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A modern 35mm film scanner for home

soke.engineering

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Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#171

Post by ryukoposting »

eviks wrote: post #126
ryukoposting wrote: post #121

In case anyone is wondering, the current meta in home 35mm film scanning is divided: Option 1 is to get an Epson Perfection series flatbed scanner. V800 or V850. This approach is highly automated and you get automatic dust correction with color film. But, leading software packages don't support Linux, and the quality for 35mm negatives is just okay. Performance on medium and large format is SOTA. Option 2 is to assem…

What about option 3: drum scanner?

I said "home" 35mm film scanning! Sure, you could go find yourself a used Heidelberg Tango, but it's the size of a fridge, and heavier than a fridge.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#172

Post by eviks »

ryukoposting wrote: post #171
eviks wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about option 3: drum scanner?

I said "home" 35mm film scanning! Sure, you could go find yourself a used Heidelberg Tango, but it's the size of a fridge, and heavier than a fridge.

Granted, I've read it as "home film" , but have also read stories of people using their garages for photoproductive use getting themselves used ones!

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#173

Post by ryukoposting »

anonymousiam wrote: post #90
gtm1260 wrote: post #41

The fact that there is still no sample scans has me heated - instead of showing us all these specs, how about some sample images!!

It doesn't seem to exist yet. The specifications are not specifications, they are design goals. I don't see how they can get the color coverage they're claiming with RGB LEDs. Seems about as credible as a lot of the crowdfunded stuff.

Strobing RGB LEDs is how Epson's professional flatbeds do color. That's one of the more plausible aspects of the design, I think. No mention of IR though, so I suppose that means no dust correction.

The custom software package is clearly in its foobar stage. Loving the word "TextLabel" surrounded by a bunch of padding.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#174

Post by trauco »

alistairSH wrote: post #162
tecleandor wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a reasonable model with a semiautomatic workflow (that I don't have to work manually frame by frame) for that? A 5000ED or something like that? I could do that for my dad too...

Slides are going to manual because they’re (usually) individually mounted. I haven’t seen any consumer scanner that has an auto feed. Good ones have a nice sprocket wheel but you still feed manually with a wheel.

You can get a slide feeder for the “modern” (early aughts) Nikon Coolscans, the SF-210:

https://studio-supplies.com/products/nikon-sf-210-239995

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#175

Post by trauco »

VerifiedReports wrote: post #146
atomicthumbs wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Coolscans used RGB LEDs.

They also sucked. I had an LS-2000 and the images were noisy as hell and it couldn't scan negatives for shit. I sold it on eBay. It's incredible how overrated the Nikon scanners were. In the end I found a new in-box Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 II, pretty much the end of the line for film scanners. I haven't tried it yet!

The 4000-5000 series Nikon Coolscans sell for about the same price they did 20 years ago because they still produce excellent scans and there’s nothing quite as good for that $1000-$15000 price out there.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#176

Post by ralferoo »

Seems weird. The fact it talks about rolls of film and reading DX codes suggests that it's able to scan undeveloped film. Maybe that's possible, but I've never heard of that before.

If it only scans developed film, then it's unlikely to still be in the cannister with DX codes, and I've never seen that film delivered to a customer in a roll - it's normally cut up into strips so they can be stored flat.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#177

Post by jamil7 »

MBCook wrote: post #44
fuziontech wrote: post #37

I'm glad this exists but at ~1k EUR I would be interested if it could scan 120 medium format negatives...but the fact that it does not is an absolute deal breaker for me. It seems like they are considering it. I hope they do figure that out sooner than later.

Medium is the problem. There’s nothing. Epson stopped making their flatbeds that do film, reportedly because they can’t get the CCDs anymore. That may be a rumor. The result is they go for 2x MSRP on eBay for models that are many years old. Because that’s all that exists. Without that, you can buy the kind of scanner meant for a photo lab ($$$$$), DIY it with a DSLR ($$$ if you don’t have one), or pay your a lab a lo…

I don't shoot 120, only 35mm. But I thought you could get away with a high end flatbed scanner for 120 negatives?

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#178

Post by rckt »

TwoFerMaggie wrote: post #169
rckt wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's plustek OpticFilm 7200, I bought it second-hand.

This one would be much faster than the plustek though, if they keep their promises. I use a 8200. It takes more than 1 hour to scan a 36 frame color negative with dust removal on, and it requires constant manual input. Pushing the holder to the next frame, unloading and loading the holder, etc. It's fine, sure. For the price I paid for it and the image quality I'm getting, I have no complaints. On the other hand, a n…

For a studio or a professional - sure. For me, an amateur, who simply does film photography for his own amusement, it makes no sense. I also use standing development process that takes around 40 mins. So the speed is irrelevant for me.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#179

Post by leejo »

KaiserPro wrote: post #155
atomicthumbs wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be nice if they were able to adapt the Hasselblad/Imacon "virtual drum" concept and curve the film underneath the sensor for side-to-side flatness. I wonder if that's feasible with a 2D sensor.

Thats a good question. I wonder if the "virtual drum" was there to get over film holding issues (as in it physically bends the film) or that its a line scanner personally I think that technology has come on enough to move on from the imacon/hasselblad: https://emulsive.org/articles/opinion/scanning-film-the-20k-...

> Thats a good question. I wonder if the "virtual drum" was there to get over film holding issues (as in it physically bends the film) or that its a line scanner

Both.

> personally I think that technology has come on enough to move on from the imacon/hasselblad: https://emulsive.org/articles/opinion/scanning-film-the-20k-...

It's not - the issue that still remains is keeping the film flat, and this is especially problematic with smaller formats. With current solutions you can get the resolution but not the flatness, or you sacrifice something to get the flatness (e.g. ANR glass holders). It's the old glass vs glassless carrier debate, applied to a modern workflow.

I repeat myself: focus, DPI / resolution, dynamic range - these are the solved problems. In fact, modern medium format digital cameras are superior on all these factor. Keeping the film flat, however? Only drum scans and the Imacon "Flextight" solution do this well.

Of course, it depends on what you plan to do with the scans and for 99% of people the solution in the link above is more than good enough.

I've written about this previously https://leejo.github.io/tags/scanning/ # I'm going to add the fourth, and hopefully final, part in a couple of months time.

Re: A modern 35mm film scanner for home

#180

Post by etangent »

ralferoo wrote: post #176

Seems weird. The fact it talks about rolls of film and reading DX codes suggests that it's able to scan undeveloped film. Maybe that's possible, but I've never heard of that before. If it only scans developed film, then it's unlikely to still be in the cannister with DX codes, and I've never seen that film delivered to a customer in a roll - it's normally cut up into strips so they can be stored flat.

there is no such thing as a scanner for undeveloped film nor will there ever be.
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