do this. Using the 35mm slide copier it takes me about 10-15 secs to take a shot . So I can do a roll of film in about 10 minutes. Using the copy stand, as there are 8-15 shots per roll (depending on whether it is 6x9, 6x6, 6x4.5) I can do a roll in 3-5 minutes.
1/ If scanning 35mm film, I use the Nikon ES-1 slide duplicator with a film holder.
Illuminated with a slave flash, camera pointing directly at it.
2/ If scanning 120/220 film, same camera and lens, but I use a copy stand and light pad.
If you have any decent digital camera you can do this. Using the 35mm slide copier it takes me about 10-15 secs to take a shot . So I can do a roll of film in about 10 minutes. Using the copy stand, as there are 8-15 shots per roll (depending on whether it is 6x9, 6x6, 6x4.5) I can do a roll in 3-5 minutes.
Huss
Veteran
Your Sony A7R11 is the most perfect camera to use as a scanner.
You've got the most expensive bit already! All you need is a macro lens (or macro lens tubes) that can get you to 1:1, a film holder, and a flash.
I use this film holder:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/35-mm-film-...LM3d7thDha69QiOY0t7c8%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
welshzorki
Established
Ok i'll try this then, when shooting negs do you just do a reversal in photoshop or is there a better way to convert negative to positive to keep the correct tones, i'm talking bxw negs here
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
I scan them with my Canonscan 8600F and the Scangear software. Then final adjustments done with Gimp.
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