We need to know a little more. How much do you want to spend, and how big do you want to print? In addition, what is the main types of film that you want to scan? Slow, fine-grained film, or fast, high speed film? Do you need it to be to do batch scans? Do you want to wet-mount the film? General suggestions: 1. Epson V700. 2. Nikon Coolscan V 3. Microtek M1 4. Nikon Coolscan 5000. 5. Nikon Coolscan 9000. 6. Used pre-press flat-bed, like a Screen Cezanne, Creo Eversmart... 7. Used low end drum scanner, such as a Howtek 4500. 8. New Creo IQ Smart 3. 9. New Aztek Premier drum scanner. That list generally goes from cheapest/lowest quality to really expensive/highest quality, although it depends on the film, and some of the ordering is a little controversial. (For example, I expect that 2. give better results than 3., but 3. is more expensive.) The Nikon film scanners do a great job with fine-grained film, but they don't do that well with larger grained film. You can wetscan with an appropriate holder and the 9000, but probably not with the V or 5000. Wet scanning does minimize scanner grain growth a bit, although the results are highly film dependent.With the V, and FH-3 strip holder gives better edge to edge sharpness than the standard motorized strip holder. With really grainy film, such as Kodak High Speed Infrared, I've found that the flatbeds do a better job. (In my case a Canon 9950F flatbed blows away my Nikon V film scanner, whereas with fine-grained film the results are reversed.) The only reasons to go past step 4 if you need to do 120mm film, you really, really want to wet mount 35mm with a film scanner, you need to make really big prints, or you have a lot of really dense film, such as under-exposed Velvia. 6-10 do give better results, but the costs, size, and general trouble increase almost exponentially. Personally, I have a Canon 9950F flatbed, a Nikon V film scanner, and a Screen Cezanne pre-press flatbed.
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Re: [Digital BW] Scanner Kaput
2008-05-24 by Peter De Smidt
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