scanner: flatbed or dedicated?

[mjflaherty]

I'm going to start scanning a lot of older photos.  I have a lot of 35 mm slides to scan (probably too many to make sending them off cost effective).  I also have many prints, only a portion of which have matching negatives unfortunately. 

My question: which type of scanner to buy.  I want to get the better photos to the point that they might be suitable for excellent large (say 13x19) prints, and for stock sales.  Some were captured with a good Nikon film camera, some with point and shoots. 

There are some good looking flatbed scanners at good prices.  Or should I go with a dedicated 35 mm scanner?  The latter generally have better resolution but I don't think most of my photos were captured with a good enough camera to make that worthwhile.  So I'm leaning toward a flatbed, but don't know if that will get me what I really want.
Thanks so much.

[Chris_Brown]

I'd consider getting a dedicated film scanner for films, and use a 14Mp-22Mp digital camera with prime lens and a copy setup for copying prints.

[mjflaherty]

Thanks Chris, excellent idea on using a DSLR.
I have a 50D, but right now only the 70-200 f4 & the 17-55 f2.8.  Got my 5D Mk II and all my lenses (including several good primes) stolen awhile back.  So the question is whether to wait until I can replace, or go ahead with the 15 MP 50D.  Oh I also have a 100 f2.8 macro.

When you say "copy setup" what are you referring to?

Any recommendations on great-value dedicated film scanners?

Thanks again, this forum is pretty good.

[JayWPage]

Hi,

This website has some pretty good reviews of scanners that might be of interest to you.

http://www.filmscanner.info/en/FilmscannerTestberichte.html

Cheers,
Jay

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

I use a Nikon Coolscan LS 9000 ED together with Silverfast and am very happy with it.
The Nikon Coolscan 5000 even has a slide feeder accessory available, but can't scan 120 film.
If you can get one of these I doubt you'll regret it.
But: Expensive stuff ...

[Chris_Brown]

When you say "copy setup" what are you referring to?

Lights equidistant & @ 45˚ to the artwork. Polarizers over the lights, correctly oriented. Polarizer over the lens, correctly oriented. Camera parallel and square to the artwork. Lens @ f8 - f11. Camera is color calibrated with Adobe's DNG method or with a quality ICC profile if using Capture One.

Any recommendations on great-value dedicated film scanners?

Starting in 1992, I used a Umax, then a Nikon, then an Imacon Flextight, then finally, in 2001, a Howtek drum scanner. Nothing compared to the Howtek in sharpness, shadow detail (DMax), or smoothness of tones throughout the DMin-DMax range. Mounting film is where most people balk and go for a CCD or flatbed scanner. But once the mounting is learned, and the software is learned, there's no turning back.

Scanners:
Aztek
Nikon
Imacon

[AFairley]

Scanning slides (Nikon Coolscan IV and V is my experience) is mind-bogglingly time consuming, if you are thinking of scanning a lot, you should seriously consider sending them out.

For slides, I think the best bank for your buck is to use your MkII with a 50mm macro lens (and extension tube if needed to get to 1:1) and the Nikon ES-1 slide copier.  (I think you need the 50mm focal length to get the right working distance for the adapter)

[mjflaherty]

"For slides, I think the best bank for your buck is to use your MkII with a 50mm macro lens (and extension tube if needed to get to 1:1) and the Nikon ES-1 slide copier.  (I think you need the 50mm focal length to get the right working distance for the adapter)"

Yeah I'm wafflling back towards sending selects out and maybe just a flatbed to round out my personal digital collection.  The good scanner options seem to be so expensive.  Unfortunately a thief now has my MK II, and I'm left with my backup, a 50D.  So would you go with the lower resolution crop frame to slide-copy, 50 mm equivalent?