jko Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I have a huge 'mess' of photo negatives comprising large format b/w roll film (dating back to the 60's) plus later day 35mm in b/w and colour, colour transparencies, (Ektachrome, etc.) that I want to digitalise. The task will take weeks - many are single negatives (they often cut them this way back in the 60's) others are mounted transparencies, the rest are 35mm cut strips, some still in a full roll of 36 exposures. Although I will need to scan some printed images, the main task is converting these negatives to JPEG or PNG Can anybody recommend a scanner (from personal experience) that provides excellent quality and is also quick + easy to use with this diverse spaghetti of different sizes and formats? Advice appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftCoaster Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 When you say scanner are you speaking of a device so you can do the work or a company that can do it for you? There are places in India that do a lot of that work and from what I hear are quite dependable. There is a company in NYC USA that offers the service but outsources it to their India division. The Nikon Coolscan 9000 is a good scanner (available used) but only does up to MF size negs/trans. There are labs (particularly in the West) that will scan anything you can throw at them but you do pay a premium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryw52 Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I had an HP scanner a few years ago with add on unit for 35mm negatives or slides but to be honest the results were disappointing even at the highest resolution. I spoke several "photography experts" and they said only the very expensive professional scanners do a good job on negatives and slides. So my advice would find a professional photo shop here the can do it for you but only do a few first to test the quality of their work. I am not sure if the home scanners have improved that much to change any of what I said above. any one have any recent experiences to add? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jko Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 I had an HP scanner a few years ago with add on unit for 35mm negatives or slides but to be honest the results were disappointing even at the highest resolution. I spoke several "photography experts" and they said only the very expensive professional scanners do a good job on negatives and slides. So my advice would find a professional photo shop here the can do it for you but only do a few first to test the quality of their work. I am not sure if the home scanners have improved that much to change any of what I said above. any one have any recent experiences to add? Many tks for this info, Will be interested to see if anybody has recent experience with newer scanners - hopefully better results are possible. My problem is the huge number of negs of different sizes and types I have collected over 40+ years - it would cost the earth to have them done in a photo lab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaParent Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I had an HP scanner a few years ago with add on unit for 35mm negatives or slides but to be honest the results were disappointing even at the highest resolution. I spoke several "photography experts" and they said only the very expensive professional scanners do a good job on negatives and slides. So my advice would find a professional photo shop here the can do it for you but only do a few first to test the quality of their work. I am not sure if the home scanners have improved that much to change any of what I said above. any one have any recent experiences to add? Many tks for this info, Will be interested to see if anybody has recent experience with newer scanners - hopefully better results are possible. My problem is the huge number of negs of different sizes and types I have collected over 40+ years - it would cost the earth to have them done in a photo lab. Yes, I looked at this myself and it would be cheaper for you to buy a decent scanner yourself and hire someone to do it for you if you don't want to spend the time doing it yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regedit Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I guess it depends on what you want to do with the results. I scanned a load of slides using a flat-bed scanner (Epson Perfection) and the results were fine if you just want to view on screen or put on a slideshow DVD. Not got round to the negatives yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 I used to have a Canon dedicated 35mm scanner. Canoscan 2700F It was not cheap but the results were excellent, even handling negatives that the shops could not print The resolution was 2700dpi for good results and the supplied sw was excellent. The sw is vital for scanning negatives!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryw52 Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 The scanner that Astral is talking about is the sort you need Very HiRes but not sure if it will do the other format negatives and slides you have price was about US$700 when it was released not sure if it is available here in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 I've tried a couple of cheap scanners (under 5000 Baht). The results are touch and go as far as quality goes. Some scans are acceptable, others don't do justice to the slide or negative, especially if the exposure on the original was slightly out. I guess you get what you pay for. Would be interested for any scanner recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astral Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 You are right it will only handle 35mm, not the old 120/620 negs Also it has a SCSI interface, difficult to handle these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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