trying to save some money on the whole process

[denizg7]

So i just cannot pay $15 dollars a roll each time to get it developed and scanned at around 30 to 40mp.

Luckily enough I have a friend who will show me how to develop film this weekend.

So my question is which film scanner are you guys most happy with? I'm not trying to get pharmacy res scans but nothing too clinical is not needed.

If I can save enough money and just pay for film , I might as well stick with film for eternity :angel:

 

[kokoshawnuff]

I've always been happy with the epson flat beds (V500 for around $150, or the V700 for $500), because the results are consistantly good, they're versatile, the epson sofware is pretty good, and they batch scan. I also have a plustek which gives better scans, but it is one frame at a time, only 35mm, and can be a bit tricky to get the results you're looking for until you have some experience with it.

 

[ChrisN]

What format? Colour or B&W?

 

[WDPictures]

Epson V700 is nice and user friendly but quite large if you plan on keeping it on your desk. Multiple film/slide carriers are included and work well. Scanner is easy to open and clean glass of "scanner haze" but sealed enough to keep out most dust. Never used a Plustek but it appears that the small size would be nice. Although with the Epson V700 I can scan a lot more negatives at once.

My experience with scanners, just like printers, "you get what you pay for" meaning that the more expensive ones are nicer and/or easier to use due to the features I listed above, up to a certain point anyway. I only use the basic Epson software and avoid all the bloat-ware that is included.

 

[jordanstarr]

Are you scanning for web or print? Are you looking to build a portfolio or are you just interested in getting and sharing a lot of shots? If just for web and your portfolio, go with an older 35mm dedicated scanner that does a frame at a time. This will force you also to just focus on the "best of the best" and then you can get those scanned at a higher resolution individually for print purposes, 'cause I assume you don't have a darkroom. If you're looking to just get a lot of shots online, go with a flatbed that can do 20+ frames at a time and it will save you a lot of time. I use a Nikon 8000ED 'cause I shoot 35mm and medium format and use the high resolution for books, but print the selects in the darkroom. It's based on your style, purpose and end results, so include more information if you can.

 

[BobYIL]

By doing my own developing I have always found DIY process cheap enough to stick to since 50 years. 30m roll of HP5+ costs $49.95, makes $2.78 per 36-exp. Add $1.00 for development per roll, it's still less than 4-dollars. Assuming you would expose two rolls each week, that makes around $400 a year. This is what some digital cameras lose it's resale value a year. BTW, a V500 for $150 can satisfy most web-size scanning.

Film photography is not an expensive hobby as long as you do not refrain to do some portion of the process by yourself. For me it's still a fun and I would enjoy this fun as long as film exists.

(I use 5400-I and 5400-II Minolta Elite scanners, B&W over 30MB, color over 90MB files..)

 

[denizg7]

Everyone thank you for your helpful responses.

Luckily enough searching craigslist i found an Epson v500 scanner for only $50 used!!

I really like the idea of scanning it as a batch, all though I am confused as to if it will scan all 36 exposures as one image file, time will tell haha.

I was looking for something that I could scan 60 percent b and w and 40 percent in colour

And my main reason for getting a scanner is so I can have a digital backup of the images as well as post them on flickr.

Thanks!

 

[denizg7]

The guy is not writing back.

Anyone here used the Epson Perfection V300 to scan negatives and slides?

Its 89 dollars on amazon