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  • Profile picture of GarethinFrance

viewing in digital media

Public Group active 3 months, 1 week ago

We all like film – but the modern world dictates we stand most chance of promoting our work via the web. This group is about how best we can utilise modern tecnnolgy to faithfully reproduce our work

Medium format scanning (15 posts)

  • Profile picture of GarethinFrance GarethinFrance said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    I still love my silver halide prints but it would be nice if I could find a cheapish way of scanning my M/F negatives (and positives). Last time I looked – two years ago – only the Nikon 9000 was the real choice but at a horrendous price. Anyone got experiences with much cheaper flat bed scanners with film holders? For 35mm I use a Nikon coolscan which is superb – I wish there was something eqaully good but affordable for the bigger negs

    Thanks
    Gareth

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  • Profile picture of Kevin Allan Kevin Allan said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    Gareth, I’ve been using an Epson Perfection v700 for a few months; it seems to be a fairly common choice for medium format scanning. It can take film in any size from 35mm to 8″ * 10″. I paid about £430.

    Here are some examples scanned with the Epson – http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=33186310%40N03&q=v700&m=text

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  • Profile picture of Paul Jenkin Paul Jenkin said 2 years, 7 months ago:

    I’ll second the Epson range. I have the V750 and I have been very pleasantly surprised by the quality of scans I’ve had from both 35mm (negs and trannies) and 120 film. Not cheap – it’ll cost you £600 ish but it will scan to a very high standard. Otherwise, it’s off to The Pro Centre in London to hire their Hassleblad Flextight drum scanner at £50 per hour + VAT. There isn’t much between as far as I can tell….

    If you’re interested in what I’ve scanned of late, check out:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/rushfan2112/

    Like I say, I’m no expert but I am well pleased with what the V750 gives me.

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  • Profile picture of Jazz Jazz said 2 years, 6 months ago:

    I’ve used an Epson 4870, have a look around, you might get a good one second-hand cheap.

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  • Profile picture of matthew jarrett matthew jarrett said 2 years, 6 months ago:

    the flex tight scanners are not drum scanners, the just use a curve to keep the film flat at the point of the sensor
    the hassleblad scanners are unreal i use one in uni for all my work if i had the space id probably go for a drum scanner you can pick them up for a couple of grand used which is worth it in my eyes as you can then scan images to billboard size!

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  • Profile picture of Hans ter Horst Hans ter Horst said 2 years, 6 months ago:

    I bought an Epson Perfection V500 Photo for my Pentax 645NII 120 roll film, they go new for around £170. Works great with VueScan, I haven’t used it with the Epson software yet.

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  • Profile picture of said 2 years, 6 months ago:

    Thought I’d just add my scanning experience, I use a Nikon 9000ed and a Heidelberg Tango drum scanner my Son bought complete off e-bay for £100 … yes £100 complete with spare drums , s/w and mac p.c to run it. I love film, but the problems I encounter now are poor film processing quality and high price. I have Leicas Nikons and Fuji gw6x9. I recently received my last roll of Kr64 and have to say I think it was processed in tired chemistry. Very disappointing. I’ve scanned 35 year old KR64 & the images are superb. All in all If I want to guarantee quality and save time and money, I use Leica M9 and Nikon D. I’m fascinated y film but it is hard work and expensive.

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  • Profile picture of Nadine Erdmann Nadine Erdmann said 2 years, 6 months ago:

    well, i have (maybe fortunately as i can’t afford one) no experience with nikon coolscans but i think the results i get from my canon flatbed are really good value. i bought it two years ago for 90€ (which is kind of half price because the newer model was already on the market when i bought the 8400f).
    and it works fine with my mac (only some of the software was not entirely compatible because it was released pre OS 10.5, i.e. the photoshop elements version that was distributed with it, but that was not a problem for me and should not even be the happening now)
    it is most likely not a high class product but considering the price it is a good deal when you are on a tight budget. and as long as the frames are not very over oder underexposed it is easy to get results as good as the average lab around here (apart from real resolution power, i guess).

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  • Profile picture of Clearlight Clearlight said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    Another vote for the Epson V700. The results are excellent, but the supplied film holders are less impressive. I use the holders sold by Betterscanning.

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  • Profile picture of psmith2383 psmith2383 said 2 years, 5 months ago:

    I use an older Epson 4990 scanner for larger films and it does a great job, especially when used with Silverfast software. I would encourage anyone working with the Epson line of “V” scanners or the older 4990 to investigate the outstanding software available at Silverfast. Yes, it’s pricy but the results are excellent. David Brooks, a highly respected analyst and reviewer at Shutterbug publications has written a number of reviews of Epson scanners and has all kinds of great things to say about the scanners and says that the best way to get the most out of most modern scanners is to use the Silverfast software.

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  • Profile picture of Sam Wheadon Sam Wheadon said 11 months, 1 week ago:

    http://www.negscanner.co.uk

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  • Profile picture of J Riley Stewart J Riley Stewart said 10 months, 1 week ago:

    Epson V700 for four years now. I think I got it used for $400 USD. It has its limits, but for the money it’s a great way to go. I routinely print my 120 negatives to 30×40 inches with incredible resolution e.g., http://jrileystewart.com/mountains/content/20110913_008_120Scan_large.html

    To get the best out of this scanner, I lay a sheet of clear glass on the existing platen and wet mount my negatives for scanning. Adjust the effective depth of the glass using tape at all four corners to get precise focus (i.e., experiment and test). Good luck!

    jrileystewart

    http://jrileystewart.com

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  • Profile picture of John Reynolds John Reynolds said 10 months ago:

    I get good results with an Epson V750 but I use the optional fluid mount accessory to keep the film flat.
    Example:

    http://www.pbase.com/jhaydnreynolds/stratford_canal

    Best wishes,
    john

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  • Profile picture of marco marco said 6 months, 1 week ago:

    I may suggest the Canon 9000F flatbed scanner, I get good results in medium format BW film scanning
    ciao
    marco

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  • Profile picture of Dennis Sulz Dennis Sulz said 4 months, 1 week ago:

    Another good buy is the Canoscan 8800F. I just recently purchased it so I am experiment with it to get the best results. So far so good.

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