Best of bad job - budget flatbed scanner advice
24,203 posts
Link
Posted 18/02/2011 - 23:28
The Summit PhotoFix scanner does 110 and 35mm and offers modest file sizes, at less than £100.00
Flatbed scanners don't make great negative scanners, especially not cheap ones.
Best regards, John
Flatbed scanners don't make great negative scanners, especially not cheap ones.
Best regards, John
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 00:16
This does the best job I've come across short of a "proper" negative scanner: link.
If you want to spend more, check out the Plustek range. They're very good with negatives but, if you do a lot of work with slides, you may want something with greater dynamic range -- although any shortcomings won't be apparent in most cases.
Al
If you want to spend more, check out the Plustek range. They're very good with negatives but, if you do a lot of work with slides, you may want something with greater dynamic range -- although any shortcomings won't be apparent in most cases.
Al
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 00:17
for the prints and documents, use your camera.
get two lamps set them up at 45 degs off either side, do a white balance off a sheet of paper... set your exposure manually (you can do both white balance and exposure with a kodak greycard).
for the negs use a dedicated neg scanner. There are some cheap models out there.
Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.
get two lamps set them up at 45 degs off either side, do a white balance off a sheet of paper... set your exposure manually (you can do both white balance and exposure with a kodak greycard).
for the negs use a dedicated neg scanner. There are some cheap models out there.
Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 02:00
Aero wrote:
This does the best job I've come across short of a "proper" negative scanner: link.
If you want to spend more, check out the Plustek range. They're very good with negatives but, if you do a lot of work with slides, you may want something with greater dynamic range -- although any shortcomings won't be apparent in most cases.
Al
This does the best job I've come across short of a "proper" negative scanner: link.
If you want to spend more, check out the Plustek range. They're very good with negatives but, if you do a lot of work with slides, you may want something with greater dynamic range -- although any shortcomings won't be apparent in most cases.
Al
Yup, I've got a PLustek Opticfilm 7500i - bundled software is crap so I use Vuescan which is brilliant.
Regarding slides I always thought they captured a lot less dynamic range than negative film. 6EV instead of 10EV.
I always output 16bit TIFFs from the scanner to allow for any further digital manipulation to preserve quality
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 03:02
Smeggypants wrote:
Regarding slides I always thought they captured a lot less dynamic range than negative film. 6EV instead of 10EV.
Regarding slides I always thought they captured a lot less dynamic range than negative film. 6EV instead of 10EV.
Sorry, what I should have said was DMax rather than dynamic range -- the scanner's ability to resolve detail in the darkest part of the slide.
The Plustek is highly regarded and I've always fancied one, but can't justify the price for the number of negs/slides I'd scan. Glad you're happy with yours, Smeggy.
Al
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 04:57
Aero wrote:
Sorry, what I should have said was DMax rather than dynamic range -- the scanner's ability to resolve detail in the darkest part of the slide.
The Plustek is highly regarded and I've always fancied one, but can't justify the price for the number of negs/slides I'd scan. Glad you're happy with yours, Smeggy.
Al
Smeggypants wrote:
Regarding slides I always thought they captured a lot less dynamic range than negative film. 6EV instead of 10EV.
Regarding slides I always thought they captured a lot less dynamic range than negative film. 6EV instead of 10EV.
Sorry, what I should have said was DMax rather than dynamic range -- the scanner's ability to resolve detail in the darkest part of the slide.
The Plustek is highly regarded and I've always fancied one, but can't justify the price for the number of negs/slides I'd scan. Glad you're happy with yours, Smeggy.
Al
I've got about 10k negs to scan. Very long term project
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 10:15
Thanks all
Comments suggest that it's a bit of a non-starter to get a flatbed for neg scanning, especially at the cheaper end of the spectrum. We decided the best way was just to get a cheapie ebay flatbed scanner for the missus' immediate task (just won a HP 2400 for £7.50!), and I'll look into a higher quality negative scanner at a later date.
Horses for courses, but I'd have been spitting feathers if we'd spent 60-odd on what looked a decent flatbed only to find a few quid more on something else would have sorted the neg scanning.
Cheers all!
Matt
Comments suggest that it's a bit of a non-starter to get a flatbed for neg scanning, especially at the cheaper end of the spectrum. We decided the best way was just to get a cheapie ebay flatbed scanner for the missus' immediate task (just won a HP 2400 for £7.50!), and I'll look into a higher quality negative scanner at a later date.
Horses for courses, but I'd have been spitting feathers if we'd spent 60-odd on what looked a decent flatbed only to find a few quid more on something else would have sorted the neg scanning.
Cheers all!
Matt
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 15:34
You need a back light to scan negatives/slides, which flatbeds don't have
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 16:01
Smeggypants wrote:
You need a back light to scan negatives/slides, which flatbeds don't have
You need a back light to scan negatives/slides, which flatbeds don't have
The specialised Photo models by Epson etc. do have a back light and they come complete with neg. carriers. Probably all that's needed for 120 roll film or 5x4.
Half Man... Half Pentax ... Half Cucumber
Pentax K-1 + K-5 and some other stuff
Algi
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 16:03
Some of the Canon flatbeds have a slide attachment as well. I have one at work although never used it that way.
Vic.
K5, LightRoom 5
Sigma 8-16 Pentax DA 16-45 Pentax DA 55-300 Pentax 18-55WR Tamron 90 Di Macro Metz 44 AF-1
Vic.
K5, LightRoom 5
Sigma 8-16 Pentax DA 16-45 Pentax DA 55-300 Pentax 18-55WR Tamron 90 Di Macro Metz 44 AF-1
Link
Posted 19/02/2011 - 16:23
Algernon wrote:
The specialised Photo models by Epson etc. do have a back light and they come complete with neg. carriers. Probably all that's needed for 120 roll film or 5x4.
Smeggypants wrote:
You need a back light to scan negatives/slides, which flatbeds don't have
You need a back light to scan negatives/slides, which flatbeds don't have
The specialised Photo models by Epson etc. do have a back light and they come complete with neg. carriers. Probably all that's needed for 120 roll film or 5x4.
my epson photo scanner 1660 does a very good job, just don't expect to make huge enlargements....... 5x7 is good 8x10 pushing your luck... bigger than that you're better off using a slide/neg duplicator on your d-slr...
Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.
Last Edited by Don on 19/02/2011 - 16:24
Add a Comment
You must be registered or logged-in to comment.
mattie
Member
GB
I note John Lewis have a G2710 for £65, would this be capable of reasonable negative scans?
link
We're not hugely fussed by speed or noise, or by manual loading, but I'd like to get one capable of converting old slides and negs into passable digital images. I appreciate our budget is definitely at the budget end of the spectrum, but any advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers