 D. Wesley Davis |
Getting prints and slides converted. I usually shoot slides and negative film but I would like to convert them to digital files. Is there a scanner that will convert both that is also economical enough for a part time amature photographer to purchase or should I send them off to a lab and if so which ones are best?
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doug Nelson |
The Hewlett-Packard Photosmart S20 is going for $200 right now, because it is being phased out. It's a great buy for that. It scans slides only in the cardboard Kodak mounts, however. The Acer Scanwit scanners and the PacificImaging scanners are economically priced. You will see comments farther down about scanning 35-mm with the Epson 2450 scanner. The 2450 will also do as your print scanner and home office scanner. Mike Harrington, farther down this list, invites us to see his scan results with the 2450. A lab scanning your work may lose it, scan at so low a resolution that they won't print, and/or charge you an arm and a leg. Can anyone recomend a lab?
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D. Wesley Davis |
Thanks Doug, Do you know what DPI these scanners scan at? I have tried to scan my prints but I do not like the outcome of that. Does scanning the negatives or slides make that much difference?
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doug Nelson |
I think scanning the negs or slides makes a difference. The HP scans at 2400 ppi, adequate, I think, for most purposes. B&H in NY has it for $200 now. HP is dumping them. See sphoto.com for Steve Hoffman's comments on the S20 and Nikon scanners. One of the Acers scans at 1800, as does, I think, one of the PacificImage scanners. I guess 1800 ppi is adequate if you only want to convert to JPEG's for screen viewing only and print no bigger than 5 x 7. One of the PacificImage scanners does 3600, I think. A scanner with Digital Ice or some sort of dust spot cleanup will save you time in your imaging program. I'm skeptical about used scanners. They are a very complex item, and you should get a warranty.
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D. Wesley Davis |
Doug, Have been looking for the HP S20 but Can only find the HP S20Xi. What is the difference if any? What scanners come with Digital Ice? Is this a product of a certian company?
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doug Nelson |
If HP can't tell you on their web page about these scanners, maybe they're going out of the scanner business. Try their photosmart.com. The Xi may have been a SCSI model (SCSI is a way of connecting a scanner to a computer, like USB). If your computer has a Firewire connection, plan on using that. USB is simple to connect, but slower. The HP doesn't have digital ICE. Nikon, Canon, Minolta, Pacfic Image and maybe even Acer have models with either Digital Ice or their own equivalent. Digital Ice is a handy way of dealing with the inevitable dust specs. It reads surrounding pixels and fills in the spots. You are wise to weigh all the scanners carefully.
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D. Wesley Davis |
Thanks Doug, After reading about the S20Xi seems the only difference is the software. S20 comes with PictureIt! and S20Xi comes with Broderbund. Would a scanner with Digital Ice be worth investing in even if it cost a little more?
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doug Nelson |
I think Digital Ice or Canon's version is worth the price difference. It is nearly impossible to get every dust spec off a slide or neg. Digital Ice takes care of it and save a lot of cloning similar pixels over the dust spots. Just the same, clean your film as best you can before scanning. Big specs will show up as blurs, even with Digital Ice. There is ONE other option to use with the HP scanner. Go to edhamrick.com and have a look at his scanning software. For $40, you get a software that has an excellent cleanup feature. Read more about this software at scantips.com.
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