Negative/slide scanners

[Matthew-TMM]

I've decided that I want to buy a negative and slide scanner. The plan is to crack on developing my own B&W film so that one day I can make prints the proper way. However, it's going to be a long time before I can set up a darkroom so I reckon that a scanner is a reasonable way forward in the mean time. I'll also want to use the scanner for colour slides, and as I don't anticipate getting set up to make proper prints from those (can you even buy the paper any more?) I want to get a scanner capable of giving reasonably decent results. Budget isn't sky high unfortunately, I anticipate something in the order of £200. So the question is what do I need to know to make the best buy I can? I understand that scanners can't cope with such dense negs as photgraphic paper can, how much of an issue is this and what numbers do I need to aim for? What sort of resolution should I aim for, and what else should I be considering?

What's this one like, for example? http://www.speedgraphic.co.uk/scanners/plustek_opt...

[Number31]

Not had any experience of that particular scanner, but the Silverfast software is good at getting detail out of the scans on my Nikon Cooolscan.

I've tried several methods over the years each has it's own merits, here is my answer to a similar question last year showing a comparison -


I've been going through the family archives over past few years and have tried various different techniques. The fastest way I use is to use extension tubes or a macro lens and a negative/slide holder to take copies with a digital camera. The results are OK and I have printed at small sizes with no issues. The quality is better from slides than negatives.

For better quality I use a Nikon Coolscan 5, slides have to be done individually but negatives can be batched from a strip of negatives (up to 6 at a time).

I used to use a flat bed scanner (Epson Perfection 2450) which did a good job but gave softer results with less dynamic range than the Coolscan.

Here is a comparison between the flatbed and the Nikon


Epson 2450



Nikon Coolscan 5

Here's one using the extension tube method, not bad for the age of the slide!


Canon EOS 7D 24-105mm @ 70mm + extension tube, original Vito B, Kodachrome 64

[Matthew-TMM]

Thanks for the examples, it's handy to be able to compare.

The extension tube method is out because I don't own a digital camera of any type, probably a bit unusual I suppose. Looking on the web the results from the Plustek 8100 seem pretty good. Doing some digging it would appear that the dynamic range is enough for most slide films and comfortably better than needed for negs. It's not urgent for the moment so I guess I'll just swot up on film scanners for a few weeks. Of course, numbers aren't everything, it's the results that count.