35mm Film scanners

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Tinshed

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#175234 22-Jun-2015 16:11

I know that this topic has been raised a few times over the years but I wonder if there is a more up-to-date response/advice. Like many others I have 100's of film negatives that I wish to preserve. So I am looking for a dedicated film/negative scanner. The seem either relatively inexpensive, such as Kaiser Baas at around $250, with mixed reviews or at the expensive end such as the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i at around $900. Is there something in-between? Or should I bite the bullet and go for the expensive option? Of course it depends on what I am after but I am not sure I want to scan 100's of negatives with a cheap scanner only to regret it down the track.

Out-sourcing it seems expensive to me at $1 each for 250 or more. I have so many negatives that I would rather sort and scan them myself.

Any comments or views would be most appreciated.

Tinshed
Wellington, New Zealand

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#1329369 22-Jun-2015 16:17

Depends what condition the negatives are in. I have heaps of slides and negatives from the 1960s and 70s. The Kodachrome and Ektachrome stuff was like the day it was taken but everything else had faded or a bad color shift. I just bought a Warehouse special at about $68 and it was good for some stuff as long as you don't want to blow up the scans too much. Will look round for a better one after I finish getting my 8mm stuff scanned..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#1329381 22-Jun-2015 17:05

... I am not sure I want to scan 100's of negatives with a cheap scanner only to regret it down the track.

You tell us that you have a lot of negatives - presumably colour.
As these are subject to fading or colour shift, you need the best possible quality for your scanned images.
It should be possible to "fix" these problems with software.
Scanning is time-consuming repetitive work and takes a lot of time and patience - don't waste your efforts.

Personally, I would not hesitate to spend $900 to get quality scans.

Don't forget to blow/brush/clean your negatives before scanning them - physical cleaning is a lot easier and more effective than "fixing" the dust problem with software several years later

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Hammerer

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#1329385 22-Jun-2015 17:26

I looked at doing it myself a number of times and it just is not worth the hassle on top of the cost of a good automated scanner.

I've used Photofresh in Christchurch several times for hundreds of negatives, positives, and prints. I've got some good GrabOne specials too reduce the cost but the savings mainly provide me with the motivation to collect them all and sort them.

The costs do increase based on the image resolution (2,000dpi versus 4,000dpi) and whether the data is compressed (i.e. JPEG versus TIFF). I've tried both and it really depends upon the quality of the original and whether your intended purpose requires it. I tend to do without the higher levels of detail most of the time.

Camden

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#1329480 22-Jun-2015 19:43

Hi Tinshed

I bought one of those Kaiser Bass film/negative scanners a couple of years ago to do a small project of about 200 images. For the purpose of that exercise it was of good enough quality. It was a collection of slides and negatives taken of friends in the 60's to 90's.
The device has a limited amount of correction available and was easy to use. However I think that a higher quality unit should be considered if a high end result was wanted.

Old3eyes

To digress off the subject,you made the comment that you would look into a unit after scanning all your 8mm. I gather you mean 8mm movie film ? If so I have Super8 movie film a would like to copy into my computer. I have tried copying with my video camera along side the projector with limited results and also used a professional firm that used a telecine machine, also with only very average results. What method do you use and what is the result like?

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#1329690 23-Jun-2015 08:50

Camden: Hi Tinshed

I bought one of those Kaiser Bass film/negative scanners a couple of years ago to do a small project of about 200 images. For the purpose of that exercise it was of good enough quality. It was a collection of slides and negatives taken of friends in the 60's to 90's.
The device has a limited amount of correction available and was easy to use. However I think that a higher quality unit should be considered if a high end result was wanted.

Old3eyes

To digress off the subject,you made the comment that you would look into a unit after scanning all your 8mm. I gather you mean 8mm movie film ? If so I have Super8 movie film a would like to copy into my computer. I have tried copying with my video camera along side the projector with limited results and also used a professional firm that used a telecine machine, also with only very average results. What method do you use and what is the result like?

I use these people in Wellington to do the scanning www.filmtransfer.co.nz . Not the cheapest but the HD files you get back are very good and color corrected. Do 8mm, Super 8 and 16 mm..

Regards,

Old3eyes

notesgnome

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#1329705 23-Jun-2015 09:14

I had a number of negs (few hundred photos) to scan a few years ago, and ended up getting a Nikon Coolscan IV.

Did a very nice job (2900 dpi, took a strip of negs and created the individual pictures, did colour correction, etc).

It wasn't a cheap product, but it paid for itself. The quality of the scans is more than ample for anything I'd want to do.

As you say, it depends to a degree on what you're after...

If you were nearby, I'd say give it a try and see if it fits your needs; however, alas, you're at the other end of the country.

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Tinshed

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#1329734 23-Jun-2015 09:44

Sideface:
... I am not sure I want to scan 100's of negatives with a cheap scanner only to regret it down the track.

You tell us that you have a lot of negatives - presumably colour.
As these are subject to fading or colour shift, you need the best possible quality for your scanned images.
It should be possible to "fix" these problems with software.
Scanning is time-consuming repetitive work and takes a lot of time and patience - don't waste your efforts.

Personally, I would not hesitate to spend $900 to get quality scans.

Don't forget to blow/brush/clean your negatives before scanning them - physical cleaning is a lot easier and more effective than "fixing" the dust problem with software several years later

Interesting comment about the time involved in scanning yourself. I think I may get a sample done and see what the result is.

Tinshed
Wellington, New Zealand

Tinshed

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#1329736 23-Jun-2015 09:48

notesgnome: I had a number of negs (few hundred photos) to scan a few years ago, and ended up getting a Nikon Coolscan IV.

Did a very nice job (2900 dpi, took a strip of negs and created the individual pictures, did colour correction, etc).

It wasn't a cheap product, but it paid for itself. The quality of the scans is more than ample for anything I'd want to do.

As you say, it depends to a degree on what you're after...

If you were nearby, I'd say give it a try and see if it fits your needs; however, alas, you're at the other end of the country.

Thanks for the offer notesgame. The only Nikon Coolscan I could see on PriceSpy was an LS-5000D at $3,000 :-) I checked on Trademe and saw an older Nikon scanner and at a reasonable price, got excited and then saw it was a SCSI scanner!!!! Haven't had a PC with a SCSI interface since forever.

Tinshed
Wellington, New Zealand

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#1329737 23-Jun-2015 09:48

get this one

Camden

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#1329900 23-Jun-2015 14:04

Thankyou for the info re film transfer. I have heard of this firm a while ago but never used them. Will now try them out with a 100 foot super 8 sample once I have all my SVHS and DV tapes all transfered,edited and put on a portable hard drive.This is a big project that I am determined to finish this winter!

Tinshed

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#1329923 23-Jun-2015 14:38

joker97: get this one

That looks close to what I am after. Thanks!

Tinshed
Wellington, New Zealand

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bmoff

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#1329974 23-Jun-2015 15:14

I have an Epson Filmscan 200 free for the taking if anyone wants to have a play with it. Not for the faint-hearted...SCSI, drivers may be problematic. Worked with Hamrick's Vuescan though. Need to be picked up in Hamilton or Auckland. PM me.

lchiu7

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#1330103 23-Jun-2015 17:43

I have one of these

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-CanoScan-FS2710-Film-Scanner/dp/B00004TT38

It worked well transferring my negatives, slide films and APS cartridges but from Windows 7 onward, there were no drivers (and it was touch and go getting the drivers for the Adaptec SCSI cards I have in my PC's) so that only software I could use was Vuescan. Before that I could scan from Photoshop directly.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

kiwipawl

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#1330132 23-Jun-2015 18:21

I have scanned 10s of 1000's of slides as part of my job and have used the nikon Coolscan range from the 110 up to the latest Super coolscan 5000. Nikon stopped making slide scanners several years ago and XP was the last op system they supported. I use a Vuescan currently which is compatable with all OP's and types of scanner and is reasonably priced.

Also have a Epson V700 combined flat bed reflection\ film scanner (http://www.epson.co.nz/products/scanner/perfectionv700photo.asp) It is a very good scanner, can scan up to A4 reflection copy and 35mm to A4 transperancys. I have a friend who scans his 6x7 trans with it and prints 10-12 feet murals from the resulting scans and they are stunning. I wouldn't buy a second hand Coolscan as the wear out and most of them have had alot of slides through them. Also you can't get parts for them any more.

The cheap scanners are exactly what they are and you only get what you pay for, but if all you need the images for is your Facebook page and online use they will do.

What every you get allow ALOT of time for your scanning and post processing as it is a VERY time intensive process no matter what type of scanner you get.

The perfect project for these long cold winter nights and rainy weekends.

Cheers Paul.

rayonline

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#1341910 13-Jul-2015 08:34

If you want quality. I have a Epson V700 flatbed and a Nikon Coolscan 5000 at a time I got used. I actually shoulda got the CS new at the time cos they are not not made. The CS beats the $600 flatbed hands down. Colorwise the Epson is pretty good but it is the detail that the Epson lacks.

These days if you want dedicated maybe have a look at the Plustek range or have them professionally scanned. I think on Trademe there is a guy in AKL who uses a Coolscan to scan them for you.

Again you might ask is how good is the Epson? Well if you took the same shot with fresh film cos I still shoot film now getting into medium format - less convenience more a hobby personal thing. If you shot the scene with a film body 35mm slide professional film and then shot the same scene with a Nikon D2h which is a 4MP body that I had at the time. The D2h has more detail. Even if you downsize both shots to 1080 screen so it fits your monitor the D2h is still better. If the negs are lightly scratched the Epson is some cases might hide all the scratches. With the CS it is unusable.

In perspective, the Epson does provide more detail than say your common bought - film scans to CD at your photo place. There might be higher reso, but from the CD that was mistakenly given to me my Epson had more detail then their Fuji Frontier scans.

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