Which Scanner to buy?!

[jv3nus]

Hey there, i was wondering if any of u can recommend me an affordable scanner which is good for scanning pictures. Thanks

[bobtrips]

There are several reviews and some links at

http://www.steves-digicams.com

(Assuming that you're looking for a film/slide scanner, not a flat bed document scanner.)

[rboles]

I have an Epson 2450, which has been replaced now by (I think) the 3200. It is much cheaper than a traditional film/slide scanner. Basically a flatbed scanner optimized for photos. My Yellowstone/Tetons gallery
was made with scans of sliders I'd taken. The Utah gallery is from scans of color negatives. Color Neg took a lot more post scanning photoshop work to clean up dust and such.

http://www.pbase.com/rboles/yellowstonetetons

[gwilburn]

I recently purchased a Minolta Scan Elite 5400 and I'm very pleased with it. It digs into the negs and slides and pulls up great detail at high resolution. Digital ICE works really well. It's my third scanner CanoScan 2710->Scan Elite II->Scan Elite 5400

[tturrill]

I recently purchased the Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED and I am very pleased with the results. I have used the scanner to scan 50+ year old kodachrome slides. Even with the Digital ICE turned on I am very happy with the results. nice feature is that it works very well with the plug-ins in photoshop CS. I t isn't the cheapest scanner but a very high quality unit.

[dotanga]

I got this scanner about two months ago.
It is realy a winner in the means of price vs. delivered quality.
It costs only around $300 and it gives you almost all the features the big brothers give.
3200 dpi (3150 x 4600 pixels for a scanned slide), up to X16 multi scan for noise reduction, 16bit/channel and more.
Its user interface application is prety professional and gives you many image processing features (like a little photoshop).
Although it has an auto scratches and dust removal features, it is not as powerful as the ICE of the expensive ones, but it does the trick for most of the noticeable dust stains.
It is fast too: a full scaled 3200 dpi scan (without multi scan) can last less than 30 seconds.
It has a batch scanning application, which it a very comfortable feature - put the film slip in and after several minutes all the 6 frames are scanned and processed as you preprogrammed it.
I enjoy it a lot.

[gtomg]

I bought this scanner when it first came out a few months ago and am generally pleased with the results. I got it primarily to transfer my slides and negs from over 30 years of shooting both intermediate amateur stuff and plain old family events.
Many of the negs are beat up, with multiple scratches, etc. and Digital ICE does a fantastic job...a minute of scanning restores what would be laborious in a photo editor. The detail is amazing, 4000 dpi scans giving the equivalent of about a 23 megapixel image.
My main complaint has been the software, Nikon Scan. When scanning in batch, say four negs on a strip, it often crashes "Windows has encountered a problem and needs to close..." etc. I am running Windows XP on a 1.5 gig Athlon with 3/4 gig ram. If anyone else has encountered this problem, please post.
I have noticed in Task Manager that when scanning, my CPU usage maxes to 100%, so I'm still thinking it might not be software, but the computer instead.

[polo_pro10]

I would recommend you the Minolta Dual Scan III in terms of price & the features most people need. Should check it out yourself.

[jim_panzee]

If anyone has not seen the HP 4070 yet, I sugest they take a good look. Its new on the market and from the specs, looks a winner, and all for 199 Euros. No joke.

[ukexpat]

If anyone has not seen the HP 4070 yet, I sugest they take a good look. Its new on the market and from the specs, looks a winner, and all for 199 Euros. No joke.

I don't know if HP have fixed this problem, but my 3 year old HP had a terrible dust problem as the unit had no kind of seal or O-ring. I took it apart every couple of months to clean it out and clean the platter, and within a week or so the dust was back....

[jim_panzee]

After having posted the last thread, I went out and bought the Epson 3170.
I haven't explored all the possibilities with it yet, but what I have done so far has been very good indeed. I am well pleased, not just with the Scanner, but also with the price.

[toddk]

All of my photos in PBase were scanned by the Epson 4870.

http://www.pbase.com/toddk/night

http://www.pbase.com/toddk/france

http://www.pbase.com/toddk

[jazzmech]

Jim, glad to see you brought the 3170. Any pros or cons on using it yet?

[llung]

I got an Epson 2480 a couple of months ago. It's a flatbed scanner which scans at up to 2400x4800 dpi. It comes with a negative/slide tray, but I haven't been pleased with the results. But it does a good enough job of scanning prints - only the slightest post pro is needed. My only real complaint is that I can't find the on/off switch (if there even is one).

Best of all, it only cost me about $90. If you're scanning for the web, I can't see how you would need anything better than this.