Why Stephanie Needs a Scanner

[Stephanie Brim]

I promise not to yell too loudly, okay?

I took my negatives to a minilab today to be scanned. I went back in later on and she said something about doing them after someone else got done using the machine. I had my grandparents go in an hour and a half later to pick them up and she said that she wasn't going to do them because there were a ton of others backed up before me.

Not that I could see when I got there.

Personally, I think that she just didn't want to do it. I looked at what they had for development and it was no more than about 10 rolls. I just wanted the things scanned and put to disk...which takes a total of perhaps 10 minutes. It's what the person gets paid to do. She didn't do her job and now I'm having to wait until tomorrow when my sister works to have them done.

If I had needed those tonight, what would she have done? They do advertise a one hour thing. I could probably get them free now, but I won't bother. I just won't use them again. Even though they are the only place in town that has a scanner in-store.

So yeah, I'm kind of POed now. I had planned to show you guys shots from all my new glass, but now I have to wait until tomorrow. I hate living in a small town.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Epson 3170's are going for ~$80 these days?

How many rolls is that?

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I just took in TWO. I have two more, but I thought I'd be nice.

 

[XAos]

Yup $80. I forsee much more b&w in my future, especially my medium format future.

 

[Luf]

Hi

I had a similar problem. I also live in a small town and scanned rolls = scratched rolls in the local lab. My solution was: Hp 4850.
Good luck for your scanner search! 🙂

Luis

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'll have around $200 to spend on a scanner when I get one, so I'm thinking Scan Dual III. I've really decided to stay away from medium format for a time...I want to focus on 35mm.

 

[cp_ste.croix]

We all need something...could be worse though.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yeah...I could still be needing a camera. Or even worse, I could be out of film.

Course, I could be dead, too.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I'll have around $200 to spend on a scanner when I get one, so I'm thinking Scan Dual III. I've really decided to stay away from medium format for a time...I want to focus on 35mm.

If I save enough for "the next step", I may be able to sell my Scan Dual-IV for about that, Steph. Hmmm...

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I'd love a IV, but I may end up with less than that to spend. I don't know yet. Kind of depends on if the guy who wants to buy my Dragon Warrior 7 game still does, and whether or not I sell the other two that I'm wanting to get rid of.

 

[sjc]

the thought of an apathetic technician running your negs through an automated machine is frightening..................... scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch! i once spent some time researching these attachments they make to copy slides/film with your d-cam. it is a tube with a film holder that mounts to the front of the camera. one could shoot them in RAW mode and make them look very nice for web. probably costs a bit more than a used 3170 though.

-s-

 

[cp_ste.croix]

Course, I could be dead, too.

And then you might want for nothing...a poor option though. Good luck with your search.

 

[RJBender]

Epson 3170's are going for ~$80 these days?

How many rolls is that?

I recently bought a refurbished 3170 after several RFFers recommended it. It does a great job scanning negatives and it comes with Photoshop Elements 2.0!! If you have Photoshop, you can sell Elements 2.0 for $40 and the scanner will only cost you $40.

R.J.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yeah, I have Photoshop. I'd sell what came with the Minolta scanner as well.

I'm a pretty easy going person usually, but I have to say that after this I will be very unpleasant if they scratch my negatives. Those were on two rolls of the only unexpired film I have...it'll really bite to lose some of those if they're scratched.

 

[Trius]

The downer of a small town is limited choices. The benefit is it's easy to let everyone know about bad service...

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Agreed.

And man, it felt good to let off some steam. I've been so frustrated lately with everything. This little annoyance didn't help much...but ranting about it did. 😛

 

[peterc]

The Epson 3590 flatbed scanner does a good job with film. My son got one recently. I has the strip feeder which saves one from having to put film strips in those nasty holders like I do with my Minolta film scanner.

Peter

 

[Socke]

My setup is a Canon FS2710 with VUEScan and an Adaptec 1480A PCMCIA Card for my Notebook. I bought the scanner some three years ago for 250 Euro, the card for another 30 Euro and VUEScan for something around 80 Euros. I'm very happy with that! VUEScan is esential for older scanners especialy from Canon who doesn't support older systems.

A dedicated slide scanner is much better than most flatbeds, an older one with 2700 dpi is ok for most things you do with scanned film.

It takes me around two to three hours to scan 36exp roll but it's worth it.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I think the best thing for me would be the Scan Dual II or III (signature, even!) because it has about the right amount of DPI and quality VS price index. Thought about an older Epson or a Canon flatbed, too, but a dedicated film scanner would really be all I need at the moment.

 

[Graham Line]

I save a terrific amount of time by checking the negs/ slides on a light table and only scanning the good frames 😛
Scan Dual III and an antique computer, plus a Canon IP printer keeps me busy and happy and I don't have to chase around to shops not getting what I want anyway.