 BetterPhoto Member |
Scanning 35mm Negatives Hello, I am about to buy a scanner, but I need it to be able to scan 35mm negatives with Professional Quality. Money is no object... what sort of resolution would I need? I saw some Epsons that had like 1600x3200, 42 bit scanners. Is that OK? What do you like? Thanks so much for your time, -Jim
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Ben T. Grossman |
Although I have not (yet) done much negative scanning, I have done so with prints, and have a negative-capable scanner. However, I am a Computer Engineering student, and have a tendency to keep up pretty well on computer technology. It really depends on what you are doing. If money really is no object, I'd probably look into an actual negative scanner like some of the CoolScans that Nikon makes, I've heard some very good things about them (plus I'm slightly biased because I use a Nikon system and love it). As far as flatbed scanners go, Microtek is probably one of the better choices, because they are not all that expensive, have a lot of features, are quite customizable, and do a pretty good job. I currently have a Microtek ScanMaker (?) 3700, which came with a negative adapter box (will do one strip of 5 negatives at a time 35mm). Although optical resolution isn't incredibly high (like maybe 1280x2400), it is at least a 36-bit depth, and cost about $100. Using the software, you can create some very impressive results. I have made scans of prints at 1200dpi, which turned out nice, but took a long time. A more expensive yet excellent alternative to the microteks are HP scanners. These have always been pretty good units, and I have always had excellent results and good reliability with them. The usable color and resolution should be taken into mind when you purchase one of these; what are you using it for? The web has a somewhat limited color scale, and putting massive graphics files on your pages will only make visitors with modems despise you, usually. Printing them usuing photo-quality inkjets, etc, still has its limitations. So really you have to look at what you are putting it up against, and what you are trying to do. For my needs, the Microtek is more than adequate. Hope that helps. -=mister ben=-
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