Inexpensive scanner for 120 b/w negs

I have a very limited budget (around $100, less is preferable). I'm looking for an inexpensive flatbed scanner to scan my holga negs, and possibly larger formats in the future. I'm not looking to make large prints from the scans (I'll do that optically on an enlarger), I just want an easy way to get them onto a computer. So far I've found the Epson 4490, Canon 4400F, Canon 5600F, and Epson V500 (with mail-in rebate). I haven't been able to find used scanners, or at least no used scanners that include all necessary peripherals.

Anything I should gravitate towards or stay away from?

Poohblah said:

I have a very limited budget (around $100, less is preferable). I'm looking for an inexpensive flatbed scanner to scan my holga negs, and possibly larger formats in the future. I'm not looking to make large prints from the scans (I'll do that optically on an enlarger), I just want an easy way to get them onto a computer. So far I've found the Epson 4490, Canon 4400F, Canon 5600F, and Epson V500 (with mail-in rebate). I haven't been able to find used scanners, or at least no used scanners that include all necessary peripherals.

Anything I should gravitate towards or stay away from?

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The film holders that Epson supplies -- even with the V7xx -- are flimsy plastic affairs. If you want sharp scans then you will need something like Doug Fisher's holders (http://www.betterscanning.com) and this will soak up a big chunk of your $100 budget.

Go to the Canon website and look at their 'refurbs". They have an 8600F advertised for $100., absolutely the best buy I could find.

Bill

They don't have the 8600F refurb in stock right now, but that is incredible news. I'll check back often to see what I can find. Thanks a ton, Bill!

I've been using a borrowed 4490 while photographing in Portugal this past month, and I've been very impressed! This thing is sharp, quick, and the MF film holder is far better than the tweaky holder on my V750 at home. It has a smaller "gate" (film window), which may indeed keep film flatter than in other scanners. I now understand why other users of the 4490 have not seen the need to "move up" to the V500/700/750.

The only downside I've found is that because the MF holder's gate is so small -- 6x12cm -- it is more of a process to use it as a "contact printer." On my V750, I can quickly scan an entire strip, and the included software will (usually) split it into individual images for each frame.

It's not a problem for single images, and you'll get a couple more frames with 6x6 or 6x45. Since I'm shooting 6x7, scanning up a roll of ten exposures takes a bit of time.

You can see some at the links below, all @ 600dpi, post-processed in Lightroom, and downsized slightly for Flickr:

Or more at my Flickr page (the color images are from my iPhone; the B&W images are from my RB67).

My 4490 came in today. The film holders are quite plasticky and the 35mm one is especially annoying. I'm not too concerned about it at the moment though. Dust is a major problem with 35mm. Using a rocket blower helps, but ICE doesn't seem to do much.

Scan quality of 120 negs is good and 35mm seems okay. Obviously nowhere near optical enlargement quality, but a good substitute for photos that I don't want to or have the time to enlarge in the darkroom. The 35mm negs at 2400 dpi seems slightly above the optical resolution, but I think it's good for 5x7 prints.

thanks for the assistance.

Digital ICE does not work with B&W films, unless they are C41 process. The reason being that ICE first scans the film looking for anything that light cannot pass through - dust, hairs etc. - and then maps these out when scanning. This works with color film because all the silver is removed in processing, only dyes remain. But with B&W, the silver remains in the film - and light will not pass through it. So you get really funky results using ICE with B&W film. C41 B&W removes all the silver, like color, so it will work with ICE.