Scanner?

[Jaxie]

What do you use to scan 120 film? I'm in the market for a scanner that does prints, 35mm and 120. I've heard good things about the Epson v500. Any one have any suggestions?

 

[D1v1d]

The Epson V500 is good value for scanning negs / trannies for web sharing (e.g. Flickr). You might want to invest a bit more if you want very high quality images for digital printing.

 

[Jaxie]

Any recommendations?

 

[Mark Antony]

Most of the stuff in my gallery is scanned on a V500, you might look into a V700 which is better. Most of these are for medium format 35mm is sub optimal.
I have a V500 for 6x6 and a Minolta DiMage for 35mm

 

[pedrosimao]

I have the Epson V750, which is very similar to the V700, and I am very satisfied with it - it is almost as good as the very expensive Hasselblad scanners for 120 film (see one of the last issues of the french magazine "Réponses Photo")

 

[Removed Account2]

Canon 8800F, takes both 35mm and 160 (and 16mm with a little work on a folm holder), very good for a flatbed scanner that can even scan 3-dimensional objects, I once scanned a revolver I was selling, it made a sale in zero time.

 

[landscapepics]

I have an Epson v700 which I use for 35mm and 120, it can scan film up to 8 * 10 if need be. Results are generally excellent; the only real problem I have is that recent self-developed films have been very curly and it's very difficult to grip them in the film holders.

 

[hobbes]

I've been using a Microtek i800Pro for a year now. I had to pay twice as much as I had paid for an Epson v500. However there are few advantages of Microtek that made me aquiring it. D=4.0, histogram in f(D) linear gamma - which let you use the scanner as a simple densitometer with not so much effort; much more reliable film holders, Silverfast support (a copy of full SF included), and lastly, from a Mac user standpoint the scanner can be attached through the firewire, which I find more stable than usb.

 

[jphotos]

I've been using a Canon Cano-Scan for several years. But I think it's time to upgrade. It scans nice but I'd like to get one that can scan slides and negatives.

 

[MrChairman]

I use a CanoScan 8400F with an adapter for my 6x6 negs and it also came with a 35mm neg and 35mm slide adapter.

 

[Jeff L]

I read Plustek is coming with a dedicated medium format scanner. The Epson V700/750 is popular.
I use the Nikon 8000 with the glass carrier and like the results. Getting old now for an electronic device. Wish it had the life expectancy of a Rollei.

 

[dxqcanada]

Minolta Dimage Multi Scan (no Pro) ... I am still trying to figure this thing out.

 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning;

While I will admit that I am not sure about the Minolta Dimage Multi Scan (Pro?), I can say that the earlier Minolta Dimage ScanDual and its descendents are 35mm only. This is one of the reasons why I am working on a Nikon CoolScan 9000ED at this time which does have 120 film capability also, but there are some other film holders that are probably easier to use for scanning 120 than the Nikon holder. And I have found that locating accessories and things for the Minolta film scanners now is a challenge.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

 

[rockphotographer]

I have the following....and offer scanning to other members of APUG at a discount (shameless self-plug)

Nikon 9000ED

Nikon Coolscan 4000ED

Imacon Flextight Photo

Betterlight 6000 Scanback (for glass plates, larger artwork, etc).

Epson V750 Pro.

I love scanning with both the V750 and the Imacon Flex. The Flex usually does my 6x6 and 645 whereas my 750 does all my 4x5. The 750 pro comes with a "wet mounting" scanner tray for doing wet mounted scans with Kami fluid. I rarely do so, but sometimes with a 35mm or 6x6 it increases the sharpness and removes some defects that may have arisen from um....user error....in the darkroom hah!

The Flex does a great job with DMax and with sharpness due to its method of bending the film as it scans. My Nikon 9000 and 4000 have been relegated to my batch work for clients who need "quick and dirty" scans using auto correction and Digital ICE--image correction and dust removal. This speeds up the process so they can come back with individual frames they want hand adjusted and scanned.

As Ralph says above there are some better holders now for the 9000 and 8000. There are a ton of options from Nikon and there are some modifications that one can do to make them even better than the factory models. There is even a model for wet mounting medium format that I'm looking into. For the V750 (and others) www.betterscanning.com makes some wonderful aftermarket film holders as well....

Happy shooting....and happy scanning!

 

[jvoller]

I've only recently acquired my v750, and even more recently begun trying some wetscans, but would have to echo what's been said about this scanner so far. I have no experience with Imacons, but the 750 is better than anything I've ever used before (short of having negs drumscanned, of course).

 

[selmslie]

I have both the LS9000 and V750 scanners and both are great, except for the original film holders. Neither handles curly 120 film adequately. I had to invest about $300 to get a glass (ANR - anti newton ring) holder for the Nikon and am considering one for the Epson.

The holders from www.betterscanning.com look promising, but they no longer offer the T-locks for their 120 holder, only the 120/220 ANR inserts. I will probably have to get that combination once my checkbook recovers from the Nikon holder investment.

 

[ToddB]

Any of the V series Epson with Digtal ICE are very good. Turn your MF images into massive 1.5 g file sizes per image and combine it superior optics the MF camera's typically. There is not a digital camera out there that can come close.

 

[beegee675]

I wouldn't use ICE or dust removal checked off with these scanners because the scanner picks up the silver detail as dust and screws the exposures up. Just scan normal and sharpen later... I use an Epson 4490 with carriers...
-BG
(yashica 12)

 

[beegee675]

Addendum... Meant to add: no ICE with B&W negs only. Color with ICE is ok. I generally avoid it.
-BG

 

[GRHazelton]

I've been happy with my Epson V700. The stock negative holders are OK for 35mm, but when I got my Pentax 645n I found that the stock holder for 120 film is lousy, the film stock is typically thinner than 35mm and thus tends to sag. I bought a 120 holder and a piece of anti-Newton's rings glass from betterscanning.com and, after quite a bit of fiddling with the "infinitely" variable height adjusters my scans are sharp corner to corner. With this holder I put the film in bulge side up, so to speak, and the ANG flattens things out. BTW, I've read in various sources that the top resolution for the V700 and probably the V750 is perhaps 3600 dpi, regardless of what Epson says. I have VueScan but I really haven't learned how to get the best from it. Selmsie, I have the T locks but with the ANG I don't find them necessary. The only "problem" is that you've got to clean both sides of the ANG.