Which 35mm film scanner?

[Kim Coxon]

I have lost track of the number of repairs/upgrades/new builds I have done for people. Also I have used SCSI for a while. The spare PC has SCSI harddrives and I have an old GT7000, several Jaz drives and a Coolscan III. 😉

Kim

Darn you, Kim!

You wouldn't think I did this for a living, would you? 😀

 

[Kim Coxon]

Not Fair! 😱

Kim

I just- as in 30 min ago - ordered a Nikon Coolscan V ED. I'm anxious to see what it will do.

 

[OurManInTangier]

Thanks everyone. I wish I was more au fait with my computers 'innards,' the very thought of sticking something in there just brings visions of explosions, smoke and a broken PC!!

Kim and Mark - Thanks very much for your generous offers. I'll take a look at my PC when I get home and PM you both.

All the best

 

[bigdog]

I have the Minolta Dimage 5400 version 1 and I love it. I have it connected to my pc via fire wire connection on my sound card. It also has USB 2. I am very happy with the scanner, I am running it with Silverfast SE. I get great dynamic range and I am satisfied with 13 x 19 prints output by an Epson R2400. All of the low resolution images on my site were scanned with this scanner/software combination. I have sold prints using this combination and people seem to be happy! Search the archives photo.net and you will find plenty of useful information on this scanner.

 

[amateriat]

I've been using a Minolta 5400 for the better part of four years. Connection is via USB or FireWire. I use both Minolta's PS plug-in and (much more often) VueScan. Fabulous scanner. Not much more to add.


- Barrett

 

[meyman]

Two notes on the Nikon V which is a fantastic scanner BTW:
1. With curved negatives Nikon's holder won't hold them flat enough. If you want to have good sharpness of the whole frame, put the negs overnight under some books first. Either that or you'll get that very nice early days of photography feel [which incidentally I happen to like quite a lot].
2. I have been too lazy to develop my negs lately. All the labs I know use T-max as the developer for B&W. Here comes the bad part. Either Tri-x developed in T-max is extremely scratch-prone or the Nikon V loves these perticular scratched in this particular emulsion more than anything else in the world. The results are dreadful. After spotting a frame for some 8 hours in PS,
I decided to stick with either Neopan 400 [no problem here or on Delta 400] or use XP2 with which Ice is a blessing.

 

[peterm1]

Just a thought. I regularly attend a local computer fair and there are often a wide variety of adapters available at such events which I am sure are very common in most cities in the west. Mostly such things are available very cheaply. Does anyone know if SCSI to USB adapters are available. I had a vague idea they were. if so you could then continue to use your existing scanner by simply plugging it in as a USB device.

I am using a 4 year old Canon Canoscan D1250 with max resolution of 2400 but it is just not up to the job of scanning slides and negatives even at maximum res although it does a very good job on prints. I too am looking around for a replacement but prefer to stick to a later flatbed scanner if I can get one that produces good enough results on negatives.

 

[DavidH]

Anyone know anything about the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 Film and Slide scanner?

Hey Simon

You've had some good replies but I'll add a plus vote for the KM5400 - I've been using one for some 3 years with such good results that I dread the day it croaks...

Over that time I've dumped the bundled software - really didnt like it - used Vuescan for a while then moved on to Silverfast cheap version and finally upgraded to the more powerful Ai version. Silverfast is excellent but like all scanning software takes a while to get your head around...and is expensive. It allows awesome color controls and that's been a lifesaver over the last few months...

I run mine over Firewire on a hub that links several external drives and an Epson printer - all firewire - and it all works well together. On a Mac 🙂

But of course KM5400's are no longer made and so when mine finally dies, I'd probably go for the Nikon...

Adding a scsi card is straightforward - haven't done it for a while on a PC but remember that additional layer of drivers were required...aspi or something...as well as the drivers for the scanner itself...others will be more knowledgable on that...

cheers

 

[Ronald M]

KM5400 or Nikon 5000.

Imacon 343 if you can afford it and want the very best. These will be gone soon too

 

[sfazli]

Epson Rules

Epson Rules

Epson Perfection V750 PRO is probably the best in semi-affordable scanners. It can scan 35mm negs, slides, MF and large formats. I have it a couple of weeks and its astounding.

 

[peter_n]

I use a Minolta SD IV which is plenty sufficient for my limited needs. The 5400 model is very popular for B&W and I have read that the first version has a different light system than the second version and is preferred for B&W. They go for a lot of money on eBay and fetch $700-800 new but I do wonder what happens if they break. If my Minolta breaks I assume I'd replace it with a Nikon model.

 

[steamer]

I'll have to cast a vote for epson 750--great value for the money (6400 dpi) and is pretty fast. I paid less than 400 dollars for mine , I like that it also scans 120 film . I bought mine in Japan, so I'm still trying to sort out the dust reducing software instructions.