Scanner for 8x10 or larger to replace contact sheets

[L Gebhardt]

I don't make contact sheets of my color negatives as often as I would like because of the hassle of setting up the processor. So I usually scan them quickly on the Epson 4870 to get an idea of what's on them to see if I want to bother printing or scanning with the drum scanner. But the 4870 is a pain to load and it involves multiple scanning operations per roll.

So I'm looking for a relatively cheap scanner that will scan a whole roll of 6x6 or 35mm film in one loading of the holders. I'm thinking the Epson 750 might work, but the stock holders only do 24 frames of 35mm or 6 frames of 120. So I think aftermarket holders would be needed at a minimum. And I don't want to spend nearly as much as a new one of these goes for. I have a high end solution already, what I need is scanner that can quickly let me proof a lot of film, similar to a contact sheet.

Any suggestions?

 

[pschwart]

All you need is a scanner that covers then entire platen. I lay the plastic neg pages right on the platen of an Epson 700 and get very nice proofs, no film holders required.

 

[L Gebhardt]

That's probably good enough for my proofing needs. So I really need a scanner with a transparency adapter that will scan 8x10 or larger. Ideally slightly larger since it's always a hassle to get the negatives to fit on an 8x10 peice of paper. I imagine it's the same on the 8x10 area of the scanner platen?

 

[pschwart]

That's probably good enough for my proofing needs. So I really need a scanner with a transparency adapter that will scan 8x10 or larger. Ideally slightly larger since it's always a hassle to get the negatives to fit on an 8x10 peice of paper. I imagine it's the same on the 8x10 area of the scanner platen?

I don't recall the Epson specs, but you can find them online. I'm sure it covers 8x10. Oversize would be really nice, but even if you lose a bit on one edge you can't beat the convenience and you can easily make enlarged proofs.

 

[L Gebhardt]

I don't recall the Epson specs, but you can find them online. I'm sure it covers 8x10. Oversize would be really nice, but even if you lose a bit on one edge you can't beat the convenience and you can easily make enlarged proofs.

Epson claims it will do 8x10. Could you measure yours to see if it can do more than that? I was hoping to spend less than the cost of a V700 or V750, but maybe a used one with selling the 4870 would be doable.

 

[pschwart]

The platen is about 8-7/8x12-1/8, but it looks like the scanned area is only 8x10. I can scan a sheet of 6x6 negs (4 strips of 3 frames) and only lose a bit (1/8"?) off the top or bottom strip. The V7xx is not perfect -- a 9x12 scan area and autofocus would be tremendous improvements -- but get I got mine refurbished from Epson for a good price and I use it a lot. My final scans are done on a Nikon 9000.

 

[Doug Fisher]

Remember to use the "film area guide" so that the scanner calibrates correctly. I mention this because many of my customers don't even realize the film area guide is in their pack of holders. When using the film area guide you MUST switch the software to the "film with film area guide" setting!!! Also, many people like to use a sheet of 8x10 AN glass to flatten the film against the scanner bed.

Doug

 

[Les Sarile]

This is what it looks like when you place a whole roll directly on the glass of a V700 and scan at 600dpi.

This first is Fuji Astia in plastic holder showing how much is cutoff.

Full size -> Fuji Astia


This second is of Kodak 400UC not in a plastic holder. I could have overlapped them a bit to minimize the cutoff further.

Full size -> Kodak 400UC

 

[stevebarry]

Les - would a roll of 36 fit in rows of 5?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pschwart]

Yes, negative pages with 7 rows of 5 frames (like PrintFile 35-7B) are a good fit.