Film digitiser.

Have any of you used one of those cheap usb powered neg/slide scanners that are widely available, now?. Actually, It is not a true scanner, I think it is just a vertically mounted 5mp fixed focus digital camera that 'photographs' your filmstrip and the software reverses the negative image into a positive digital file on your computer. They are sold under various names. Ion and Veho, being two.
Anybody tried one?. I do have a good Canon scanner, but it is a real pain to set up and use. I would like something a bit easier and quicker.

Yes, I got one a couple of weeks ago. The Summit Photofix, it got a pretty good review on ePhotozine. It's pretty damn good for the £28 I paid on ebay. I didn't have to wait for weeks to get one at that price, there are loads of them on there all priced at around £30. Obviously it's not the same as a proper film scanner costing hundreds of pounds, but for old family snaps it's perfect. I'm only using it for negatives, apparently it's rubbish at slides.

The Summit unit is fast and produces decent quality images. I've been scanning at the highest quality setting with 24bit colour, this produces a 5000x3000 (interpolated) file. Once you get a little production line going you can scan 36 negatives in about 5 to 10 minutes. You'll still have to apply some PP though, the amount varies greatly depending on the condition of your negatives, I find I'm usually increasing the contrast and vibrancy very slightly, and a few images need some noise reduction and sharpening. The correct exposure on the negative makes a big difference as far as noise goes. Some old battered negatives require quite a lot more time, mostly healing out scratches.

Here's a scan from a few days ago:


(Full size image here)

And this is after 5 minutes of PP:


(Full size image here)

I'm very pleased with it. It's fast enough to not be too annoying, and I find the quality is acceptable if it's just for old friends and family snapshots. I've been scanning 36 negatives most evenings, so only another 6 months or so to go

Edit: PS when i first got mine the first few scans were very disappointing, with several blurry areas and dark splodges here and there. I stuck my rocket blower into the scanner slot and gave it a few good blows and it magically cured everything.

Thank you for that, Thoughton. What an excellent reply!. Sounds pretty good. I will do as you did and try and pick up a used one. I will keep the Canon for important stuff, but for most of my film shots, this thing would do, by the sounds of it.
From what I can make out, these all seem to be the same unit. Lots of different names and casing design, but identical inside. A four element lens and 5mp sensor. I think it is an excellent idea. Perhaps someone may bring out a higher quality version, with a better lens and sensor, soon.

Tim,

quite reasonable results ...

However, I have taken the liberty of doing a little more PP on the image to produce something that might be a little more acceptable to us here and will not "frighten the children".

I spent just a couple of minutes on them, with a bit extra I could have got an even better result. I hope you like the results ...

Tweak #1

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/Polchraine/PentaxForum/summit-scan-1-final-800px_twk.jpg[/IMG]

Tweak #2

[IMG]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/Polchraine/PentaxForum/summit-scan-1-final-800px_twk2.jpg[/IMG]

Haha nice one Poor old Andy! (He's the guy you erased )

The photo is of my sister-in-law, and my mate Andy, in the back of a jeep in Thailand about 15 years ago.

hey thats actually not bad, not up to what I used to get from my "proper" KM film scanner, but ~1/10th of the price!

I got one today! - New, from Maplin. Just finished playing with it.

Very easy to use. USB plug and play. The results are not bad. Nothing like as good as a proper scanner of course, but then I didn't expect it to be, having as it does, a four element lens and a tiny sensor, like those in mobile phone cameras.
If you think of it as a digital proof printer, which is how I will use it, then it's pretty good. For those of us who still shoot and develop film It is a very quick way to see what you've got. Anything good can then be scanned later at high quality, with a better scanner.

I really do think these gadgets are a great idea. As it is now, it is pretty low end stuff, but if somebody made one with a high quality six elenent lens, in front of a 6mp APS sized sensor, I think the results could rival those from a mid range, conventional scanner.

Have you tried it on any 35mm slides at all? Also which of the maplin models did you go for?

The one I got is branded 'Ion'., but I think they are all the same. - just the casing design and the name on them is different. Internally, they all have the same lens and sensor and all come with the same software. I have not tried it with slides. According to many reviews, it is not very good with slides, blowing out highlights and bad colour reproduction. Much better with Black & white neg film.

"According to many reviews, it is not very good with slides, blowing out highlights and bad colour reproduction. Much better with Black & white neg film." Yes I saw that, just wondered if you had any different experience in the field so to speak.

FWIW, I've just acquired a small, and cheap, 5"x4" light box via eBay. The idea was to use it to put negatives / slides on and use an SLR to photograph them. So far I've just tried a few handheld close up shots of some old negatives. The results look very promising for the set up if a tripod or other stabilising system is used. Some post processing work will still be required. The results so far look at least as good, probably better, than the Veho film scanner I have, and FastStone will handle the results easier and better than the Veho software.

If you have a quality SLR that can manage a decent macro shot, then it's well worth considering. If I had any worthwhile pictures I'd post some, but what I'm looking at are negatives, and some slides, from way back when, which are of interest only to me.