Good value photo scanner suggestion needed

[David Mitchell]

Hi all,

I have just got my 120 roll film back from developing and I would say that 80% of them seem to have come out well, there are a couple of under and over exposed shots but im quite happy as its the first time shooting with film.

Anyway, I am going down the hybrid route of shooting on film, developing and then scanning them into the PC, I am after a photo scanner now, I can't afford a V700 lol what would be a 'good' scanner to look at getting? I don't mind getting an older used scanner if its up to the task.

What should I aim at getting? Should I save up a bit and get a new V500 or something, I am aware that the V300 series of Epson scanners have issues with lines appearing on them.

I don't want to spend too much as im not a professional, just a novice who likes vintage film cameras - I also have a DSLR so I can practice exposures etc before using film.

Just wondering what I should aim for as my first photo scanner or indeed if anyone has one spare they want to sell me lol I seem to be looking at the V500 though

 

[Pete Askew]

How about something like this?

Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV Photo, Slide & Film Scanner | eBay

 

[David Mitchell]

Hmm the V500 has 4800DPi plus lots of other advances for only £50 more plus the fact that the scanner doesn't come with the software which apparently is about another £25 more.

I think I am going to go with a V500, although on 'theartofphotography' youtube channel he is using a 4870, I think it might invest and get the V500, there is no way I can justify buying a V700 though, I think if you were a professional you would buy a V700 or V750 etc but as I will only be scanning negatives every now and then I can't justify the price tag lol

 

[Larry Bolch]

Hmm the V500 has 4800DPi plus lots of other advances for only £50 more plus the fact that the scanner doesn't come with the software which apparently is about another £25 more.

I think I am going to go with a V500, although on 'theartofphotography' youtube channel he is using a 4870, I think it might invest and get the V500, there is no way I can justify buying a V700 though, I think if you were a professional you would buy a V700 or V750 etc but as I will only be scanning negatives every now and then I can't justify the price tag lol

Maximum DPI is really only useful when comparing scanners from the same maker. There never has been an actual standard. Instead, I scan at the resolution I need for the project and the pixel dimensions that I am targeting. For the web, the resolution does not matter, only the pixel dimensions. Only printers understand DPI. There is no point in scanning a negative at the highest possible resolution, then throwing away 95% of the information when reducing it to a useful size.

Scanning is a skill the same as any other aspect of photography. The more you do, the better the results. Therefore, I have only a few of my favorites permanently stored on my drives. If I need a copy for a project, then I go to the original negative or chrome and apply my years of experience. The exception are early portfolio prints where I don't have the negs, and the prints are fading. EpsonScan has an amazing restoration feature, that produces very good results, and a bit of work in Photoshop not only restores the quality but may actually provide better quality than the original fume-room print. EpsonScan in Professional mode, is very easy to understand and produces superb results.

I have been using the 4870 since it first hit the market, and it is still going strong. If it died today, I would have a V700 by nightfall. It has been a total workhorse, not only giving me excellent access to my legacy negatives and slides, but as a digital copy machine for many purposes. It came with OCR software which is a time saver if one needs to turn a printed page into digital text. I have even used music OCR software. Both are from quite a long time ago, and do require proofreading. I expect that current software is more accurate. Nonetheless it is far faster to proofread than enter the text or music manually.

I have used it extensively for macro-photography as well, placing the object on the glass and scanning it to whatever size I need. Very impressive results.

The V500 is rated at an MCBF of 36,000 which few people would ever reach in a lifetime, while the V700 is rated at 100,000 cycles, making it an excellent candidate for buying used. In fact both the 4870 and 4990 may well be a better choice if one can be found. My 4870 is so good that I have never considered updating it to the V700—as long as it continues to serve me as well as it does.

 

[David Mitchell]

Thanks Larry, I will check to see if I can find a 4870 or 4990 used somewhere, failing that I think I might go with the V500 as its not going to be in heavy usage and apparently it has a good optical density meaning that it gives good detail in the dark areas - rather useful as im only going to shoot black and white!

I will have a hunt around and see whats out there and report back

 

[Larry Bolch]

I bought mine almost a decade ago, mostly for medium format negatives. Walking home with it, I was feeling genuinely depressed. I had just squandered $600Cdn. when I should have bought the Nikon 9000 which was the standard back then, but cost $3,395 on that very day. I priced it for a final time just before I walked to the store. I knew that flatbeds were incapable of making good scans from film, but the reviews had been glowing.

Upon arriving home, I picked an ISO100 6×7 negative shot under ideal conditions with my Linhof and a top notch Schneider lens. Since it was just about as perfect as a negative could be, all the weaknesses of the 4870 would be clearly highlighted, right? What I saw, I did not expect to see—an incredibly good scan!

A few weeks later, I was invited to the launch of a web-based photo magazine along with a batch of other shooters. In the meantime, I had done a bunch more scanning and made 13×19 prints. When I tossed them on the table under the lights, I asked my colleagues to guess how they were scanned. The consensus was that they were professional drum scans. When I said flatbed, they were collectively flabbergasted. A few weeks later, my host mentioned that he had just given his Nikon scanner to his cousin and had replaced it with a 4870!

It has been a workhorse, and sees constant use for all the things in the last post. Considering the number of hours of use vs the price paid, it has to be one of the best purchases of all time.