Film Scanners

Hi everyone,

I've decided to bite the bullet and invest in a film scanner. Currently in order to view my files on the computer the cheapest way for me is to get a print made from the slide and then scan that slide on the flatbed scanner I have access to here at school. I really don't plan on needing to print pictures out but I would like to have a film scanner that will let me scan my 35mm slides and still have them display nicely on the computer. I see beautiful sharp images on the computer that other people have scanned from 35mm slides and I want mine to turn out the same way.

So does anyone have suggestions on which scanners will be good for the use described above? Particularly any that are on this college student's budget? Does anyone have any experience or heard anything about the Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III? the price is nice but I've only read one review of it.

Thanks for the help.

Michael Dossett
Seattle, WA

In the under $1000 range, the Nikon Coolscan IV is the unit to get. The Minoltas, while good, don't do as well with grain and noise and the ICE doesn't work as well due to using a fluorescent tube rather than an LED to scan the image. you can get them for $400-$600 depending on Gray or US warranty these days which is a lot of bang for the buck.

I have the Nikon LS-2000 which I use to post images here and in my website I only made few prints out of this scanner and I was very happy with 16x20 prints. It only cost me about $500 with Silverfast AI software ($350). This scanner deliver a high quality image and it comes with Digital ICE. Check out my website and see what this scanner is capable to do. I've seen the scanner in Ebay for like $250. Good luck!

The problem with the LS2000 is that its been out of production for 3 years, is no longer supported, requires a SCSI card (included) and is not easy to get to run with XP.

E.J. Peiker wrote:The problem with the LS2000 is that its been out of production for 3 years, is no longer supported, requires a SCSI card (included) and is not easy to get to run with XP.

I agree with you E.J, however I'm using the scanner under XP PRO and it works just fine, there is a way to get it to work, you just need the right BIOS settings.

I've got a Scan Dual III and I still think it's the best bang for the buck ($275 at B&H). It doesn't compare to the $1000+ Nikons, but it's a fraction of the price.

The quality will be far better than what you're doing currently, and if you're not planning on making big prints, it's more than good enough. I've printed 8x10s that look great. (I haven't tried bigger, because my printer won't go bigger.)

Biggest limitation is that it doesn't have ICE, so you're manually dustspotting. (I have a good technique for that which works really well, based on Tom Webster's method, but improved.)

You do have to be aware that you'll need to do some PS work on your images. I have to add a levels adjustment (increase contrast and brightness on the RGB channel and slide the midpoint of the Blue channel to somewhere in the 0.8-0.9 range) and a saturation adjustment (+15 to +25) to virtually every image. In high contrast images, I have to selectively work on the dark and/or light areas. The Scan Dual III is packaged with PS Elements 1.0, which is adequate for these tasks.

-Paul

The Nikon scanners are generally rated best and in the under $1000 range the Coolscan IV is the one to get.

- Dan.

Hey Michael,
I agonised for along time over which scanner to get .. earlier this year (after some recommendations from other folks, including E.J.) I purchased a Nikon Coolscan LS IV, used, for $350.00. Excellent choice. I wouldn't get a scanner without ICE .. I used to have a friend scan for me, and I'd go home and dust spot, and trust me, you will be much happier with ICE. My advice is definitely to go with this scanner. It works great, and the results are more than enough for your needs.

Cheers

Carl