Author Topic: Bulk film scanning  (Read 1420 times)

choppert

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Bulk film scanning
« on: September 22, 2022, 03:55:00 PM »
Tally-ho Filmwasters

I went through my folders of negs last night and thought "wow, there are loads of images here I'd forgotten about!"

Has anyone any good ideas for second-hand kit (for Mac) to [relatively] quickly get the negs digitised?

I've an old Canoscan 4400F that I've lost the power-lead for! 

Was thinking about trying to use the flat-bed scanner and trying to create some sort of digital contact sheet?

Not after super-duper quality as any prints would then be done in the normal (Ag) way.  Just after a way of being able to easily see what I've got hidden away.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,


Chopper
« Last Edit: September 22, 2022, 05:56:32 PM by choppert »
"Photography is about failure" - Garry Winogrand

Francois

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Re: Bulk film scanning
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2022, 09:20:46 PM »
Well, there's the new Lomography Digitaliza Max that is pretty impressive quality wise (the holder is very well made). It's just a film holder and you use your phone or digicam to scan in the images.
If you're looking at an all in one solution, then there are the Kodak Slide N Scan and Kodak Mini Digital film scanners which are re-branded versions of scanners made by other manufacturers but with the Kodak firmware in them.
What I like about these devices is both the speed of operation and the lack of custom software for them. They save the images to an SD card and the scanners are identified by the computer as a USB stick, so no problems. You can even use them on the kitchen table with just a power adapter.

While they aren't my first choice for high quality scans, I definitely like things like that for quick index prints.
I have one that I got used close to a decade ago and while it's way more primitive than the newer models, it's fast and good enough for most of what I do.
You just have to be careful when you insert the film in the holder to not accidentally put it between the housing and the holder instead of in the correct spot.
Best of all with these things is that they're super inexpensive when compared to a flatbed!
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.

Kai-san

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Re: Bulk film scanning
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2022, 09:29:27 AM »
If you want to do contact sheets a flatbed scanner is the obvious choice. I'm sure there are software solutions for making contact sheets, but then you would have to scan all images individually first. Check the second hand market for a used Epson for example. I had a Canon scanner years ago and I was not at all happy with the results, I'm currently rescanning all of those images. Here it is possible to rent a scanner, but I have not checked prices. Using a digital camera to photograph colour negatives will give you a lot of post processing to get the colours correct, you cannot just invert them. B&W is not a problem, but it's still a cumbersome process.
Kai


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Francois

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Re: Bulk film scanning
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2022, 03:08:05 PM »
With my cheap instant scanner, I can scan an entire roll in about 2 minutes (possibly less, I haven't timed it).
The only drawback with it is that it won't scan 120 film.

The Digitaliza Max on the other hand can do 120.
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.

ManuelL

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Re: Bulk film scanning
« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2022, 08:43:37 PM »
I am using a Flat Bed (V700) for the last 15 years or so.  I like that I can just start the scan and it will do its thing for about 20 images at a time. No need to move things on manually. In terms of quality, scans with a digital camera are probably better.

Francois

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Re: Bulk film scanning
« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2022, 09:03:04 PM »
A good lens on a fairly modern digicam probably does out-resolve an Epson. It's kinda crazy when you think about how much a single layer of glass reduces resolution.
Francois

Film is the vinyl record of photography.