So, how do you digitize?

[Bobonli]

I see some flatbed scanners and dedicated filmstrip scanners mentioned in the responses.

Are today's crop of flatbed scanners (ex Epson V750) capable of producing high quality scans of the type you'd get with a film scanner? Please share your recommendations on both types. Other than Nikon, I'm not familiar with the current crop of film strip scanners.

I had a Nikon Coolscan II when I was shooting slides. It went to the curb when Apple stopped selling computers with a SCSI port. Haven't scanned in many years but I'd like to resume now that I've re-discovered film and have hundreds of old slides from my parents.

Thanks
Bob

 

[wgerrard]

I scan negs on a Coolscan V ED. Lots of waiting and lots of mundane repetitive tasks. Post-process in Photoshop, but for properly exposed shots Picasa does just as well.

A big part of the trick seems to be to get your chosen scanner software's settings correct for each variety of film and then save them for reuse.

 

[Tompas]

(...) where the hell are decent scanners that enthusiasts could afford (say at around $1000)?

Plustek 7600i Ai (35mm only and not suited for mass scanning, but very good IMHO). Forgot what I paid, but it was less than 500 € (in Germany).

 

[Frankie]

The best method is to digitize at the moment of imaging...use a digital camera.

Second best is to scan the film fresh out of processing...get the lab to make the highest available resolution CD, before grubby fingers touch the films.

Worst is scanning [wet] prints...by then all sorts of defects, from uneven enlarger light source, poor enlarging lens would all be embedded.

BTW, all the above were tried-and-true experience in the aerial imaging industry where 9"x9" $500k film cameras were replaced by $2 million digital systems [debuted in 2000], starting at 96Mp now reaching 130Mp; killing photo labs along the way and marginalized $200k scanners [in use since 1992]...

In the early days, 1st-generation scanners cannot handle the dynamic range of aerial films, so auto-dodged contact diapositives have to be made first. But no one scanned wet [paper] prints...ever.

 

[Pirate]

Standard and C-41, develop myself. E6 goes to the lab. Scan the film (135 and 120/220) on Canon CanoScan 8800F, and post....

 

[Haigh]

My own darkroom and an Epson V700.

 

[Johnmcd]

Develop the B/W films myself then scan 120 and 35mm on a Minolta Dimage Scan Multi - Pro

Always scan as a colour positive then invert in PS for wider dynamic range. I think the image I end up with retains the film 'look'.

The Scan Multi Pro scan up to 4800 dpi. Here's 1600 dpi 100% crop of 120mm HP5. The detail in 4800 dpi is scary.

Full frame below

Cheers,

John

 

[amateriat]

The best method is to digitize at the moment of imaging...use a digital camera.

For color, perhaps (though I prefer working with film most of the time). Black-and-white? I don't think so.

Worst is scanning [wet] prints...by then all sorts of defects, from uneven enlarger light source, poor enlarging lens would all be embedded.

Not into that method myself. But "worst?" You might want to take that up with Ralph Gibson. 😉

My methods? A pair of film scanners (Minolta DS 5400 for the heavy-lifting stuff, and a Nikon Coolscan III for quick-and-not-too-dirty scans), and a big flatbed (UMAX PowerLook 2100XL with transparency adapter for scanning entire rolls to make digital contact sheets). For good printing up to 13 x 19", I have an HP Photosmart Pro 8750; for anything bigger, I outsource.


- Barrett

 

[Neare]

Epson v500.

Gives pretty damn good results for something so affordable, especially because it does medium format too.

 

[DrTebi]

Most films I have developed at my local lab, which does a pretty good job. I only get the film developed and then scan the film with my CanoScan FS4000US Film scanner which I think produces great scans. I tried scans from several mail order photo labs as well as local labs, but always found my own scanned images better, although the CanoScan does sometimes produce scans that are more noisy than those from the labs.

Dwayne's however does deliver quite nice scans, for $2.99 I think it's a great deal. The worst I ever tried was Wolf's Camera, their developing was bad to start with, and their "hi-res scans" were bad to say the least--all that for about $17?!!

I also scan the negatives of my xpan camera with the CanoScan. It's a bit more work because I have to scan each part of the panorama shot separately, but then (with Photoshop's photo merge function) it turns out great. With the CanoScan I recommend to turn color matching off, as well as the auto exposure setting, but set the dust and scratch removal to "standard" -- it really does a great job at removing dust etc.

Recently I also aquired a medium format camera. Scanning the large negatives with the CanoScan is not possible, so I will probably use Dwayne's, which charges the same fee of $2.99 for good quality scans.

But what I am really looking forward to is shooting slides with the MF camera, and projecting them with a Rollei P66 medium format projector, I can't wait. Considering the fact that the resolution of my pictures are always restricted to my monitor resolution (about 2 megapixels if you do the math), a projected medium format slide must be quite a step up in terms of detail, size, and resolution...

Below a nice scan from the CanoScan, shot with my Yashica Electro 35 GSN, one of my favorite cameras:

 

[wakarimasen]

BIW developed myself, anything else goes to my local store.

For scanning I use a Minolta Scan Dual II for 35mm and an Epson 3200 for medium format.

I'd love a Minolta Multi Pro (like Johnmcd above) but the last one on ebay went for over £1000!

Best regards,
RoyM

 

[Johnmcd]

BIW developed myself, anything else goes to my local store.

For scanning I use a Minolta Scan Dual II for 35mm and an Epson 3200 for medium format.

I'd love a Minolta Multi Pro (like Johnmcd above) but the last one on ebay went for over £1000!

Best regards,
RoyM

I was lucky enough to pick mine up on ebay a couple of years ago for A$800 and I'm very happy with it.

 

[TareqPhoto]

For now, i will be using V750 until i can afford better dedicated film scanner

B&W:

Color Negative:

Color Slide:

 

[Bobonli]

Some wonderful scans! So is the consensus that the modern flatbeds do as good a job as the (comsumer priced) dedicated film strip scanners?

 

[TareqPhoto]

 

[TareqPhoto]

Some wonderful scans! So is the consensus that the modern flatbeds do as good a job as the (comsumer priced) dedicated film strip scanners?

Maybe i am a bit happy with my scanner, but i still want to get a dedicated film scanner as i can't afford a drum scanner, too bad that no any dedicated film scanner available for 120 and LF, even that Nikon is mysterious now if it is still available or backordered or discontinued, i don't shoot 35mm yet.

 

[thomasw_]

My own darkroom and an Epson V700.

+1 ^^^^...... Unless one plans to print the digital files, I find a better scanner superfluous.

 

[Arjay]

All the analogue pictures I posted have stem from my own scanning activity - always using film (not flatbed) scanners. I develop all of my silver halide films at home, and use a pro lab for C-41 films.

I initially started with a Canon FS 2710 (SCSI i/f w/o Infrared scanning channel) film scanner, which delivered good resolution, but gave me a lot of work since it wasn't capable of correcting dust & scratches on C-41 films. Now, I am sharing a Nikon Coolscan V ED with a friend, and I scan all 'good' images at the unit's native resolition of 4000 dpi. Up to now, this workflow has proven to be good enough even for larger prints. Anyway, for 35mm films, this resolution is fine enough to even reproduce my films' grain structure (I'm not using lith film).

The advantage of this workflow is that once I have my films digitized, I can process them exactly the same way as I am treating my digitally generated images.

 

[RayPA]

Developing:
B&w 35 and 120 b&w: dev at home.
C41 35 process-only uncut at local labs (1-hour and commercial).
C41 120 process-only uncut at commercial/pro lab.

Scanning:
Scan 35 mm on a Minolta Dimage 5400.>
Scan 120 on Epson V750 Pro.

Post-Process:
Photoshop on a Mac

Print:
Epson Photo 2400
Online services



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[robbeiflex]

Standard and C-41, develop myself. E6 goes to the lab. Scan the film (135 and 120/220) on Canon CanoScan 8800F, and post....

Another vote for the CanoScan 8800f, a flatbed that cost me about 200€ new. I'm very happy with mine and use it for both 135 and 120. The B&W scans are much better than what my local lab does. High quality scans are slow, but I just load it and walk away to do something else for 15 or 20 minutes (or I'm on RFF during that time 🙂). Once you have your film settings it takes only a couple of minutes to get a batch started (of 12 frames 135 or 3 frames 120).

Cheers,
Rob