Choosing a Scanner
There comes a point in every photographer's life when he or she must move into the
21st century and buy a scanner. It may very well come just soon after a first run-in
with the hair-pulling limitations of
point & shoot digital
cameras.
If
you thought choosing a digital camera was hard,
though, just wait until you begin looking at scanners. Above all, a scanner must
be able to capture the resolution your work requires. So the first step is to analyze
your work - how you like to photograph and what you want out of a scanner.
Making a commitment to your preferred input and output immobilizes many potential
scanner buyers. It need not be so scary, though; simply give your best answers to
the following questions to simplify making this decision.
Input
What do you plan on inserting into or placing on a scanner - 4" x 6" snapshots,
color negatives, slides, 2 1/4" chromes, or 8" x 10" prints?
If you don't know which is the best to scan, here are a few quick guidelines:
- Film such as negatives or transparencies (also called positives, slides, or chromes)
is usually better than prints.
- It's often best to work from an original when making copies. Scans of prints can
come out unpleasantly flat and overly contrasty.
- Beginners may find slides more difficult to scan than negatives; although slides
are easier to handle, they often seem to require more attention when color correcting.
Is any of your input inflexible art? If you cannot bend it, you will likely need
a flatbed scanner. This holds true for old negatives, mounted prints or prints permanently
stuck in frames. The main exception is 35mm slides in plastic or cardboard mounts;
these are best scanned in a film scanner.
Output
What would you like to get out of the scanning experience - images for the Web,
digital archives, or image files large enough to print?
If the end result you want out of your images is nothing more than a colorful screen
image for the Web, a PowerPoint presentation, or an email to grandma, you will need
very little in the way of resolution. A flatbed with 300 ppi may be sufficient.
In fact, unless you have a ton of slides or negatives - or prefer to continue working
with film - a digital camera may suit you better
for these purposes.
If, however, you think you might eventually print your images, you will most likely
want much more resolution and a much bigger image file. Neither digital cameras
nor flatbeds are likely to give you a big enough file.
This is why you must be thinking about output as you are thinking about input. How
you will be printing your image will determine how high of a resolution you need.
The First Decision: Flatbed or Film>
Flatbed scanners are everywhere. Most people imagine a flatbed when you mention
buying a scanner. Most flatbeds, though, are not the best choice, especially if
you want to print.
People who want to print are usually
better off with 35mm film scanners, which are a bit on the pricey side. They are,
however, nothing in cost compared to the medium format film scanners, which themselves
pale in comparison to the six-digit drum scanners. Pity the large format photographer
who wants to get her beautiful 8" x 10" images off chrome and into the computer.
Other Options
Another option for such a photographer it to outsource the job - to have a professional
lab do the dirty work for a steep fee.
Since this can easily cost $30-$75
per scan, though, photographers with a ton of material may want to save up and buy
their own high-end dual-purpose scanner such as the
Agfa DuoScan.
Large format film scanners are another option but these are also expensive. Some
- such as the Polaroid Sprintscan 4x5 scanner - are as low as $6K; others - such
as the Imocon Flextight scanner - start at $15K and go up from there.
Making this first decision regarding a scanner - whether you get a flatbed, a film
scanner, or no scanner at all - depends on a few things:
- What film or print formats you would like to scan
- What you want to do with the digital files
- How many images you need scanned, current as well as projected
- How much you can afford to spend
If you have a ton of images and some spare time, you will want to avoid outsourcing
the work; it will just get too expensive. If you have large format slides or negatives
- or only have access to prints - you will not be able to take advantage of the
35mm film scanners. If you want really big digital files (e.g. for making poster
size Iris prints) out of 35mm slides or negatives, you will want to avoid a flatbed
or a dual-purpose scanner. The latter option just won't get big enough files from
the tiny 35mm area in order to make large, high-quality prints.
