Scanner advice needed

[jlancasterd]

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A friend of mine who is using a Mac G5 needs to buy a good-quality scanner for 35mm films - transparency, colour negative and monochrome negative - the machine must be good enough to provide illustrations for a small, high quality publishing business.

 

What would members recommend in a price range up to around £600 (US$1,000)?

[stunsworth]

Nikon Coolscan V.

 

I've been very pleased with mine.

[uulrich]

A friend of mine who is using a Mac G5 needs to buy a good-quality scanner for 35mm films - transparency, colour negative and monochrome negative - the machine must be good enough to provide illustrations for a small, high quality publishing business.

 

What would members recommend in a price range up to around £600 (US$1,000)?

I don't have this scanner but since my scanner just waves the white flag I am forced to get an replacement. :-(

 

I consider to get an Epson 4990, which sells for about £ 400 here in UK. The output should be fine for any photo agency and you can scan prints and film. I am fed up w/ the pity service by HP so this time I favor another brand.

[andybarton]

Another vote for the Coolscan V

[uulrich]

Another vote for the Coolscan V

Thanks Andy; I appreciate your contribution to this poll. ;-)

 

Could you be a bit more specific?

[markare]

HI,

Here in Argentina we can buy Epson 3490, 3590, 4490 and 10000XL Photo.

 

Which one is more recommendable for 35mm film?

 

Thanks in advance

[grober]

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Another vote for Nikon's Coolscan V.

 

I upgraded from a Coolscan IV to the V out of a desire for greater resolution. All things being equal, I have not yet seen as great an increase in the quality of the finished print as I had hoped. So, if you can find a clean IV don't pass it up.

 

Of course, higher resolution means more data per image so I'll soon need to add more disk to my PhotoShop-dedicated computer.

 

Both Nikon scanners have been reliable; their software is easy to use although there is other scanning software one could use to drive this scanner too.

 

I briefly considered the well-regarded Minolta scanner, but given my familirity with how the Coolscan worked, the upgrade to the "V" was a no-brainer for me.

 

One last note: 95% of my work is with 35mm color negative materials, usually Fuji Professional NPH or NPZ. Occasionally some Chromes, but the greater availibility of C-41 processing and faster speed requirements push me over to the Fuji media alraedy mentioned. I have done some B&W work with chromogenic films but I would need to do a whole lot more to begin to understand how this particular film/scanner combination might work.

 

-g

[uulrich]

to me the CoolScan V appears a bit over priced and rather costly. AFAIK it requires Firewire, which could be a fuss if you have to do notebooks.

[stunsworth]

The Coolscan V is a USB device and falls within the original poster's budget.

[albertwang]

Actually the Epson Perfection 2490 (I think) is ideal. You can scan large format negatives or contact using it.

 

The Nikon is awesome but it can't do panoramic or large format, both of which are important.

[andybarton]

And Mac notebooks all come with proper FireWire anyway.

 

The Coolscan V is around £450 including VAT

[andybarton]

The Nikon is awesome but it can't do panoramic or large format, both of which are important.

 

Neither of these are mentioned in the original question, which specifically asked for a 35mm scanner.

[albertwang]

That's true but the Hasselblad Xpan is a 35mm panoramic format. And the Coolscan can't handle that one very well.

[Overgaard]

Coolscan is a great choice.

 

Hasselblad Imacon Imacon: Digital Camera Backs and Scanners is an even better choice, especially if one need to scan 4x5", medium format, reflexes or XPan. The quality is better and the software very simple. But the price quite a step higher.

 

One get very good value for the money in Nikon Coolscan.

[stunsworth]

Actually you can do panoramas with the Coolscan V, but you need to do them in two passes and stitch them together.

[jlancasterd]

Thanks for the advice everyone. It looks as though the majority vote is for the Nikon Coolscan V - especially as my friend already has a good flatbed scanner that he is quite happy to use for negative sizes from 6x6 upwards, and he is unlikely to handle any Hasselblad 35mm panoramic images.

[martinb]

If you're getting a flatbed get a Epson V700 or V750. They are the only flatbed scanners who can compete with real film scanners. They are very good with 35mm.

If you're getting a dedicated 35mm filmscanner go for Nikon Coolscan V or LS5000. An used Canon FS4000US is also an option.

[francofile]

If I may be allowed to add another question to this thread.

 

I have recently aquired a Nikon Coolscan LS-8000ED to use with a PowerMac G4.

 

So far the Nikon Scan 4 software has caused problems with the Mac (locking when image scan files go above 10meg).

 

Demo versions of Silverfast and VueScan have worked really well with the Nikon. Before I invest does anyone have any advice on the use of these or is there a better alternative?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Andrew

[stunsworth]

Hi Andrew, I've used Vuescan for the last 7 years or so. There's a learning curve, but once you are comfortable with the product it puts a lot of options at your disposal.

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[andybarton]

Vuescan gets a lot of votes here (including mine) and has the benefit of working with virtually any scanner you care to mention. If you buy the Pro version (about $70?), you get free upgrades forever.

 

VueScan Scanning Software

 

Silverfast is much more expensive and scanner specific, so if you buy a Nikon version now and then want to scan from an Epson later, you will have to buy a second copy.

 

Any decent scanning software needs to be given time. As John Mead has said in the past, scanning is a skill that needs to be learned - it doesn't just happen, I'm afraid.