Which film scanner for Linux?

[MichaelM7]

Hi all,

since I have a Linux-only machine I wonder which film scanner would work best with Linux? I have a SCSI-flatbed scanner with a transparency adapter, but it gives me horrible results, since its resolution is way too small.
35mm filmstrips and framed slides are what I have most, although some bulk-feeder for many slides or rolls of film would be an extra.
Any thoughts?

Greetings,

Michael

 

[cmedin]

Michael,

If you use Vuescan ( http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html ) you can pick one of something like 750 different scanners.

 

[wgerrard]

Haven't used Linux for as couple of years, but the usual hardware sticking point is a lack of drivers. In the case of scanners, I think the software application may drive the hardware. Not sure about that, so go over to the Vuescan forums and see what they say.

I use a Nikon Coolscan V ED and Vuescan on my Mac and the combination is keeping me happy.This model Coolscan only has bulkloading as an expensive addon, so if that's critical I'd look upscale.

 

[Kin Lau]

I use Vuescan and an older Minolta Scan Dual, 2400dpi 35mm film scanner on my Linux box. It works very well. No ICE, but that's useless on non-C41 B&W negs anyhow.

The SCSI Minolta film scanners should be going for relatively cheap since they're orphaned by Minolta/Konica, and most people are going for USB scanners.

 

[Rico]

Life is too short to scan film, but I do have the Canon FS4000 which works perfectly with VueScan under Linux with it's (narrow) SCSI port. Offers a slide holder, film strip holder, and FARE (infrared dust suppression). VueScan multi-pass scanning is mechanical (slow), but improves dynamic range.

 

[payasam]

That's right, check SANE.

 

[MichaelM7]

Thank you all for your input. I have already checked SANE and it seems that no film scanner is supported properly. Also, I could not get any proper colour calibration with XSane on my Sane-supported flatbed.
However, I was not aware of VueScan, which seems to be just what I need. The results I got from my Flatbed are already much much better than with XSane. Going to post some pictures soons (probably on the trains and cars thread in this forum).

Thanks again,

MichaelM7

 

[thirdeye]

I am scanning my negs and transparencies with an Epson V500, running Suse Linux SP2. Avasys has linux drivers for this model, as well as a basic scan program called image scan.

I played around with xsane, gimp, and f-spot over the weekend. Still learning but I can say the V500 scans my slides with no problems so far. Hope this helps.

 

[dedmonds]

I've been very happy with the Epson V700 using Vuescan on Ubuntu (8.04) for scanning 35mm B&W negatives.

 

[imush]

If you buy vuescan, any of their supported scanners will work via libusb. If you want to use sane, check their supported scanners list.

I was in an even deeper hole as a FreeBSD user. Vuescan for Linux is almost unusable to me; it runs via Linux binary compatibility, but it is quite a lot of work to get a linux version of libusb that works on FreeBSD (linux USB stack is not supported, you need to recode individual calls or somehow emulate the device). So I was stuck with sane and bought a used Coolscan IV instead of Coolscan V because sane's coolscan2 driver supports it. Still, it does not support all features (no ICE) and is markedly slower than vuescan. The new sane/coolscan3 driver supposedly works with Coolscan V and 5000. But I wouldn't count on it.

I ended up installing Linux on a small partition, buying vuescan and booting into it just to scan film.

Anyway, Nikon's Coolscans are the best in my opinion. There are plenty of used ones in good condition, as people often buy to digitize their old film archive and them stop using film altogether. With some patience you can find a used Coolscan IV (2900dpi) for less than $250, and V (4000dpi) for about $400. Or get a new Coolscan V while supllies last (~$600). If you can spare more, get the more upscale model with bulk slide feeder and/or roll loader (check B&H).

Anyway, Nikon's scanners seem to be the best choice out there, assuming you only need 35mm. (the model that can take medium format costs over $2000). They work with vuescan out of the box, or with sane with some caveats and perhaps some configuration pain. But I don't think sane is worth it unless you are a hard core GNU follower and so have strong ideological reasons for it.

All my pictures are scanned with Coolscan IV.