scanner hunt...

What to do with negatives? The question is about B&W in this case. I'm assuming 35mm.
- Nikon CoolScan or equivalent, $1000+, slow, 24MPx output, 8x10 with ease.
- Pakon F135 or F135 Plus, $1000+, fast, 6MPx output, enough for 8x10.
- Flatbed (e.g. Epson V600), 1300-1800ppi measured resolution, 3-5MPx, good for prints up to 6x linear dimension of the negative. So 8x10 is about the limit. Nice for medium format.
- Camera scan, buy a nice macro lens, rig a setup, invert in Photoshop and adjust, or import into Lightroom and use the excellent Negative Lab Pro. I think this approach can now match the quality from a CoolScan from 35mm.
- iPhone scan for fun, just shoot the negative with your phone, crop and invert image somehow, it's a big crop so you'll only get 1.5MPx.
- iPhone scan for serious work, get a macro lens (Moment Macro or Exolens Zeiss Macro), use a 12MPx phone-camera, LED light panel, shoot with Lightroom CC to put a 16bit DNG on your laptop, invert in Negative Lab Pro, adjust to taste. ~10MPx from 35mm image, should make a good 12x18" print.

Starting today in 35mm with minimum investment: I would buy the Exolens Zeiss on eBay for less than $100, and use Lightroom. Seriously.
 
predicolous said:
1 more thing:
don't believe the resolution Epson or Plustek state. complete nonsense.
from the Epson V550 / V600 you'll get around 1700 dpi, from the V700 around 2300 dpi.
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I've measured the resolution of my Epson V500 at 1300 ppi in one direction and 1800 ppi in the other.

I get good prints at 6x the linear dimension of the negative.
 
Ted Striker said:
Do you need an older computer to run the software for these Paktons? I have a very new Mac and am interested in one of these but I'm not sure if they can run such old software.
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Pakon is excellent for color negatives. While many report success with virtual machines on modern Macs, I've had better luck with an old Windows XP computer.

If you go this route, find and join the excellent Pakon group on Facebook.
 
I love my Plustek 8100. It's the same scanner as the 8200i, just without the infrared cleaning (which doesn't work on BW). Vuescan is fantastic, and there's a scanner profile for it for Negative Lab Pro and it'll give you spectacular color results. I've never printed images, but it does give you a pretty solid 20mp scan
 
Ted Striker said:
I totally agree with this. Tri-X is THE worst film when it comes to flatness. Scanning this film is unbearably painful and as a result, like you I long ago switched to HP5+.
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After developing, I leave Tri-X for 24h in my drying closet with a heavy weight at the end, the negatives are absolutely flat when done and easy to scan.

Juergen
 
gavinlg said:
Is this true? I tried it a month or two ago and there wasn't any profile for the Plustek 8100...
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...then you should have send the Author some RAW scans and he would have created the profile ;)

but: currently scanner support is still beta. The upcoming release (v1.3) will support scanners though (officially). According to the Author it will be released somewhere in February/March - whenever it's ready but he's working on it :))

and yes: superior results also with my V700 and Coolscan

Ted Striker said:
I dont do facebook and never will.
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if you have a Pakon you will - just create an account without your real name. They collect your data anyway.
 
mod2001 said:
After developing, I leave Tri-X for 24h in my drying closet with a heavy weight at the end, the negatives are absolutely flat when done and easy to scan.

Juergen
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OK, long hang time would be worth a try. I'll have to work on my patience.
 
+ Epson. I use V550 and scans,for my humble needs, are damn good.

Got mine for $70 + $20 s/h. Barely used, mostly like new. I use it on my 120 negatives.

For my 35mm, use Plustek.

Marcelo
 
mod2001 said:
After developing, I leave Tri-X for 24h in my drying closet with a heavy weight at the end, the negatives are absolutely flat when done and easy to scan.

Juergen
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Mine still curves a little after drying, but I squish it in a thick book overnight and it's fine after that.

Personally, the worst for curling in my experience is Fujifilm.
 
ColSebastianMoran said:
....
- iPhone scan for fun, just shoot the negative with your phone, crop and invert image somehow, it's a big crop so you'll only get 1.5MPx.
- iPhone scan for serious work, get a macro lens (Moment Macro or Exolens Zeiss Macro), use a 12MPx phone-camera, LED light panel, shoot with Lightroom CC to put a 16bit DNG on your laptop, invert in Negative Lab Pro, adjust to taste. ~10MPx from 35mm image, should make a good 12x18" print..
Click to expand...

I have used the Filmlab app w my iphone 8 and it’s super easy to use and great for previews and maybe printing (never tried as I use negativelabpro for serious work). I barely need to crop using Filmlab app as my phone gets close enough to fill the screen w one image.
 
I wouldn’t shoot 35mm without a Pakon, just way too many images to deal with IMO. The Pakon allows you to deal with many images effectively. Colors can be a little over the top, blacks need some work but way better than spending hours on just scanning. My V800 gets little use, it’s currently up for sale. Epson couldn’t have designed a crappier film holder. Second IMO would be a dedicated 35mm Plustek which I’ve used or on of the Minolta or Nikons. I just hate dealing with flatbeds for anything. I would rather batch scan on my Howtek than do anything in my V800.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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