Slide/Neg Scanner Recomendations

[Dubjunky]

I have a large number of 35mm slides and Neg.s that I would like to work with, Can anyone recomend a scanner so that I can upload them to my PC. Price wise probably upto £150.00
Thanks

[OldBoy]

Epsom 330 scanner is all you need. http://www.epson.co.uk/Scanners/Epso...ion-V330-Photo.

[StephenBatey]

At that price point you're going to be pushed. I just checked the price at Park Cameras of the only scanner in that range that I'd recommend, and it's too expensive.

A few points, in no particular order.

1. Slides are the most difficult thing to scan, because of the extrreme tonal range. No scanner in your price range will do them justic in a single scan, but you might get away with it if the scanner lets you adjust the exposure and you then merge the results. Kodachrome is the worst of all for scanning.

2. A dedicated film scanner will not (normally) let you load a number of slides and then get on with it - the job will be very time consuming. It will take longer than you thought possible; which is why I was thinking flatbed Epson V500 that will let you load 36 slides at a time.

3. What do you want to do with the results? There's a lot of difference, quality wise, between a scan that will look reasonable on a web page, make a 6x4 print or go larger.

[GeoffWessex]

Puzzled here...... the Epson V330, as shown in that video that OldBoy links to, seems to show a slide holder with four spaces for slides (quite big, for different slide sizes up to medium format), for scanning at 4800dpi. The Epson V500 also has a slide holder for only four slides at a time, but in this case it's at 6400dpi. By the look of it, though, it doesn't do 36 at a time..... or am I missing something? The Epson V600 - more expensive again - also seems to have a holder for only 4 slides.

So they all scan four slides at a time.... your decision seems to be between 4800dpi and 6400dpi and/or the energy saving features. The 500 and 600 also (in the specs) bundle PS Elements - but not the latest version.... certainly worth a check - the 500 actually says it bundles PS Elements 4...... which is about five years old.

[StephenBatey]

The V330 (according to the Epson site) will scan 4 slides or 6 frames at a time; the V500 will handle 4 slides or 12 frames. My V700 will handle 36 frames at a time.

The V500 has a DMax of 3.4 - that reflects the density that it can scan, and you need at least 4.0 for slides. 3.4 is fine for negatives. The V330 does not have a claimed DMax on the site.

Remember when looking at the scanning resolution that a 35mm frame is only one inch in the short dimension; that means that if you want to print at 300dpi, the maximum print size can be obtained by simply dividing the scanning resolution by 300. In the case of a 4800 dpi scanner, that limits you to 12x18" in theory. In practice, you'll get less.

[OldBoy]

The OP requested a scanner below £150, which the V330 is. The best quality sildes are produced by a drum scanner in the commerical world, but would cost you a fortune to use. You can always used up-scaling software to increase the size of the photo after the scan.

[Dubjunky]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like I may have to dig a bit deeper. I have checked out some of the cheaper epsom scanners and it would seem that they leave a red line on the scanned image.
The slides that I have are mainly old family pic.s, however I have a large number of b/w neg.s that would require a good quality conversion.

[StephenBatey]

Originally Posted by OldBoy

The OP requested a scanner below £150, which the V330 is. The best quality sildes are produced by a drum scanner in the commerical world, but would cost you a fortune to use. You can always used up-scaling software to increase the size of the photo after the scan.

That depends on what you're scanning, and the size of the original. Paul Gallagher found that an Epson V750 gave better scans than an Imacon for his purposes, because the Imacon captured the grain perfectly in the skies of his landscapes, and he didn't think grainy clouds were natural. The difference in the sharpness of the foreground could be eliminated by sharpening. Note: this was 5x4 film.

Upscaling will produce a bigger file, and a smoother print; but it can't create detail that wasn't there in the first place.

[greenwing]

If it was me, I'd be looking to find a Nikon Coolscan, to do the job and then be sold on for little or no cost.

Chris

[Cathus]

I use a Plustek OpticFilm 7400 negative/slide scanner, 7200dpi abt £175