Kodak's new film scanner...good move?

[jtk]

KODAK Slide N SCAN Film and Slide Scanner with Large 5” LCD Screen, Convert Color & B&W Negatives & Slides 35mm, 126, 110 Film Negatives & Slides to High Resolution 22MP JPEG Digital Photos​

Hard to believe Kodak's finally stepping up to the plate.

Old man Eastman may have whispered from his grave. Scans from negs, slides, color, B&W...

Obviously intended for print-making by somebody....

 

[MattKing]

Nothing new here - just another product made and sold by another entity who have licensed the use of the "Kodak" name.

 

[Larryc001]

I have been thinking about buying one of these little magnasonic film scanners. If anyone knows anything about these I would appreciate hearing about it. Thanks.

 

[Sirius Glass]

No 2-1/4" x 2-1/4" or 6x6? What about 4"x5"?

 

[mshchem]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

I love my Nikon Coolscan, 35mm only, for scanning slides. Slow. Never had good luck with color negative film.

Contact prints on super glossy Ilford RC paper is easy to scan on a $150.00 all in one. It's plenty good for internet posts.

 

[albada]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

This is similar to Lambrecht's suggestion in his superb book, Way Beyond Monochrome: Make a good 8x10 print of the negative, and scan that on a typical flatbed scanner.

I love my Nikon Coolscan, 35mm only, for scanning slides. Slow. Never had good luck with color negative film.

I've found my Coolscan IV ED works well for negative film. If you're having trouble with it, I'll guess there's some setting involved. ICE works well, but is slow.

 

[mshchem]

This is similar to Lambrecht's suggestion in his superb book, Way Beyond Monochrome: Make a good 8x10 print of the negative, and scan that on a typical flatbed scanner.


I've found my Coolscan IV ED works well for negative film. If you're having trouble with it, I'll guess there's some setting involved. ICE works well, but is slow.

Yeah, I bought the scanner 2nd hand, no original software. I'm using VueScan. To be honest I've never really tried to scan negatives, at least not really tried.
Digital is so easy for color. I still use my darkroom. Mostly black and white but I still print color.

 

[brbo]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

Maybe they don't have a darkroom?

 

[Helge]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

Cost, time and space.
But I bet you knew that.

 

[DavidOC]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

I love my Nikon Coolscan, 35mm only, for scanning slides. Slow. Never had good luck with color negative film.

Contact prints on super glossy Ilford RC paper is easy to scan on a $150.00 all in one. It's plenty good for internet posts.

I have a Nikon Coolscan film scanner which I got many years ago. Eventually, when I upgraded my computers i was left with no way to connect as the firewire interface was dropped and the software discontinued.
I note that Vuescan offers a solution but I'm still stuck with the connection issue. How did you get around that. Apple sell a USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter, which you then connect to a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter forming a bridge between the firewire device (ie Coolscan) and the computer. It all sounds a bit convoluted and I haven't tried it as I'm a bit reluctant to spend a €100 on adapters with out knowing if this combination with the new software will solve my problem.
I have heard people saying that they retained the old computer with the old operating systems and connections. This is no longer an option for me.
How have you maintained the use of your Coolscan?
David

 

[albireo]

I have a Nikon Coolscan film scanner which I got many years ago. Eventually, when I upgraded my computers i was left with no way to connect as the firewire interface was dropped and the software discontinued.

Hi David, I use a refurbished 8000ED which I use via a Windows 10 64bit Dell Workstation. I connect the scanner to the PC via a Firewire PCI-express card I've purchased for 20$ off Amazon and installed by myself. No drivers were required. Installation took 2 minutes + a reboot.

On the software side, I use Vuescan as well as Nikonscan 4.0.3. Nikonscan is old software but there is a tutorial to install it on a modern Win7/10 PC. Here's the one I used

https://lincolnscan.co.uk/assets/files/NikonScan-in64-bitWindows-DetailedInstructions.pdf

The setup works flawlessly.

 

[DavidOC]

Hi David, I use a refurbished 8000ED which I use on a Windows 10 64bit Dell Workstation. I connect the scanner to the PC via a Firewire PCI-express card I've purchased for 20$ off Amazon and installed by myself. No drivers were required. Installation took 2 minutes and reboot.

On the software side, I use Vuescan as well as Nikonscan 4.0.3. Nikonscan is old software but there is a tutorial to install it on a modern Win7/10 PC. Here's the one I used

https://lincolnscan.co.uk/assets/files/NikonScan-in64-bitWindows-DetailedInstructions.pdf

The setup works flawlessly.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.
Unfortunately I work on a Mac (MacBook Pro and iMac) and the option of installing a Firewire card is not an option. Could the Firewire PCI-express card be installed in some sort of adapter case with a USB-C connector and then used on my Mac, or is this express card a PC item only. My knowledge of PC's is practically useless so already I'm out of my depth but I have a colleague who could help me with it if it was a workable solution.
I did buy a USB to Firewire adapter one time on Amazon and everywhere I read I was told to not use this under any circumstances as it would fry my computer, so in the end I didn't even attempt.
David

 

[albireo]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.
Unfortunately I work on a Mac (MacBook Pro and iMac) and the option of installing a Firewire card is not an option. Could the Firewire PCI-express card be installed in some sort of adapter case with a USB-C connector and then used on my Mac, or is this express card a PC item only. My knowledge of PC's is practically useless so already I'm out of my depth but I have a colleague who could help me with it if it was a workable solution.
I did buy a USB to Firewire adapter one time on Amazon and everywhere I read I was told to not use this under any circumstances as it would fry my computer, so in the end I didn't even attempt.
David

Hi David. I would recommend doing a google search before attempting to follow the USB adapter route. I have read worrying reports that those converters can fry the firewire board in the Coolscan. However I have no direct experience with them I'm afraid.

 

[brbo]

Apple sell a USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter, which you then connect to a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter forming a bridge between the firewire device (ie Coolscan) and the computer.

This IS your solution.

 

[Helge]

KODAK Slide N SCAN Film and Slide Scanner with Large 5” LCD Screen, Convert Color & B&W Negatives & Slides 35mm, 126, 110 Film Negatives & Slides to High Resolution 22MP JPEG Digital Photos​

Hard to believe Kodak's finally stepping up to the plate.

Old man Eastman may have whispered from his grave. Scans from negs, slides, color, B&W...

Obviously intended for print-making by somebody....

Sorry.
Not new and pretty piss poor.

 

[DavidOC]

Hi David. I would recommend doing a google search before attempting to follow the USB adapter route. I have read worrying reports that those converters can fry the firewire board in the Coolscan. However I have no direct experience with them I'm afraid.

Thanks. I'll definitely need to do more research on it.
Would I be naive in thinking that this - 'Apple sell a USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter, which you then connect to a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter forming a bridge between the firewire device (ie Coolscan) and the computer', Apple produced devices, supplied by Apple, would be safe to try out without the 'fry my hardware' risk?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

This is similar to Lambrecht's suggestion in his superb book, Way Beyond Monochrome: Make a good 8x10 print of the negative, and scan that on a typical flatbed scanner.


I've found my Coolscan IV ED works well for negative film. If you're having trouble with it, I'll guess there's some setting involved. ICE works well, but is slow.

Many people who scan like me, usually don't print. So that would be an extra step and expense that isn't necessary.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply.
Unfortunately I work on a Mac (MacBook Pro and iMac) and the option of installing a Firewire card is not an option. Could the Firewire PCI-express card be installed in some sort of adapter case with a USB-C connector and then used on my Mac, or is this express card a PC item only. My knowledge of PC's is practically useless so already I'm out of my depth but I have a colleague who could help me with it if it was a workable solution.
I did buy a USB to Firewire adapter one time on Amazon and everywhere I read I was told to not use this under any circumstances as it would fry my computer, so in the end I didn't even attempt.
David

Can you buy an old used Windows machine just for scanning?

 

[brbo]

Thanks. I'll definitely need to do more research on it.
Would I be naive in thinking that this - 'Apple sell a USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter, which you then connect to a Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter forming a bridge between the firewire device (ie Coolscan) and the computer', Apple produced devices, supplied by Apple, would be safe to try out without the 'fry my hardware' risk?

Yes. This is a proper solution.

 

[gone]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

I do it with 35mm because I want to see how it looks. If a frame doesn't pass the initial look-see, then there's no need to print it. If I was shooting MF or LF, I can see what's up w/o doing that. But 35mm negs are so small, looking at one on a light table isn't quite good enough. I want to see all the little details and problems blown up by the proof scan before deciding whether to print it or not.

My scanner is a $60 Wolverine, more of a toy scanner, but it can do up to 6x6. I swear, there is little to no difference in scan quality between it and the Nikon Cool Scan I once owned. Which didn't surprise me, as the ancient Epson 2450 flatbed also did an excellent job for proof scans as well as prints.

 

[VinceInMT]

I still am wondering why people don't make a silver contact print and then scan that.

On a related note, I was given an Epson V500 and, while I still print what I want in the darkroom, I do scan my negs for no other reason than to have a digital back up. But, one thing I am experimenting with is opening the folder with the images for the roll, viewing them as thumbnails, making a screen shot, and printing that on my laser printer instead of making a traditional contact sheet. It works OK But I am wondering if there’s an app that does that more directly.

 

[brbo]

On a related note, I was given an Epson V500 and, while I still print what I want in the darkroom, I do scan my negs for no other reason than to have a digital back up. But, one thing I am experimenting with is opening the folder with the images for the roll, viewing them as thumbnails, making a screen shot, and printing that on my laser printer instead of making a traditional contact sheet. It works OK But I am wondering if there’s an app that does that more directly.

Q: How to print many images on one page?
A: In the Thumbnails window, use the menu "Create contact sheet from selected thumbs". The result image(s) can be printed or saved.

(there are a lot of tools that can do that)

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

On a related note, I was given an Epson V500 and, while I still print what I want in the darkroom, I do scan my negs for no other reason than to have a digital back up. But, one thing I am experimenting with is opening the folder with the images for the roll, viewing them as thumbnails, making a screen shot, and printing that on my laser printer instead of making a traditional contact sheet. It works OK But I am wondering if there’s an app that does that more directly.

Lightroom allows the printing of contact sheets of selected images. But frankly, doing it your way seems easier.

 

[jtk]

Maybe they don't have a darkroom?

why would they make contact sheets in the first place? shoot the film, scan and organize the files. easy. why bother with contact sheets?

 

[jtk]

Nothing new here - just another product made and sold by another entity who have licensed the use of the "Kodak" name.

You're forgetting that the "entity" known as "Kodak" is a legal fiction.