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Scanner Recommendations

SeadonYoung

New member
Hey all. First post - be nice ;)

Apologies if there's a post on this already.

I'd love some of your recommendations for a great scanner. I mainly shoot black and white. Ilford Hp5. Rarely colour but will shoot it occasionally.

Got about £300 budget wise.

Thanks in anticipation!
Happy shooting.
Mat.
 
35mm might need more resolution than an Epson flatbed. My experience was that with used Nikon 35/6x6 scanners costing way more than they did when new, it was best to go for an old Imacon and have HB bring it back up to specs. Lots of studios that used HB film cameras dumped 6x6 Imacons when they went digital, so the price came down almost to Nikon 9000 level. The only problem is that you need a SCSI port (solved by finding a cheap old MacPro).

Kirk
 

JoelM

Well-known member
I have 2 solutions that work for me, though I might abandon the scanner after some more testing. I use:

1. Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED: It is tricky and time consuming to get good scans, but once done, they are pretty nice. This is not a cheap option however.

2. I have just purchased a copy stand with gear driven height adjustment, a small, color accurate, light box, and a piece of anti-Newton glass. I will use my Sony a7rii and Canon 100mm f2.8L macro lens and take a pic of the negative/slide. This requires some work as I've been told, but I am anxious to give this a try. I bought the setup from a friend who said it worked very well and I believe with the sensor in the Sony, it should indeed do well. This setup only costs about $300-$400 so it might work for you depending on your current camera and lens situation.

Good Luck,

Joel
 

MartinN

Well-known member
I have an Epson V700 that is used primarily for large format film because now I also have the Plustek Opticfilm 120 for other than sheet film. However, the V700 did a decent job of scanning 120 film with betterscanning filmholder and ANR glass. The BIG advantage of the V700 is that it can be loaded with two 120 film strips or FOUR 35mm filmstrips. The disadvantage with scanning is that all manual work is tedious and being able to leave the scanner for doing its work unattended is a great thing. Scanning consumes a lot of coffee or tea :eek:. If you prefer 35mm and your budget is thight you could look at the Reflecta proscan 10 T or some of the Plustek 7000-8000 series or the automatic Plustek 135. But probably you need an Epson V700 and an 35mm scanner to complement. Plustek will release a new professional Opticfilm 120 but it will not be cheap.
 

KeithDM

Well-known member
I have used a V700 & its Epson Scan software for all my 35mm & medium format films for some years. Quite happy with the results and have printed A3+ from 35mm negs. This album on Flickr is all 35mm (Leica).
 
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