hi all,

I am looking for a good quality film scanner, prefer less than US$1000..

any recommendation? I would like to digitize some old negatives and slides for some macro agency.

Possible to share your experience of what scanner you are using? or anyone is selling it?

is nikon coolscan is good enough?

thanks!

hi all,

I am looking for a good quality film scanner, prefer less than US$1000..

any recommendation? I would like to digitize some old negatives and slides for some macro agency.

Possible to share your experience of what scanner you are using? or anyone is selling it?

is nikon coolscan is good enough?

thanks!

Try this page to find out, what kind of scanner you need http://www.scandig.com/

i had considered to get it done by some shops, but i hardly find any shop that do it professionally, and i think it may be more controllable to scan it myself...

i heard good results minolta dual scan series, but the series seems quite outdated that i think nikon coolscan may have better edges over the technology?

Nikon is also outdated and if you get one, the price is triple high as for the new one as they sold them.

Epson Perfection V700.

I own a bit outdated Canon FS400US. It's a 35-mm and APS scanner (separate adapter for APS required). You can scan 35-mm strips of 6 frames or framed slides (4 of them if I recall it correctly). Reasonable results with bundled FARE software / driver, but much better with VueScan software where you can install/select different films profiles. Slow due to USB 1.0, a little bit better with SCSI (have both interfaces, but you will have to get a SCSI card for your computer).
In terms of resolution / pixels 4000 dpi scans and even less with proper post-processing give good results for my 11"x15" prints on Canon i9900.

I loved the HP Photosmart scanner, and it scanned slides and film strips at 2100dpi, also small prints.  Excellent results, sharp images, of course always some post-processing was needed.  I even have one or two images from them in micros, but I did not thing the work was worth the return.

Later I got a second-hand Minolta Scan Dual IV, scans at 3200dpi, and then I discovered why some of my lenses had costed me just a bit more than US$100...  Last year of before Minolta however left this market, but I suppose you can still buy second (or third) hand ones.  Personally I don't trust buying used equipment, and I only bought mine 2nd hand because I knew the guy selling it.

My personal experience with flatbeds, even top line models of the time, was always a disaster. Images look good when fit inside the screen, but when you inspect them at 100% zoom or even less, quality lacks badly. But then, if your intention is to save family memories, it's still a choice.

If you don't have problems buying 2nd hand, go Nikon. 

BTW, yesterday I saw this in a store here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/scanners/ion-pics-2-sd/4505-3136_7-34140150.html?tag=productPages;cnetReview

This is a stand-alone unit, but they have one for PC, and some for slides only. It seems it actually photographs the slide lit from behind.  It's not professional at all, but I wonder if it's a decent choice for the family photos, some people at Amazon seem satisfied with it for that use.  I read somewhere however that it doesn't capture the entire slide.

Then I saw this site reviewing Ion products, you may check it: http://www.35mmslidescanner.org/

anyone want to let go a minolta elite 5400 II? or nikon coolscan?