A few scanning tips

www.scantips.com

A few film scanners

This chart marks the passing of several popular film scanners ... the chat is "what was", but all of these in chart are discontinued now.

Here's a pretty good summary from B&H of what is available now.

See B&H for the currently available scanners:   Film scanners   -   Flatbed scanners

BrandModel$ USFilm SizeI/FS/WDPIAuto
Focus
Batch
Scan
Multi
Scan
BitsNotes
Benq
(Acer)
ScanWit 2720S450
250
35 mmSCSIPC
Mac
2700Yes6/4 36 
Benq
(Acer)
ScanWit 2740S649
370
35 mmSCSIPC
Mac
2700Yes6/4 36Infrared
ICE
CanonFS2710
550
330
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
2720YesNo 36APS is
included
CanonFS2720599
350
35 mm
APS
USB 1.1PC
Mac
2720YesNo 36APS is
included
CanonFS4000US1100
600
35 mm
APS
SCSI &
USB 1.1
PC
Mac
4000Yes6/4 42Infrared
FARE
HPPhotoSmart S20
500
170
35 mm
5x7 prints
USB 1.1PC2400
300
Fixed5/1 36 
KodakRFS 3600
1000
800
35 mmSCSI &
USB 1.1
PC
Mac
3600Yes36/1 36 
MicrotekArtixScan 4000t
1000
430
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
4000Yes6/4 36 
MicrotekArtixScan 4000tf1200
700
35 mm
APS
IEEE 1394
& USB 1.1
PC
Mac
4000Yes6/4 42 
Microtek120tf2000
1500
35 mm
6x9 cm
IEEE 1394
& SCSI
PC
Mac
4000
4000
Yes6/4
2 to 4
 42 
MinoltaScan Dual II
595
250
35 mm
APS
USB 1.1PC
Mac
2820Yes6/4 36 
MinoltaScan Dual III450
275
35 mm
APS
USB 2.0PC
Mac
2820Yes6/4Yes48 
MinoltaScan Dual IV450
220
35 mm
APS
USB 2.0PC
Mac
3200Yes6/4Yes48 
MinoltaScan Elite
950
650
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
2820Fixed Yes36Infrared
ICE
MinoltaScan Elite II995
620
35 mm
APS
IEEE 1394
& USB 1.1
PC
Mac
2820Yes6/4Yes48Infrared
ICE
MinoltaScan Elite 54001100
650
35 mmIEEE 1394
& USB 2.0
PC
Mac
5400Yes6/4Yes48Infrared
ICE
MinoltaScan Elite 5400 II600
570
35 mmUSB 2.0PC
Mac
5400Yes6/4Yes48Infrared
ICE
MinoltaScan Multi II
2240
1300
35 mm
APS
6x9 cm
SCSIPC
Mac
2820

1128
Yes6/4

1
Yes36 
MinoltaScan Multi Pro3500
1900
35 mm
APS
6x9 cm
IEEE 1394
& SCSI
PC
Mac
4800

3200
Yes6/4

1
Yes48Infrared
ICE
MinoltaScan Speed
900
819
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
2820Fixed  36 
NikonCoolscan III
LS-30
800
700
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
2700Yes6/1 30Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan IV
LS-40
895
610
35 mm
APS
USB 1.1PC
Mac
2900Yes6/1 36Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan V600
550
35 mm
APS
USB 2.0PC
Mac
4000Yes6/1 42Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan
LS-2000
1600
1420
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
2700Yes6/1Yes36Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan 4000
LS-4000
1695
1150
35 mm
APS
IEEE 1394PC
Mac
4000Yes6/1Yes42Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan 50001100
980
35 mm
APS
USB 2.0PC
Mac
4000Yes6/1Yes48Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan 80002995
2350
35 mm
6x9 cm
IEEE 1394PC
Mac
4000
4000
Yes12/5
2 to 4
Yes42Infrared
ICE
NikonCoolscan 90002000
1850
35 mm
6x9 cm
IEEE 1394PC
Mac
4000
4000
Yes12/5
2 to 4
Yes48Infrared
ICE
PolaroidSprintScan 4000
1200
500
35 mm
APS
SCSIPC
Mac
4000Yes6/4 36 
PolaroidSprintScan
4000 Plus
1300
1100
35 mm
APS
IEEE 1394
& USB 1.1
PC
Mac
4000Yes6/4 42 
PolaroidSprintScan
120
2695
1800
35 mm
6x9 cm
IEEE 1394
& SCSI
PC
Mac
4000
4000
Yes6/4
2 to 4
 42 

Film Scanner Notes:

Each of the film scanners in the table has fans. Prices are list price and discount from www.buy.com and www.bhvideo.com (and prices may change, and may not include controller board and cable). And NewEgg.com has a very good price on the Minolta Dual Scan IV. A higher price does buy more scanner, better optics, infrared dust reduction, better software, and also better dynamic range, giving deeper noise-free detail from dark shadow tones in slides. Dynamic range is quite important for slides, but less important if scanning negatives.

But the dynamic range spec is not shown here, because the advertised number is unfortunately only marketing hype. There are no standards for advertising this value. It is a totally meaningless number as advertised. Don't assume 3.6 is better than 3.4, or that either is achievable. It is not a performance spec, the scanner was not measured.   3.6 for 12 bits or 4.2 for 14 bits is the theoretical maximum, simply the greatest possible value those bits could possibly hold, if all else were theoretically perfect (see page 157). It assumes DMin is zero, DMax is maximum, and noise is zero, all ridiculous. A false 3.6 cannot be compared to a false 3.4. These may be fine scanners, but have other reasons than this number to choose them.

Marketing's scan speed spec is not shown either, because it is also not very meaningful. SCSI is faster than USB 1.1, especially for 20-60 MB scans. Focusing can take a long time. Saving a very large file also takes awhile. Don't be surprised at 3 minutes overall at full resolution and 16 bits. There's lots of reasons, and computer speed is a big factor too. Scanner exposure time is a bigger time factor than interface bus, and this varies with film frame.

Maximum size 24 bit 35 mm film images are about:

2400 dpi3400x2200 pixels7.5 megapixels22 MB
2820 dpi3800x2600 pixels9.9 megapixels30 MB
4000 dpi5600x3600 pixels20 megapixels60 MB

16 bit data will be twice this size in MB. You need at least 4 times that much system memory, and 8 times is better for editing. If that image is too large for the purpose, then try scanning at 1/2 or 1/4 or 1/8 of full optical resolution, using even fractional divisors when possible.

JPG files will be compressed substantially smaller than these uncompressed MB numbers.

Auto Focus is a motorized focusing method, and can compensate for warped or buckled film frames. Other units are fixed focus.

Batch Scanning uses a motorized film feed mechanism to position each film frame. This can allow automatic scanning of multiple images. The table value shown is the number of frames:    film strips / mounted slides.

Some few Minolta and Nikon models have optional autofeeders for 50 mounted slides (about $500).

APS film size requires an optional hardware APS adapter (about $120 to $250). These can batch scan the full APS roll. The Canon FS2710 APS adapter is manual and included.

The Multi-Scan feature can scan one frame multiple times (typically 4 or 16 times scanned in one slow pass). Those images are combined into one image, to average out the random scanner noise in the image data. It is an important noise reduction technique to produce clean dark tones from slides (even in scanners with so-called 4.2 dynamic range too). Multi-Scan is not such an advantage for negatives, because negative dark tones are inverted to the highlights where the noise is harder to see. VueScan can multi-scan with some units that don't support multi-scan.

Some scanners provide a fourth infrared hardware channel (RGB+IR) to allow software to detect and remove dust, fingerprints, scratches and other film damage. Such software is Digital ICETM and VueScan. This causes a slight softening of image sharpness, but it is a popular option, and many users consider it essential. Subsequent sharpening can help. IR does not work with conventional B&W films, and often not so well with Kodachrome, but it does work on all other dye-based slides and negatives.

The Nikon units uniquely use LED illumination source instead of a fluorescent lamp.

The Polaroid and Microtek 4000 dpi models are similar hardware, with different software.

Copyright © 2000-2004 by Wayne Fulton - All rights are reserved.

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