Need help choosing Film scanner for 35mm

I

Ibraar

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May 3, 2011
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Hi
I need some advice regarding Scanning.
I have an Epson 4990 flatbed which has served me (scanning 35mm and 120) since I bought it new in 2006 but the quality for 35mm has never been great and curled negatives make scanning a pain in the bum.
The scanner is adequate and I suppose is better for 120.

I need a new scanner, something Film dedicated. Medium Format ones are way too expensive, so I think a dedicated 35mm scanner with better scans from 35mm BW/C41 and E6 than the scans produced by my 4990 would be ideal.

My budget would be around the £400 mark tops, and would consider second hand stuff too.

Ffordes.co.uk are selling some on their site Used, but I'm confused.

How do the Plustek or Reflecta scanners compare to my Epson 4990?
What I want is 35mm scans with more detail with better ability to capture shadow detail than my 4990, sharper images too.

The Plustek 8200Ai looks attractive, any suggestions or help?
Or any links to a review site or somewhere which actually compares and shows side by side comparisons?


I have a Macintosh with OSX Mavericks
 
Thanks for that!
It's interesting, as the Minolta looks good - but is rare and sky high priced second hand.

How does the Plustek 8100/8200 compare to the Epson 4990 ? or even to the Minolta or the Nikon's?

And what is the difference between a Plustek 8100 and 8200?
 
Ibraar said:
It's interesting, as the Minolta looks good - but is rare and sky high priced second hand.
Click to expand...

Sky high? Second hand Minolta 5400 ver.1 scanners go for sub 500 and often for even less than 400 EUR.

Pioneer said:
The Epson V500 works great, also handles medium format, and is quite inexpensive.
Click to expand...

He's got Epson 4990 already which is a better scanner than V500.
 
brbo said:
He's got Epson 4990 already which is a better scanner than V500.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Thought he was having trouble with the 4990.

I think we all fight with curly 35mm film from time to time. I generally use the BetterScanning newton glass inserts in my Epson 35mm holders and tape the curly stuff to them. If the film is severely curly even some of the Plustek scanners I've use will have trouble. Until you can flatten the film it will be tough to get a good scan with any scanner.
 
your budget is plenty. I would look for a second hand Nikon cs50 also called a "Coolscan V ED".
It's dedicated to 35mm. Scanns 4000dpi down to grain level.
A super potent scanner. I use mine with Nikon Scan4 running on an old macbook dedicate to the scanner although I occasionally use Vuescan as well.

I also have an Epson V700. For 35mm the difference is quite dramatic.
When you start seeing film grain from your scanner as it really looks rather than the epson smoothing "blobbles" you see how special this scanner is.

Cheers!
 
I just bought a MinoltaDimage Scan Dual IV. 3200 dpi. Paid under $150US with shipping. A huge improvement over the Epson V700 for 35mm film. As Andy says, I am now seeing grain. I know that the Nikon has a better reputation and higher resolution, along with a higher price. For my purposes this unit should work well, as long as it keeps working. Worth a look and some research, I think.
 
I just recently acquired a dedicated 35mm film scanner, as I was never totally satisfied with my old V500. Here is the quick write-up I did on it, which includes links on where to get one and other information. It's the Pakon F135, and I got it brand new for $250. It scans an entire roll in 3-4 minutes with scans good enough to print 8x10 for sure, and possibly bigger. Scans are great and generally require virtually no post-processing.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: http://trevor365photo.wordpress.com/2013/12/02/pakon-f135-first-impressions/
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. Not too many Minolta or nikon to be had locally in England for a good price.
I found a plustek 8100 for £150 and I think that's a bargain as it'll give better results for 35mm than my 4990 which I will keep for larger formats and print scanning. I think that will do and if I don't like it I can at least return it. Any experience ?
That was sound advice about the anti newton glass, can this be got for the 4990?
 
Rangefinderfreak said:
I have a Hasselblad Flextight II . I would not take anything less. They are available sometimes on the used market ( Ebay etc.) The only problem is that they use SCASI.. and require an old MAC.. here is a bit more modern version of Flextight:.http://www.ebay.de/itm/hasselblad-f...ör_Fotoalben_archivierung&hash=item1e8430e3f4
Click to expand...

He'll be doing well getting one for £400.

I got a Plustek 8100 which is noticeably better than my Epson V700. Vuescan supported.

Pete
 
If you have:
photostream


photostream


Doing this (insert a thin electrical wire =copper wire and taped =jumper mid row #4 to #5 pins from left side) to the back end will make the film loader accept a whole 40 frames. You will just need to add clean catching bins to front and back. Thanks to RFF post elsewhere -I cannot find anymore.
photostream
 
This site has lots of information: http://www.filmscanner.info/en/FilmscannerTestberichte.html

One thing to consider (which they mention in more or less every review) is that the DPI the scanner can scan at isn't always related to the amount of data it can resolve optically.

So, based on that I chose the Reflecta scanner as it was the one wasting less disk space in that price range.

I also have an Epson V500... It's horrendous, it will give you about 2mp wort of digital data out of a 35mm negative. It's acceptable for medium format, but then again that is purely because the film is larger, it is still the same low optical resolution.
 
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