waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

Hello and thanks in advance. Need some recommendations on a compact film scanner to scan into a computer for post processing. Something that would handle 35mm and 120/220 would be great but 35mm only will be OK for now.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Epson V600
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/647187-REG/Epson_B11B198011_Perfection_V600_Photo_Scanner.html?sts=pi&pim=Y

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

Thanks I was just looking at that one. It is a prime consideration.

banjoboy Loc: Austin, TX

Thinking a dedicated film scanner would do a better job, I recently bought a Plustek Optifilm 135i. I was not happy with the results and found the Epson V600 did a much better job overall. Plustek’s software was poor also, while the results with VueScan were marginally better. Epson’s software works well and provides excellent scans. I’ve been running it at 3,200 DPI and have been very happy with the results.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Check out the factory refurbished Epson v600 direct from Epson. Substantial price savings.

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/Scanners/Epson-Perfection-V600-Photo-Scanner---Refurbished/p/B11B198011-N

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

For your use, I'd recommend the V600. I'd also recommend Silverfast software to drive it.
https://www.silverfast.com/
--Bob

waegwan Loc: Mae Won Li

Thanks, the Plustek Optifilm 135i is another one I have been considering but I think I'll drop it from my list. ;)

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Not sure what you mean by "compact" but my review of the reviews says they’re pretty short on resolution options compared to flatbed scanners. I like my Epson V600. Slower than the real spendy ones at the higher resolutions but I don’t need much more that 600. If you get a flatbed, get the VueScan software to go with it. It gives more options than the scanner's package.

Larryshuman

Try to find a used Super Nikon Coolscan 5000

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Would like to cull slides first. Suggestions?

Grey Ghost

I am selling my plustek 35mm scanner. Scanner is in new condition. Please PM me if interested.

RolandDieter

The Nikon Super Coolscans were great and beat flatbeds. They still come up for sale (used) every once in a while. People buy them, do their scanning and then sell them when finished. Try ebay, local photo stores, etc. It may take awhile to find one.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Epson V600 or V700 series. I have a V500 Photo and an expensive V850 Pro. The V500 can do only a few 35mm or 2 1/4" at a time. The V850 can do 35mm up to a single 8x10" negative or transparency.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Flat bed scanners can handle both of your film formats, as well as others in some cases. Problem is, they aren't compact. They take up quite a bit of desk space. They also can be used to scan text, pages, prints, etc.

The Epson line are among the best flat beds. Their current V850 is top-of-the-line with a broad dynamic range (D-max 4.0), ability to scan up to twelve 35mm frames in one big scan... but it's also one of the most expensive at $1149. Epson V600 is much less expensive at $249, but also doesn't have a particularly good dynamic range (D-max 3.4) and has less than half the area of the illuminated area for scanning, so handles up to four 35mm frames at one time. While the V850 can handle film up to 4x5", 5x7" and 8x10"... the V600 is able to handle up to medium format but no larger. Here is a comparison of the V600 versus the V800 (not V850, but very similar): https://www.reddit.com/r/analog/comments/3f64xt/writeup_epson_v600_vs_epson_v800_for_medium/ Note the images available to download approx. halfway down the page. If you look at those, you'll see little to no difference in resolution and sharpness (both are 6400 dpi), but some shift in colors. Note, for example, the red shirt on the person to the far right of the two full size images.

You might be able to find a lightly used Epson V800 for lower cost than above. There also are Epson V700-series flat beds that are very good, but use a different light source that needs to warm up for a short time, making for somewhat slower scans.

Dedicated film scanners are mostly designed for 35mm film, but a few are able to handle medium format, too. They are more compact than flat beds, taking up less desk space. They cannot be used to scan text, pages, or prints.

Dedicated film scanners have no glass between the film and the lens, the way all flat bed scanners do. This can make for better quality scans. Another difference is that many dedicated film scanners have both white and infrared LED light sources. The white LED is used to make the image, while the infrared is used to detect scratches and specks of dust to be automatically deleted by the scanning software. Current dedicated film scanners also tend to be higher resolution than flat beds. Pacific Image and PlusTek are two current makers of dedicated film scanners.

Pacific image Prime Film XEs is one of the most affordable dedicated film scanners at $349. It has 10,000 dpi resolution and D-max 3.9. One reason for its affordability is that it uses less advanced software. The Pacific Image Prime Film XAs sells for $490 and the primary difference is that it uses much more advanced Silver Fast Special Edition ("lite") software, which is nearly the best. PlusTek 8200 Ai is a bit more expensive at $499 and slightly lower resolution (7200 dpi), but is bundled with Silverfast Ai Studio software, which is the very best. I don't know the D-max (dynamic range) of this PlusTek. All three of these can handle both 35mm film strips and 35mm mounted slides. They cannot scan medium format film. There are less expensive models from both manufacturers, but they have lower quality software or are limited to 35mm film strips only (not mounted slides).

Currently I could only find one dedicated film scanner capable of handling both 35mm film (both strips and slides) AND medium format film (unmounted). This is the Pacific Image PF120 which sells for $1300. It has lower resolution at 3200 dpi and D-max 3.6.

In the past there were Minolta and Konica-Minolta dedicated film scanners both for 35mm film strips/slides and for medium format, some of which offered up to 5400 dpi. There also were Nikon scanners, mostly 4000 dpi. Some of these are still quite usable today, though updated software may be needed.

Most of the dedicated film scanners handle one image at a time and may need to be advanced to the next image manually. Some can advance film strips or their own film/slide holders automatically. Pacific Image offers one that can handle extra long 35mm film strips (entire rolls of 36 or more exposures), but cannot handle mounted 35mm slides. There also are some that can handle 35mm slides in bulk, but they tend to be quite expensive. (An older Nikon I still use had available a separately sold bulk slide holder, which I bought and use. It can handle up to 40 slides, feeding them automatically. I used to set it up and let it run overnight, since each scan could take up to 10 minutes when set to the highest quality. This also filled up hard drives rapidly because the 16-bit TIFF files at the highest quality setting end up 130MB each.)

Silverfast software is mentioned above. This is available to purchase separately for many of the above scanners. It is often designed specifically for a scanner. This makes possible some of the older scanners to be used with newer computer systems. While there are other "add-ons" available, for the large part Silverfast comes in two versions... a "lite" SE version that costs a bit less and a more advanced Ai Studio version. The latter can cost as much as $450, depending upon the scanner model.

Whatever type of scanner you choose, if you have a lot of film to scan look for a device where you can easily get extra film holders. That way while one is scanning you can be loading the next. This can be a big time saver.

Finally... Are you still shooting film, so that you'll have more that needs to be scanned in the future? If not, if you are simply scanning older film and it's a project you'll eventually complete, you might consider the scanner a temporary investment and sell it off once the job is done. There are a lot of scanners on the 2nd hand market for exactly that reason.

OldSchool-WI Loc: Brandon, Wisconsin 53919

Good total description Alan. I have older film scanners--a flatbed and a dedicated 35mm---but my best is the Epson V700 with Silverfast. As for selling one off--what photographer would ever have no need for film or print scanning? As for space---what is that to a photographer with gobs of gear?----Ericc