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Author Topic: Medium format film scanning  (Read 3175 times)

eitanwaks

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Medium format film scanning
« on: March 26, 2006, 07:09:29 pm »

I recently took several negatives and slides to a professional photo lab to get them scanned.  The price per scan was supposed to be around $30.  I thought that this was a little bit much so I looked around and figured that the price per scan is anywhere between $15-$45.  These are professional scans using Creo scanners.

I should primarily to types of films.  35mm with my rangefinder and SLR, and medium format (6x7) with my Mamiya RB67.  For the former I have a Nikon 5000 scanner.  I'm quite happy with the quality that I get from the scanner.  The problem is that this scanner can only scan 35mm film.  It cannot scan larger sizes of film.

I would like to ask those who have experience with scanning medium format film whether the Nikon 9000 scanner will give me results comparable to the Creo scanner.  If so, I would probably purchase at scanner because it's the asking price of about $1800 which is equal to about 60 scans.  Should I consider the different scanners as well such as Imacon scanners?  I know that they cost more however, are they really better?  If I had the opportunity I would get scans from all of these scanners and judge for myself however, I don't have access to these scanners.

I have an opportunity to buy a Nikon scanner in the near future ( within 2 1/2 weeks) for a substantially lower price than I can get it locally.

Thank you very much for your replies,
Eitan Waks
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BernardLanguillier

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Medium format film scanning
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2006, 08:23:11 pm »

I have been using a Nikon 9000 for 120/220, in parallel with an Imacon Precision III for 4*5 slides.

I have never done a rigorous comparison between the 2 scanning 120/220, but I feel that the Imacon is significantly sharper (and it is said to be in the same class as the Creo). When you get the colors right (see below), I feel that the files do lend themselves to more manipulations than the coolscan files do.

However:

- dust removing on the Imacon can be a nightmare, while ICE does a perfect job every time on the Nikon,
- I find it a lot more difficult to get good colors with the Imacon driver (Flexcolor), and I do now scan a reference Provia 100F chart at the beginning of each scanning session for callibration purpose... pretty annoying but it works fine,
- the Imacon is also a lot slower than the Nikon, but this has been improved with the 646 and 848 it seems (although these are much more expensive, and almost impossible to find second hand).

Now, both the Nikon and the Creo do probably require wet mounting to get the best out of the slides. I have never bothered doing it on the Nikon, and don't think that I would have the patience to do it on the Creo either. The Imacon doesn't require wet mounting for best quality, which is one of its main strenghts.

Another problem with the Nikon is that it cannot scan larger than 6*9 at once... this forces me to scan my 6*12 slides on the Imacon.

Regards,
Bernard

SeanBK

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Medium format film scanning
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2006, 09:40:54 am »

I use Epson 4870 for my 120/220 films.  It is very good, but the new V750 with it's wet mounting ability is supposed to be excellent. Though I personally haven't checked it out.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Product...e=yes&oid=-8172
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Gary Ferguson

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Medium format film scanning
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2006, 10:10:41 am »

I use the Nikon 9000 in conjunction with drum scans of selected negatives or transparancies, and I'm afraid it's one of those "it depends" answers. For printing to A3 I've never seen any difference beween drum and Nikon scans. Even printing above this print size the real differences are pretty small and are mainly confined to those transparancies that have a lot of significant detail buried deep in the shadows.
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Slough

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Medium format film scanning
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2006, 04:29:55 pm »

Quote
I use Epson 4870 for my 120/220 films.  It is very good, but the new V750 with it's wet mounting ability is supposed to be excellent. Though I personally haven't checked it out.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Product...e=yes&oid=-8172
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=61421\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

See the Epson V700 review on www.Photo-i.co.uk. Leif
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