35mm slidescanning

[expat]

Had/used a few dedicated 'pro-sumer' type film scanners (Nikon 4000 and such like) but still the best quality scans I've ever had (for level of detail, dmax, and noise etc) have all been made with a flatbed from a 10x8 print believe it not...still the sort of equipment it was done on, and the cost, probably make an Imacon look quite reasonable...

But if anyone knows a flatbed that will scan a 35mm slide as well as e.g. a Coolscan then I'd like to hear about it.

I use a Nikon Coolscan IV for 35mm and an Epson 4990 for MF. The Epson is great value for money, and quite useable for MF (apparently great for LF), but it does not compare to the Nikon for 35mm.

[Joe Black]

"if anyone knows a flatbed that will scan a 35mm slide as well as e.g. a Coolscan then I'd like to hear about it."

Umm, well these two I can recommend:

a) up to 5000x10000dpi, 48 bit, A3 or 36 negs a time



or

b) up to 8000x8000dpi, 48 bit, A4 or 60 negs a time



...don't ask the price.

[handsfree]

The email address on the site doesn't work

Hi guys,

just want to tell people about a slide scanning service....

25p per slide, scanned at 4800dpi

www.slidescan4u.co.uk

I think it is the cheapest slide scanning service available.

'Cos I have a few old negative knocking about..

[handsfree]

Canon Pixma MP800 Premium All in One Photo Lab with 3.5" LCD Viewer

This all-in-one printer has an adapter for scanning in 35mm negatives:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...364118-0222838

Does anyone know what sort of results it would give? Is it any good? Thanks

[expat]

"if anyone knows a flatbed that will scan a 35mm slide as well as e.g. a Coolscan then I'd like to hear about it."

Umm, well these two I can recommend:

a) up to 5000x10000dpi, 48 bit, A3 or 36 negs a time



or

b) up to 8000x8000dpi, 48 bit, A4 or 60 negs a time



...don't ask the price.

Quite right, but the Creo is $12k. Everybody's price/value curve will be different. Me, I can always scan 35mm in my Coolscan, MF on the Epson and get resolution about equivalent to 35mm and all-out MF colour (which is what I like but it's a shame to throw away so much resolution); and get one-off drum scans for the real masterpieces on MF. But it hasn't happened yet. It hasn't happened yet...

[Joe Black]

"Quite right, but the Creo is $12k."

Don't remind me (think the one shown costs even more)...

Perhaps some day that sort of kit will come down to the consumer price level.

Have loads of slide/negs that I'd loved to get scanned so the idea of such a flatbed appeals to me. Slap 36 of them on at a time and scan the lot, all sorted/rotated and saved as individual files.

Have tried the Coolscan/Minolta route, but still wasn't happy with the noise at times, especially with negs when some of the anti-noise/multi-scan stuff just plain doesn't work.

At the moment like you I get occasional 6x4's still done by a bureau and certainly notice the difference in quality, though at 300MB per pic I think I need to upgrade my PC to cope...

[expat]

"Quite right, but the Creo is $12k."

Don't remind me (think the one shown costs even more)...

Perhaps some day that sort of kit will come down to the consumer price level.

Have loads of slide/negs that I'd loved to get scanned so the idea of such a flatbed appeals to me. Slap 36 of them on at a time and scan the lot, all sorted/rotated and saved as individual files.

Have tried the Coolscan/Minolta route, but still wasn't happy with the noise at times, especially with negs when some of the anti-noise/multi-scan stuff just plain doesn't work.

At the moment like you I get occasional 6x4's still done by a bureau and certainly notice the difference in quality, though at 300MB per pic I think I need to upgrade my PC to cope...

I'd have thought that film scanners will sell less and less to the amateur market, and if anything become more expensive.

The Epson 4990 will take 24 slides slapped on the glass (don't forget to use the "film guide" frame, it sets exposure from that) and copy them in one shot, into 24 separate files, but it's some way short of the dedicated scanner in real resolution. I think that's because of the focusing: it doesn't do it.

300MB? You were lucky, lad. When I scan a 6x6 at 4800 in 48-bit into Photoshop, it's 650MB. Then I duplicate layers to work in.....When I go over 1GB per pic I think about collapsing it a bit.

I hate throwing data away!

PS Ken Rockwell argues persuasively against bothering to scan all your old slides, which I did once consider.

[sparklelard]

I have a HP Scanjet 5590 and it came with a 35 mm film scanning attachement.

It works quite well.

[n5gooner]

on a dedicated 35mm scanner, or just on a flatbed? There is quite a difference.

dedicated, slide scanner. None of that flat bed rubbish.

[n5gooner]

There's an even bigger difference between a dedicated 35mm slide scanner and a futon. Trust me.

The figure of 4800 DPI suggests a flatbed, in which case it woud be equivalent to more like ~2400 DPI from a dedicated slide scanner. And the dynamic range might not be so good. Oh and I presume the files are 8 bit per channel JPG's?

To be honest I think you are better off buying a dedicated slide scanner. The Minolta Dualscan 3 can be found in as new condition for about £50. It's a nice scanner, ~2800 DPI, and a decent dynamic range (DMAX).

Fungus

4800dpi on a dedicated scanner using 16bit 25p each scan, show me cheaper on the net. each image is about 55mb.