35mm film scanners inquiry

[russell]

I've been scanning prints and negatives for a while now with my Epson Perfection 4990 PHOTO and having success --- most of the time. But every once in a while the grain looks a tad mushy. It may be due to the fact that the film in the film holders aren't exactly flat. Or that the scanner is about 10 years old now. I'm scanning and printing for 13x19 B/W prints and a few times I've had to sharpen in Photoshop which seems to work OK but I thought - 'Maybe I need a new scanner.' Anyway I'm asking if anyone can recommend a dedicated 35mm scanner in the $200-300 range.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

There are some quie different ways to scan negatives and slides today - with a 'classic' film scanner, but most of those are not offered anymore as new models , used models by Canon, Nikon or Minolta are offered at the typical locations. I know that some people rather take a camera, DSLR, most of those offer quite a good resolution with today's sensors, and you even can do multiple shots - e.g. bracketed - to reduce noise or extend the exposure latitude with some type HDR like postprocessing. This is an option which is offered as well for some film scanners by the Vuescan software, even for models for which the original supplier didn't do that. Vuescan as a scanner software can handle about every scanner on the market - thousends.
There are automatic slide scanners on the market scanning magazines automatically. Another film scanner may not fix your problem when the film is not flat in the holder. The macro-camera approach may help you there , you can adjust the depth of field via the f-stop setting on your lens.
So you may consider to separate scanning of prints from scanning of films and continue to scan prints wth the current flatbed scanner and get a dedicated solution for film scanning

 

[FryingSaucer]

I've been meaning to buy a cheapish 35mm scanner for years. Tomorrow I'm having the house redecorated and have been moving boxes and boxes of old 35mm slides to the garage - slides that I intended to have digitised by now. So that's why I hit on this thread today.

My main problem is that I'm not sure whether to go for an entry level scanner or not. I have about 3000 mounted slides, of which I'll want to scan a fair proportion. They are all Kodachrome, and from what I've read buying a machine with ICE dust removal technology will be a waste of money (e.g. http://www.filmscanner.info/en/Kodachrome.html). Also the slides were taken in the 60s and 70s using cheap cameras, they are more snaps than artistic photos, another reason for not spending a lot of money. However I do not intend to spend the next 10 years digitising these 3000 slides, so the model I buy needs to allow me to scan them relatively easily.

Any suggestions on what scanners or types of scanners would meet these (possibly conflicting) requirements?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

you may get some good information about slide scanning in the support pages for the Vuescan software
https://www.hamrick.com/support/
Vuescan supports about all scanners of this world

 

[Jo Gaston]

I have an Epson V550 it did a great job on my kodachrome from the 80s. I has ICE, but I don't use it. They are under $200.00.

 

[FryingSaucer]

I have an Epson V550 it did a great job on my kodachrome from the 80s. I has ICE, but I don't use it. They are under $200.00.

That's the scanner I'd been considering. I just didn't want to pay for ICE when I couldn't use it.

How was it for ease of copying? Some scanners have really flimsy slide trays that are difficult to use.

 

[Jo Gaston]

The slide tray worked well enough for me, but I only had a few hundred slides.

 

[The Hat]

I have an Epson 4490 and used the slide tray on it for about 50 or so slides, and it worked well but very s l o w, but it was the only way to get quality digital prints...
She maybe be old but she can still function perfectly and I used it daily...