 annbelusphotography.com - Ann H. Belus  Contact Ann H. Belus Ann H. Belus's Gallery |
Buying a Scanner Does anyone have any recommendations for a scanner to scan both old photos and slides?
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doug Nelson |
I have used an Epson V700 for about five years now. I have a brief commentary on the V700 on my web site. I like it, and find it fairly intuitive. The slide holder will do 12 at a time. Dust cleanup will not work on Kodachrome or black-and-white negs. Use a photo editor with the scanner to clean up dust spots and scratches that the scanner software doesn't catch, and to crop and size your scans. Elements for less than $100 will do for this. You might save some money with the Epson V600 or V500, but read reviews and decide.
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annbelusphotography.com - Ann H. Belus Contact Ann H. Belus Ann H. Belus's Gallery |
Doug, thank you sooo much for this infomation; sounds like an Epson scaner is exactly what I am looking for. I did read the reviews and noticed that the price differential is quite substantial, 521 vs. 170! While I never hesitate to pay for good quality when necessary, I wondered if the V700 would be overkill for me...I am definitely not a professional. I do use PS CS5 but only to make very basic enhancements. I don't have a clue on how to use all the complicated procedures. (I need lessons!) What makes the V700 so much better than the V600? Would it be worth it for me? On another note, I sneaked a peak at your gallery and was amazed at the wonderful images you have created all over the world. I, like you, am passionate over travel photography, having traveled quite extensively over six continents during the past years. Tell me, what is your favortie place to travel? I apoligize for carrying on and making this reply so lenghty, but any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hi Ann, The last scanner I used was also an Epson scanner that was bought by a production company I work with. I dont know the model and believe it was in the $200 range but it had inserts for slides which I used to scan 2000+ slides for a NYE show we did in SF. I scanned at 300 dpi tifs which made for slow scanning but we were displaying these with a projector and they covered the entire stage on a screen behind the band. These images were used at Grateful Dead & Jimi Hendrix shows back in the late 60's and are of cave paintings, the Ganges,and all sorts of old images. I had to retouch most of them in photoshop as they had spots and were a bit faded. PS did the trick and they are now saved on my hard drives for future shows :) my .02, Carlton
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
Hi Ann, Check this Lewis Kemper scanner article: http://www.lewiskemper.com/blog/inexpensive-film-scanner-and-more Carlton
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doug Nelson |
I bought my V700 with medium format scanning in mind, but it does OK with 35mm, as long as I'm not doing fine art enlargements. Your images deserve the best you can give them. The very best can be scanned professionally with a Imacon scanner (10 grand at fine stores), leaving other stuff for your flatbed. Read some reviews of the cheaper Epsons. I like your work as well. I enjoyed Croatia for its Mediterranean climate and food, and for the warmth of the people. I like all of France, an easy place to drive and hang out.
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- Kenneth De Pree Contact Kenneth De Pree Kenneth De Pree's Gallery |
I'm using the Epson V300, which I guess is now the V330, to scan what seems like a zillion family photos and slides. Is working fine for me.
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doug Nelson |
Be sure you can scan at high bit depth. Normally, you get 24 bits (8 per R,G,and B channel). Some, if not most scanners can return a 48-bit image. The file size will be huge, but you want to do your tonal and color correction in hight bit. Only THEN do you go to 24-bit in Image/Image Mode. Overworking a difficult image in low-bit will result in banding, posterization and a histogram that looks like the hillbilly's teeth in Deliverance.
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Wendy M. Hansen-Penman |
A pro once told me it's better to take a photo of the photo with your digital camera than to scan it. Better quality.
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