Good, fast scanner for photos and negatives

[Jukebag]

Hi, anyone know of a really good, fast scanner that will scan both negatives and other documents?. I know there are a number of negative scanners around, but many of them only scan in 35mm negatives and not other old formats that were popular back in the day, some were large screen and small very small. Also, the scanners that scan negatives don't scan the full negative, there's always some of the image cropped off

Also, is there any scanner that can stand books and other documents faster than a standard flat bed scanner?. As many will know, scanning pages using scanning software like Photoshop and a PC is very time consuming. I've heard using a good DSLR.

[Mr Pointy]

Fujitsu do a range of scanners including this one which will handle books:
https://www.fujitsu.com/uk/products/computing/peri...

There's a lot of information about scanners on this site although it could do with updating:
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/FilmscannerKauf.ht...
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/FilmscannerRanglis...

You might need to define what sizes you want to be able to scan though.

[mattley]

Jukebag said:

I've heard using a good DSLR.

A light box, a good DSLR with a remote trigger and a tripod which allows vertical camera down onto the light box will be best for negatives. Once you've got it setup it should be quick as well.

[Mr Pointy]

mattley said:

Jukebag said:

I've heard using a good DSLR.

A light box, a good DSLR with a remote trigger and a tripod which allows vertical camera down onto the light box will be best for negatives. Once you've got it setup it should be quick as well.

I get bored with saying it but the infra-red dust & scratch removal feature of a decent scanner saves hours of post processing.

[Jukebag]

I have a Nikon D40 DSLR with the standard lens (only 6.1 megapixels but photos are great). Do I need a macro lens with it, and which one will suit that camera?. I've watched a few videos showing this setup and they use a macro lens. Will using a macro lens be good enough to photograph the really small negatives (can't think what they're called)?. All I've got is a DSLR and a standard tripod. And what kind of lightbox do with need!.

Seems a lot of hassle for simply photographing negatives. I know Epson do a negative scanner, but it does scans 35mm, and it doesn't scan all of the negative. I wish these scanners would scan every film negative. Most of the negatives I have going back to the 50s, 60s and 70s are large negatives.

[Mr Pointy]

How many worthwhile negatives do you have that need scanning? The first step is to triage them & only scan those that are really worth the time & effort.

[Jukebag]

Only one or two that need scanning really.

[Mr Pointy]

Jukebag said:

Only one or two that need scanning really.

In that case don't bother buying the kit: just send them off to be scanned professionally. There are loads of websites that offer this service for less than a pound per frame.

[Jukebag]

Photo processing labs just crop down the image when they've been processed. The main aim is to digitise the whole image as it was captured.

The Fujitsu book scanner mentioned is very expensive (around 500 quid). I've heard of handheld scanner that enables you to scroll down a document of image from top to bottom, but the image res isnt that great.

[Mr Pointy]

Jukebag said:

Photo processing labs just crop down the image when they've been processed. The main aim is to digitise the whole image as it was captured.

Scanning services aren't photo processors. They'll scan all of the negative.

Jukebag said:

The Fujitsu book scanner mentioned is very expensive (around 500 quid). I've heard of handheld scanner that enables you to scroll down a document of image from top to bottom, but the image res isnt that great.

Wow, cheap scanner gives crap results. Who knew? Spend time doing it a page at a time on a flatbed then.

[Murph7355]

Mr Pointy said:

Jukebag said:

Photo processing labs just crop down the image when they've been processed. The main aim is to digitise the whole image as it was captured.

Scanning services aren't photo processors. They'll scan all of the negative.

Jukebag said:

The Fujitsu book scanner mentioned is very expensive (around 500 quid). I've heard of handheld scanner that enables you to scroll down a document of image from top to bottom, but the image res isnt that great.

Wow, cheap scanner gives crap results. Who knew? Spend time doing it a page at a time on a flatbed then.

Follow Mr Pointy's advice

Try MrScan. I've had come good results there.

I bought a dedicated negative scanner ages ago (Canoscan 4300)....great piece of kit, but if you have lots to do/no time then MrScan (or equivs) is the ideal.

Triage first as someone else noted.

[MethylatedSpirit]

If the pages are able to be seperated, a good multifunction printer with ADF (brother MFC series ext) could work.

Wouldn't scan negatives though, I don't think

[sgrimshaw]

Jukebag said:

I've heard of handheld scanner that enables you to scroll down a document of image from top to bottom, but the image res isnt that great.

Called a wand scanner, ok for scanning receipts or quick grabs whilst out and about, but not good enough for photos. Certainly won't scan negatives.

Eg:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Document-Scanner...

If you're determined to do it yourself, depending what you intend to do with the captured image the Epson Perfection V600 is worthy of consideration:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epson-Perfection-V600-Pho...

[Jukebag]

The Epson V series scanners seem good for negatives, but will it scan anything other than just 35mm?.Not everyone has 35mm film negatives or photos in their family albums, in fact many of the photos in my possession from the 1980s are from 110 film, and further back in to the 70s, 60s and 50s they are large format negatives that were the standard format at the time. I have quite a few 110 negatives (they're so small, thin format film negatives). If it's just a case of placing them onto the surface of the scan and letting the scanner and software the scan them, I assume it would scan them?.

You'd think Epson and Cannon would make a scanner aimed at other formats not just 35mm.

I also have photos taken from those photo Advantix cameras (where it allowed you to the change the aspect of the lens) but when you got them processed you never got the actual negative back with the developed prints for some reason.

[MethylatedSpirit]

Jukebag said:

The Epson V series scanners seem good for negatives, but will it scan anything other than just 35mm?.Not everyone has 35mm film negatives or photos in their family albums, in fact many of the photos in my possession from the 1980s are from 110 film, and further back in to the 70s, 60s and 50s they are large format negatives that were the standard format at the time. I have quite a few 110 negatives (they're so small, thin format film negatives). If it's just a case of placing them onto the surface of the scan and letting the scanner and software the scan them, I assume it would scan them?.

You'd think Epson and Cannon would make a scanner aimed at other formats not just 35mm.

I also have photos taken from those photo Advantix cameras (where it allowed you to the change the aspect of the lens) but when you got them processed you never got the actual negative back with the developed prints for some reason.

I have a V550

It will do negatives, slides and medium format film. It's very slow though. Like, start scanning and have a cup of tea slow.

110 Negatives should work on the scanner with a bit of fiddling. I've seen them done with epson scanners.

Here's a couple of slides i've scanned with an Epson V550 (Velvia 50, Nikon F60, Sigma 20-40 2.8):

https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/178b977eb0af40f...

https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/d8214f06d464471...

Edited by MethylatedSpirit on Sunday 19th July 19:14

[Jukebag]

I'm sure there's ways round in scanning 110 film and other films other than 35mm. Other negatives I have going back to the 60s are 126 negatives. They are square in dimension, but I've read they came in a 35mm film camera.

When using my standard Canon scanner I often use Photoshop Elements (a very basic version of Photoshop I got with an old printer years ago) to scan in photos and documents, and even with large photos and A4 size documents scanning at 300dpi it's pretty quick, certainly not slow enough to make a cup of tea while you wait lol. I do have a negative scanner that's a small box thing that you slide your negatives (35mm) into using a negative holder, and using the supplied software it enables you do view your negatives and save them, but it only scans 35mm, plus the scan dosent capture all the image, and I like to have full control over the scanning and preserve all the image as it is on the negative. If the Epson V550 scans and captures all the image then that's a plus point for me.

[Murph7355]

Send them to a bureau!

Multiformat scanners aren't that common. (My Canon one will do APS and 35mm,possibly a couple of other film negative formats but not 110 I think).

You're going to spend a lot of time hunting kit down, learning how to use it, scanning etc.... In a couple of weeks you could have it all done, probably for not much more money and put the legacy past behind you.

Been there, doing that.

[Jukebag]

There's one Epson Perfection I saw that was about 1500 quid, which is very pricey. There are negative flatbed scanners and stand alone negative scanners to choose from, all different prices, the only problem is that the majority of them only do 35mm film (or 135 as it's called) and slide negatives (whatever they are as I've never used them). I can't fathom why 110 film was popular back in the 1980s as you can barely see what's on the negatives when under light. I suppose nobody bothered about having the best camera.

Failing a scanner, can anyone advise what macro lens I need for a Nikon DSLR?. And would using a macro lens with a suitable light source (a light box/table) do for the task?. I've experimented in placing negatives under a simple light source such as a monitor using the standard lens with my Nikon, and the results are, although not fantastic by any stretch, they were surprisingly better than I thought.

[akirk]

I have one of the current epson perfection series and it will scan c. A4 as negatives
Have also owned a couple of Expression 12000 scanners - which will do A3
with both of these (neither are cheap!) you do not need to use the mounts to scan the negatives, so you can use the full size of the scanner

[Jukebag]

Anyone know if any of these macro lenses will fit my Nikon D40?. I think the Tamron lens will fit, not sure about the Sigma. I'm not well up on lenses.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_n...