Recommendation for best Scanner for Mac?

[Planar1.4]

I read most of the stuff I could find on scanners- but not a lot I could find on best combatibility with a Mac. I see some stuff with problems with Macs- but want options that seem to have few problems!

I am in the market for a mid-range(~$500), high quality scanner for a Mac- if it exists!

Thank you!

 

[kaiyen]

Vuescan works on a mac. Get a scanner that works with Vuescan 🙂

allan

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I've decided on the scanner for me: The Epson Perfection 4990 Photo. It can do up to 8x10 negatives, it does well with 35mm film and slides, and scans black and white rather well, too. The perfect scanner for you really depends on what you're going to want to do with it. Tell us more and we'll be able to give you more options.

 

[ch1]

Just about any scanner should work with a Mac.

At your price range you have a pretty wide choice. What are you mainly intending to scan? Prints or negs or trasnpencies etc.

These are the issues that will inform your choice.

A lot of folks here use VueScan. I have a Nikon 5000 so use its software.

 

[JoeFriday]

I've got a Nikon Coolscan V that works perfectly fine with my Mac running 10.3.4 and VueScan

I plan to get an Epson 4490 (the little brother to the one Stephanie mentioned, and less than half the price) so I can scan medium format, as well.. another option I've looked at is the CanoScan 9950F, a bit pricier but still within your budget.. about $350

the only scanner I had any compatibility issues with my Mac was a cheap Umax flatbed that didn't include a driver for OSX.. I had to get Silverfast to get that one running.. the fact that Umax wouldn't help me out at all made me decide I'd never buy their products in the future

 

[Stephanie Brim]

The Canoscan isn't as good as the Epson in regards to image quality...you'd be better off with the Epson scanner if you wanted to do 35mm film with it.

 

[JoeFriday]

then the Epson would be a good choice if you want the option of scanning larger than 35mm (medium format, 4x5, etc).. but if you're only going to scan 35mm, a dedicated film scanner will produce much better results than either the Epson or CanoScan

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Well yeah, Brett. But he wants to get one scanner. So if he wants to scan both medium format and film, the best way to go would be the Epson. The Canon, while good, seems slightly flat. I've only seen the online image tests myself, though, so maybe I'm not the best to judge.

 

[JoeFriday]

I don't know if I'd agree that the Canon images seem flat.. I suppose that could be a focusing issue or color saturation problem

but I'll say that I am more interested in the Epson because it includes ICE.. the Canon scanner has a similar system, but I think I've read that it's not as effective

anyway, with the budget of $500, you could get both a dedicated film scanner (The Konica-Minolta Dual Scan IV) and a flatbed (the Epson 4490).. or buy one and then decide if you still want/need the other

 

[Planar1.4]

Thanks- I mostly want to do 35mm negatives and slides-
I have not done 4x5 or 120/220 in 10 years!

that said, options are nice- but I am thinking more "digital darkroom" right now-
Scan my slides and scan my own B&W 35mm.

At the top end I was looking at a Nikon Coolscan V, Minoltal DiMAGE Elite 5400 and the Pacific Image PrimeFilm 3650 Pro3.
But I will check out these others-

I want as good of B&W rendition as I can get from a negative, and at what point if my largest print will be 8x10 does resolution in dpi matter?

I'll look at some of the suggestions so far...

 

[kaiyen]

Either the CS V or the Elite 5400 will be fine up to 8x10 and even 11x14 with the right negative (grain gets tough with enlargements past 8x10 in many cases). I use a CS IV with "only" 2900 dpi and I'm fine up to 8x10.

allan

 

[Mackinaw]

I'l second the Nikon Coolscan V suggestion. Works well with my flat screen iMac running 10.3.9. I've had good success with the Nikon Scan software, though there is a learning curve.

Jim Bielecki

 

[Patman]

I have an Epson flatbed which is great for art and positive images but when it comes to film or slides no flat bed can compare to a film scanner. At our office we have a Creos Flatbed scanner, cost $30,000 and my film scans from my Minolta Dimage Elite 5400 are far superior. By the way anyone with this scanner should get the updated software from Minoltas site.

 

[ch1]

I'l second the Nikon Coolscan V suggestion. Works well with my flat screen iMac running 10.3.9. I've had good success with the Nikon Scan software, though there is a learning curve.

Jim Bielecki

Agree 100% on Nikon Scan software.

I have the Nikon 5000 and at first hated the Nikon Scan software. It has terrible documentation and is not "Windows intuitive". But once you get through the "hit and miss" steps it's actually quite good - particularly with lining up negatives (I feed them directly - don't use a "holder").

A lot of others here like VueScan and it will work with the Nikon, as well as many other scanners.

 

[willie_901]

Here's some 35mm slide scans from a Canon 9950F.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willie_901/sets/1551353/


I use Silverfast 6 AI because it outperforms the Canoscan driver.

It does a great job on 35mm negatives too. I am happy with this scanner. I need to make hi-res scans a bunch of 90 year old WW-I prints (no negatives survive) and the 9950F can do those as well.

The Canoscan driver is useful because it efficiently scan images for image databases like iPhoto.

I'm using OS X 10.9

 

[plexi]

Here's some 35mm slide scans from a Canon 9950F.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/willie_901/sets/1551353/


I use Silverfast 6 AI because it outperforms the Canoscan driver.

It does a great job on 35mm negatives too. I am happy with this scanner. I need to make hi-res scans a bunch of 90 year old WW-I prints (no negatives survive) and the 9950F can do those as well.

The Canoscan driver is useful because it efficiently scan images for image databases like iPhoto.

I'm using OS X 10.9

Your images just proves that a flatbed scanner isn`t very good for 35mm film, the scans are way softer than a dedicated filmscanner.

I have the Epson too , for my 120 and 4x5 films, but my way outdated, cheap Minolta Scan Dual III kills the Epson......

 

[Patman]

Their is no OS X 10.9, do you mean 10.3.9!

 

[willie_901]

duh, of course 3.9 sigh

 

[Patman]

Oh, I see, 10.3.9 is too much for you to type, it's like an abreviation, a short cut, 3 numbers instead of 4, wow, very clever, duh, too bad you can't figure out how to abbreviate, duh!

 

[flipflop]

ahh...hope these boxers didnt kill the thread...I as well am interested in good dedicated film scanner 35mm for my mac. Im running 10.3.9. looking for a scanner in the 350-400 range.
thanks in advance!