Scanners: which levewl work best

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"joe mama" <dmoss74@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8kiXe.72$G64.65@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
> there was a thread almost like this earlier, but i have more specific
> needs/questions.
>
> my goal: to take some slides i have had for years, and convert them to
> digital. also, to take some medium format and large format negs and scan
> them to, to clean them up in photoshop.
>
> the 35mm stuff is 90 per cent color, while the medium and large is mostly
> B&W.
>
> my problem: I went to Frys yesterday and got the low level "on sale"
> Visioneer 9120 scanner. it said it does film, and i tried it, but to say
it
> lacks ummph would be an understatement. now, i know i was expecting too
much
> from a forty dollar scanner, but do i really need to spend $ 600.00 to get
> the results i'm after? I want to be able to print some of them myself,
> mostly 5x7s, but sometimes up to 11x14.
>
> the visioneer scans them up to 2700 dpi, but the slides (when they get to
> photoshop) look awful! the noise and dust are beyond a nuisance, and the
> sharpness is pathetic.
>
> i'm probably assuming that the medium and large format stuff will have to
be
> done professionally, but i'd like to to do the 35mm stuff at home.
>
> so are there any suggestions, orther than the Nikon ?
>
> thanks
>
To enlarge slide to 5x7 or 11x14 you will probably need something with twice
the dpi of your visioneer. I think most of the dedicated slide scanners are
4200 dpi and up.

Also, be sure you are scanning at the highest dpi available on your
visioneer and save as a TIFF if you want to do anything with it in
PhotoShop.

Ron

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <8kiXe.72$G64.65@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com>,
"joe mama" <dmoss74@hotmail.com> wrote:

> there was a thread almost like this earlier, but i have more specific
> needs/questions.
>
> my goal: to take some slides i have had for years, and convert them to
> digital. also, to take some medium format and large format negs and scan
> them to, to clean them up in photoshop.
>
> the 35mm stuff is 90 per cent color, while the medium and large is mostly
> B&W.
>
> my problem: I went to Frys yesterday and got the low level "on sale"
> Visioneer 9120 scanner. it said it does film, and i tried it, but to say it
> lacks ummph would be an understatement. now, i know i was expecting too much
> from a forty dollar scanner, but do i really need to spend $ 600.00 to get
> the results i'm after? I want to be able to print some of them myself,
> mostly 5x7s, but sometimes up to 11x14.
>
> the visioneer scans them up to 2700 dpi, but the slides (when they get to
> photoshop) look awful! the noise and dust are beyond a nuisance, and the
> sharpness is pathetic.
>
> i'm probably assuming that the medium and large format stuff will have to be
> done professionally, but i'd like to to do the 35mm stuff at home.
>
> so are there any suggestions, orther than the Nikon ?

Almost every source I researched before getting a slide scanner opined
that if you want the best slide scanning, you need a dedicated slide
scanner. Flat beds do not give you the quality you want (ie, close to
that of the original slide.

There is another thread here that has been discussing scanning slides
and there was one suggestion of a Minolta scanner. Personally I bought
a Nikon and am very pleased with the quality of the scans.
--
Panta rei

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

In article <8kiXe.72$G64.65@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com>,
"joe mama" <dmoss74@hotmail.com> wrote:

> there was a thread almost like this earlier, but i have more specific
> needs/questions.
>
> my goal: to take some slides i have had for years, and convert them to
> digital. also, to take some medium format and large format negs and scan
> them to, to clean them up in photoshop.
>
> the 35mm stuff is 90 per cent color, while the medium and large is mostly
> B&W.
>
> my problem: I went to Frys yesterday and got the low level "on sale"
> Visioneer 9120 scanner. it said it does film, and i tried it, but to say it
> lacks ummph would be an understatement. now, i know i was expecting too much
> from a forty dollar scanner, but do i really need to spend $ 600.00 to get
> the results i'm after? I want to be able to print some of them myself,
> mostly 5x7s, but sometimes up to 11x14.
>
> the visioneer scans them up to 2700 dpi, but the slides (when they get to
> photoshop) look awful! the noise and dust are beyond a nuisance, and the
> sharpness is pathetic.
>
> i'm probably assuming that the medium and large format stuff will have to be
> done professionally, but i'd like to to do the 35mm stuff at home.
>
> so are there any suggestions, orther than the Nikon ?
>
> thanks


Have you looked at the Nikon Coolscan 5000D? It will set you back $1000
but I think it is your best bet. Apparently the high end work flow is
about 1 minute a slide. If you are shooting for 11x14 and want to retain
detail from the slide, 4000dpi will make you happy. It also has a
feature called ICE which automatically and excellently removes dust and
scratches which will save you time as well..

http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=98&produ...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=produ...
=&sku=310477&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation


--

Photographs by Christian Bonanno
http://home.nc.rr.com/christianbonanno/

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

As one who has both dedicated film scanners and flat bed scanners I will
give you real world advice.
Yes, if you must have the best quality 35mm scan a film scanner is the way
to go.
However Epson makes some reasonably priced flatbed scanners with built in
transparency units that will do an excellent job on your medium format film
and actually a reasonably good job on 35mm materials. I would recommend you
start here and if you are not satisfied with scans of the 35mm originals you
will have to invest in dedicated film scanner.
In order to get the best scans you have to ensure flatness, sometimes with a
piece of glass over the film. Even so a certain amount of software
sharpening will be necessary for optimal printing.
While a dedicated film scanner at 2000-2400 dpi should easily yield scans
that enlarge to 11 inches and greater with a flatbed scanner you should scan
35mm materials at the highest dpi you can.
You must understand that you will have to do some fixing of the scans in an
imaging program to optimize the images in terms of color, contrast, etc.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Is that optical or interpolated resolution? If it's interpolated,
it's not a true 2700 dpi scan.

joe mama wrote:

> the visioneer scans them up to 2700 dpi, but the slides (when they get to
> photoshop) look awful! the noise and dust are beyond a nuisance, and the
> sharpness is pathetic.