humor me... scanning

[m94me]

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Ok, I love leica lenses and analog photography as much as anyone, but it seems most folks are scanning negatives with pretty cheap flatbeds for the most part-- doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of using quality optics?

 

I have an epson v700 and for 35mm scans (ii.e. output from the scanner) I don't think I could see the difference between a 100 dollar canon 50mm and a leica 50mm... I will admit, I'm fairly new to scanning 35mm work, so perhaps I'm missing something. If not, is there another player besides the Nikon 9000 at or below that price level (2k)?

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[rob_x2004]

Hey Marco, welcome to the forum.

 

I think most here are using dedicated film scanners. For web presenting sure use a small flatbed and learn how to edit. Most cant edit with sufficient skill for the difference not to be apparent. The 35mm film scanner looks after your negatives a bit better than a cheapie flatbed, and the batch scanning really saves time. The expensive flatbeds probably have better trays and also let you scan multiple frames. Your V700 has trays.

 

I think the Nikons are the only 35mm scanners left now? Should be easy under your budget. Scanning takes a little while to work out. The big learning curve is how to process teh files your scanner delivers, which, is why some aftermarkets like viewscan and silverfast are indispensible to some because it takes you most of the way there, rather than working from the RAW, if I can borrow that word, scan file.

 

Do the Leica optics transfer to the scan file...um...ahhh...um...yeah...quite a bit:D.

[Guest stnami]

the Leica optics transfer to the scan file...um...ahhh...um...yeah...quite a bit:D.

...................as well as a enlarger........sorta like partly bullshit:D

[hankg]

It's one of the problems of a film / digital workflow versus all digital or all analogue no one figures the cost of a drum scanner into the cost comparison. Desktop scanners are not going to give best results but for the best that you can get from a desktop scanner get one of the add ons that lets you wet mount your film. It will make a dramatic difference.

 

Here is one model for Nikon:

Aztek, Inc. Professional Digital Imaging Systems, Scanners and Software Solutions

 

Here's another:

Product Info

 

make sure you mask off everything around the neg/transparency to reduce flair after mounting.

[m94me]

thanks for the replies and the welcome-- i have been a lurker for some time. For the record, I was speaking in general terms with reference to flatbeds and not alluding to folks specifically in this forum per se

 

I'll keep tinkering with the v700 (I shoot a fair amount of 6*7 as well), but think the nikon9000 is going to arrive sooner rather than later. Given all the glowing reviews of the v700, I'm left scratching my head mostly.

[StS]

I guess there is no way avoiding a learning curve when coming from film. Either one learns how to use the scanner or how to handle colour management of your digital images.

 

No regrets leaving the easy world of D70 and DxO optics though - things on the digital side were getting a bit boring before the M8

[leicar888]

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I bought an Epson 4180 scanner in January of 2005 and yesterday, for the first time, I scanned one of my father's Leica slide film images from 1958 with it and am immensely pleased with the quality. See the attached scan for details re how well this scanner performed.

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[Michael Hiles]

Terry,

 

Your scan looks pretty good to me. I have a Canoscan 8400F, which is a flatbed unit. It performs very well, and in comparison with professional scans using a modern high end Nikon unit, I cannot honestly see any difference. And when I compare a projected Kodachrome to a scan from my unit, the scan is highly satisfactory. All to say that my experience is that the conventional wisdom that a flatbed unit cannot cut it is wrong.

[leicar888]

Here is another scan from the 4180 Epson scanner I just performed. It is from a Fuji Acros 100 negative strip which I set on the glass within the negative strip holder. The image was captured with my Bessa R3A, 35mm Summicron aspherical, and Metz 54 Mz-3 flash unit. Via Photoshop, the scanned image was sharpened and cropped and the contrast was changed slightly. This was captured last week at a Halloween festival.

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[ellegant]

I am toying with scanning old Kodachrome and EK slides as well as B&W negs. Also thinking of going back to shooting B&W especially with my M4. I don't have a clue about scanning either color or B&W so i can print up to 8x10 (or is 8 1/2 x 11???) either full frame or cropped.

 

For the Kodachrom and B&W examples, at what resolution were they scanned?

 

My touch stone for finished prints are 8 1/2 x 11 pix taken with my Canon A710is and printed on either an Epson or Canon printer.

 

 

 

Thanks

[leicar888]

The above two images, the first from a slide and the second from a black and white negative, were scanned at 200 dpi, and the sizes were selected in the scanning software. The black and white image is small because it was in the center of a 35 mm lens image and I forgot to go back and rescan it at a much larger size and crop out the three individuals in Photoshop at a larger size. Nevertheless, with your scanner's software you can select an output size easily.