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Looking for good Film Scanners

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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
i just got a bunch of film back from the lab, and i went to scan it into my computer. i got about half way through and just gave up because the software is an absolute nightmare to use and quite frankly the quality of the scans sucks dick. not only that it doesn't fit 120 film which is extremely annoying. its a pretty cheap one that my dad bought a while back and i've only used it once but i know it's really not a good one.

so what i want to know is, what scanners can you guys recommend? requirements are good quality (so that the images actually resemble the prints you get from the lab), easy to use and can take 120 as well as 35mm, slide etc.

i know you can pay pretty much anything you want for scanners but lets keep the price reasonable. i won't set a budget yet but i will once i get an idea what kind of range something decent will be in.

+k for helpful advice!
Jun 19 2012 3:18PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Epson v500 or v600 /end-thread.
Jun 19 2012 3:22PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
epson v600, i got mine for $179 shipped direct from epson, using it to scan 120 film and some 35mm, and it is fantastic, here are a few shots that were scanned with it, you seriously get 130+ mb files with it at half resolution

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toconnellphotography/7349799870/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toconnellphotography/7348987136/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/toconnellphotography/7347490348/in/photostream/

very easy to use, and scans fast enough assuming your computer doesn't suck, I highly recommend it
Jun 19 2012 3:26PM
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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
wow they genuinely look like digital images. thanks guys, i'm gonna look into the v600.

in the meantime if anyone else has suggestions dont hesitate, but i think im pretty much sold already haha
Jun 19 2012 3:29PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Yeah, I'm picking up an epson v600 after the summer. I'm shooting 100% film up at camp for the summer so I'm going to have 30+ roles worth of negs to scan.
Jun 19 2012 3:33PM
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Obie.
Posts: 1741 - Karma: 3,646
This, I have an Epson V500 & its really easy to use & produces quality scans, but If your looking to scan large(r) formats than 120, 220 in the future I'd suggest going with the v600, I believe it has a bigger scanning surface (correct me if im wrong).
Jun 19 2012 3:42PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
20 of those rolls were bought through me ;)

For $179 and HUGE ass high quality scans, think it would be better than what my local lab is going to charge me? Quality/price wise.

they charge $12/36 exp. 35mm for c41 development + scanning. They only scan up to 1200x1800px

and only $5/roll development only
Jun 19 2012 3:52PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
Well the price to use ratio makes it worth it for for 120, for 35mm doesn't Costco only charge 5$ a roll to dev and scan? I know Erik Kim (well known street photog) gets all his stuff done there
Jun 19 2012 4:14PM
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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
i shoot a lot of b + w film so it would definitely make it cost effective
Jun 19 2012 4:16PM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
no costco's anywhere near me
local supermarkets/wholesales/walmarts don't do it anymore
only place I can find is somewhere not super far. I might actually try to get a job there if they do a good job
Jun 19 2012 4:28PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Most costco's have closed their film labs.... Same with drug and grocery stores, and if they do offer it, the technicians will suck because they rarely have to work with film anymore.
Jun 19 2012 5:23PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
My hasn't and pretty much every Walgreens/Cvs still does
Jun 19 2012 5:47PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Then they probably ship it out. I have hard time believing they all still do it in-house.
Jun 19 2012 5:51PM
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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
yeah the place i go to ships it out if it isn't c41. thats why it's more expensive
Jun 19 2012 5:55PM
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Balto
Posts: 25985 - Karma: 4,404
They do it in house, clearly you need to not go to a shitty Costco
Jun 19 2012 5:59PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
^yep, and it will take longer. For B&W you might as well learn to do it yourself, $60 will get you started and it's not hard, it's actually hard to fuck up. C41 and E6 can be done in a similar fashion but they are a bit trickier.
Jun 19 2012 6:00PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Has anyone ever tried the 'take a photo of the neg' scanning method?

Click for larger image
Jun 19 2012 6:05PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
I really need to get more into shooting film. I've got a beautiful TLR that's just sitting on the shelf. Fuck. Have only shot 1 roll of 120 with it so far. Damn. I'm going to shoot tomorrow!
Jun 19 2012 6:16PM
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Keyjibbs
Posts: 1542 - Karma: 96
Like people have said the Epson 4490/V500/V600 is a pretty good scanner for 120. Though it does lack with 35mm. Probably the best scanner for the price for 35mm would be the V700. It is a bit more expensive than the others but it's definitely worth it if you're planning on scanning a lot of 35mm. Plus it will kill it with 120. Either route you get make sure you buy some of the Better Scanning glass. These will make a noticeable improvement in the sharpness of your scans. You can pick those up at http://betterscanning.com/ and they're are definitely worth it.
Jun 19 2012 7:03PM
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hollygrove
Posts: 7845 - Karma: 93
At schol I was using a V750 alot, and it was great, but I just picked up a V500 for personal use yesterday and it seems fucking flawless. The 750 comes with Silverfast, which is a more capable program than the one included in with the V500, but I haven't come across any limitations yet, we'll see. The Epson 4490 (or something like that) seems perfect for a bit of a lower price tag too, check it out.

Here's a lil sample from a scan I did yesterday, 35mm.

Click for larger image
Jun 19 2012 8:24PM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
V600, 700, and 750 will all be awesome. I use the V700.

I would really recommend getting better scanning software than what the scanner comes with. I like Silverfast, but there are a lot of other solid programs out there as well. The quality difference between the Epson software and Silverfast is insane.
Jun 19 2012 8:38PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Wow... That's smart, whoever came up with that.
Jun 20 2012 5:23AM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Yeah, it's probably the fastest way to bulk scan for un-important jobs.
Jun 20 2012 8:22AM
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Dragonite.
Posts: 1657 - Karma: 431
Old fashion prints are the way to go!
Jun 22 2012 7:40AM
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1337
Posts: 31054 - Karma: 29,232
NOPEEEEEE

chuck testa


but seriously, sure they are great, until you have a friend or client in a different area who wants to view your work...
Jun 22 2012 8:56AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Then take a picture of your picture.
Jun 22 2012 9:32AM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Scanning prints is so much easier than scanning negs, obviously they won't look as good, but still.
Jun 22 2012 9:46AM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
Scanning negs really well is hard, but it's easy to get them to a quality that will be awesome for web use. There really isn't a difference between an ok scan and a perfect scan for sites like flickr, 500px etc. It takes all of 2 minutes to load a roll into the holder and press the "scan" button on my V700.
Jun 23 2012 1:51PM
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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
right so i'm thinking of going for the v600, simply because any of the higher models are way too expensive. thanks for all the help everyone!
Jun 23 2012 2:00PM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
Very good choice.
Jun 23 2012 2:09PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Seems the way to go for what you get for your money.
Jun 24 2012 11:28AM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
DON'T GET YOUR FILM SCANNED AT WALGREENS!


They don't care about your film, you'll end up with kinks, bends and fingerprints all over it.

Photo lab scans are nice, but don't waste the money unless you're just scanning one - they will produce much better scans than your epson can (so long as they are a legit lab scanning on a drum scanner, and not just scanning on an epson). Scan on an epson, play with the files, if you want to make a big print get that single exposure drum scanned
Jun 24 2012 1:01PM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
Most photo labs don't drum scan. They usually use the Nikon/Canon scanners or Epson flatbeds. A good drum scanner is $200k+. Serious equipment haha.
Jun 24 2012 2:13PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Wow, just been checking out ebay. You can buy a V500 for 80$... That would actually be a good investment. I could probably get my parents to buy one to scan all their negatives (loads and loads).
Jun 24 2012 5:46PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Also, does anyone have any experience with the Canon 8800f/9000f. Seems to be 'the' other popular choice for scanning film.

Jun 25 2012 9:36AM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
Never used one, but from what I see online the Epson scanners can produce scans of the same quality, sometimes better.
Jun 25 2012 1:58PM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
Most labs that I've been to do drum scanning. If it's not drum scans, there's hardly any reason to pay someone to scan it.
Jun 26 2012 8:33PM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
If you're lazy. No labs around here drum scan as far as I know. The one I go to uses Epson or Canon scanners.
Jun 27 2012 1:05AM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Maybe a stupid question but can you develop your own color through E6 to get B/W negatives?
I got a chance to pick up 25 rolls of 135 film for 25€ (about 10 rolls expired). The majority of the film (21 rolls) is Kodak Color Plus, which people don't seem to like very much, so I figured I could maybe develop them my own, just for fun.

Anyone?
Jun 27 2012 9:38AM
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TWoods
Posts: 10014 - Karma: 8,386
hahaha, yea, true
Jun 27 2012 1:40PM
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MACAQUE
Posts: 2811 - Karma: 696
You might be able to, but not that I know of. There are more types of chemicals in color film that need to react with different types of developer, so using the E6 process probably won't do it right at all. Just pick up a C41 kit. Not much more expensive and you'll learn a ton!
Jun 27 2012 2:47PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Yeah I guess. I still haven't 100% found out what the exact difference is between C41 and E6. I'm not too much of a film guy (yet). C41 = color and E6 = B/W; or is that too bluntly?
Jun 27 2012 4:31PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
C41 is colour negative, that means when you scan it you have to flip it. E6 is slide film, you can look at a slide and see exactly what your going to get. B&W is it's own process, I believe all B&W film is negative, I don't think I've ever heard of B&W slide film....
Jun 27 2012 4:39PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Aren't negatives what I want? Slide film = positive color?; or that's what I understand from this anyway.

So for developing B&W I'd have to go the C41 route? It's just that when developing negatives from color film I have to use different developers/fixers etc then when developing B&W.
Is that it?

Jun 27 2012 4:44PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
You develop neg with c41, slide in e6, slide in c41 is cross-processing. And then B&W has its ken set of chemicals.
Jun 27 2012 4:46PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
ken set?

I'm not interested in slide. I guess I'll just start out with B&W c41 and then try c41 color afterwards.
Jun 27 2012 7:07PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Own set, that was
Jun 27 2012 7:10PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
My stupid phone. Like c-41 B&W film like ilford xp2, or true B&W process film like hp5. Very different chemicals.
Jun 27 2012 7:11PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
What's the difference between C41 B&W and 'real' B&W?
Jun 27 2012 7:20PM
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CliffyByro
Posts: 5678 - Karma: 3,903
the chemicals and process used
Jun 27 2012 7:25PM
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TijmenDal
Posts: 4849 - Karma: 1,295
Don't both just use develop-stop-fix? Or that's what I thought anyways...
Jun 27 2012 8:08PM
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