Need Scanner Recommendation

[Norm Dresner]

I've been taking 35mm pictures for about 50 years and only recently (2005)
switched to digital. Consequently I have cartons of slides and negatives
which I'd like to digitize so I can create better prints than I could have
done with just an enlarger.

I currently have a Canon 9950F flatbed scanner which I'll continue to use
for 2-1/4 square, 2-1/4x2-3/4, and 4x5 media. The Canon 9950 does a nice
job of scanning 35mm but it's hardly automated. I'd love to get something
into which I can just feed stacks of slides or filmstrips and then go about
doing other work. The 2400 DPI setting on the Canon is adequate for most
stuff, but for demanding work I use at 4800 DPI and I'd like to get a film
scanner that's as capable, but also offers the capacity to get lower
resolution for pictures that will only be printed at 4x6 or 5x7.

The desire for automation isn't just laziness because I have significant
neural problems with my hands that make significant amounts of manual work
difficult and painful. Suggestions and recommendations cheerfully accepted.
TIA
Norm

 

[CSM1]

I've been taking 35mm pictures for about 50 years and only recently (2005)
switched to digital. Consequently I have cartons of slides and negatives
which I'd like to digitize so I can create better prints than I could have
done with just an enlarger.

I currently have a Canon 9950F flatbed scanner which I'll continue to use
for 2-1/4 square, 2-1/4x2-3/4, and 4x5 media. The Canon 9950 does a nice
job of scanning 35mm but it's hardly automated. I'd love to get something
into which I can just feed stacks of slides or filmstrips and then go
about
doing other work. The 2400 DPI setting on the Canon is adequate for most
stuff, but for demanding work I use at 4800 DPI and I'd like to get a film
scanner that's as capable, but also offers the capacity to get lower
resolution for pictures that will only be printed at 4x6 or 5x7.

The desire for automation isn't just laziness because I have significant
neural problems with my hands that make significant amounts of manual work
difficult and painful. Suggestions and recommendations cheerfully
accepted.
TIA
Norm

You are looking for a Nikon Film Scanner with the auto slide feeder.

Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED does 35mm.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310477-REG/Nikon_9238_Super_Coolscan_5000_ED.html

Nikon SF-210 Auto Slide Feeder.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310480-REG/Nikon_9240_SF_210_Auto_Slide_Feeder.html

They are not cheap!

It may be possible to find them used on Ebay.

 

[Charlie Hoffpauir]

I've been taking 35mm pictures for about 50 years and only recently (2005)
switched to digital. Consequently I have cartons of slides and negatives
which I'd like to digitize so I can create better prints than I could have
done with just an enlarger.

I currently have a Canon 9950F flatbed scanner which I'll continue to use
for 2-1/4 square, 2-1/4x2-3/4, and 4x5 media. The Canon 9950 does a nice
job of scanning 35mm but it's hardly automated. I'd love to get something
into which I can just feed stacks of slides or filmstrips and then go about
doing other work. The 2400 DPI setting on the Canon is adequate for most
stuff, but for demanding work I use at 4800 DPI and I'd like to get a film
scanner that's as capable, but also offers the capacity to get lower
resolution for pictures that will only be printed at 4x6 or 5x7.

The desire for automation isn't just laziness because I have significant
neural problems with my hands that make significant amounts of manual work
difficult and painful. Suggestions and recommendations cheerfully accepted.
TIA
Norm

for your situation, I'd go with a Nikon 5000-ED with a auto slide
feeder. If you have very many uncut rolls of film you may want to also
consider a roll film adapter. I suggest you review the unit(s) on
line and decide what you need and can afford..... but it won't be
cheap.

 

[John]

for your situation, I'd go with a Nikon 5000-ED with a auto slide
feeder. If you have very many uncut rolls of film you may want to also
consider a roll film adapter. I suggest you review the unit(s) on
line and decide what you need and can afford..... but it won't be
cheap.

Once you have scanned everything you need to, a couple years down the
line you can always sell the film scanner and recoup some of the cost.
You get fairly good prices for a well looked after film scanner.

John

 

[Barry Watzman]

Note that 2,700 DPI gives a 10 megapixel scan of a 35mm slide or
negative. For most images, this is all that you need or will benefit from.

Nikon LS-2000's (mostly made in 1999, and originally $2,000) are
available on E-Bay at reasonable prices (prices range from as little as
$50 for incomplete units that probably need serviced or repaired (at
least cleaned) to $250-$350 for fully serviced good as new units with
the accessories that they originally came with to scan both negatives
and slides. However, the MA-20 slide feeder that will come with such a
unit is still one-at-a-time manual. There is a 50-slide autofeeder
available (SF-200), but it costs about $400 all by itself and they are
very fussy about their slides (e.g. they jam a LOT with MOST slides; you
can find some "tricks" on the web to improve their reliability, but much
of the problem has to do with the slides themselves). There is a dumbed
down version of the LS-2000 called the LS-30 (or Cool Scan III), it's
largely the same for most purposes but it won't work with the SF-200
feeder (even if you do manage to get one), and it sells for just about
as much as the LS-2000. These have a SCSI interface.

Nikon LS-4000's range from $300 to $500 and are slightly better units
than the LS-2000's. They use the same MA-20 slide adapter (one-at a
time) and, optionally, the same SF-200 feeder. They are higher
resolution (4,000 dpi), but, again, since 2,700 dpi is 10 megapixels,
it's not clear that this buys you much (of perhaps more significance for
some slides is their slightly greater dynamic range and ability to get
more detail out of extremely dark slides (or dark areas of slides)
having a higher optical density). There is a dumbed down version, the
Cool Scan IV, that, like the LS-30, doesn't work with the SF-200
autofeeder. The LS-4000 is Firewire, the Cool Scan IV is USB 1.x.

Nikon LS-5000's, the current products, are going to run you close to
$1,000 (the dumbed down version is the Cool Scan V, and they go for more
like $500-$600). The autofeeder for the LS-5000 (only) is the SF-210, a
very slightly improved version of the SF-200 (the SF-200 will work in
the LS-5000 also (this is a fact of which I am 100% certain) and I THINK
that the SF-210 will work in the LS-2000 and LS-4000, but I'm less than
100% certain of that. Again, the autofeeder won't work with the "dumbed
down" version. These are USB 2.0 devices.

While these scanners without the autofeeders still require 1-at-a-time
slide processing, they are still far easier to use than most flatbed
scanners that have transparency capability. They also have far better
quality than most flatbed scanners, although some of the later and
higher end Epson scanners that have digital ICE can give the Nikon
dedicated film and slide scanners a good match in terms of quality if
not ease of use.

I think that there is a wide, if not universal, consensus that the Nikon
scanners are the best dedicated film/slide scanners and that the later
Epson scanners with digital ICE are the best flatbed scanners that can
also scan slides and negatives.