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Photo Scanner Experience?

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  • Kim
    replied
    Re: Photo Scanner Experience?

    I've used Epson scanners for digitizing my photos for years now. I currently use an Epson V600 that I bought refurbished from Epson about 3 years ago. I think I paid about $150.

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  • Bob White
    replied
    Re: Photo Scanner Experience?

    Take a good look at QromaCan at http://qroma.net. It utilizes your iPhone and includes the ability to control by voice.

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  • donworth
    replied
    Re: Photo Scanner Experience?

    I used to use a copy stand back in the 1980s with a Nikon with a MicroNikkor lens, gooseneck lamps and I held 8x8" polarizing filters over the lights to polarize the light then put a polarizing filter on the camera to kill any reflections. However, I would not recommend using a copy stand these days - scanners do a MUCH better job because the material being copied is pressed against the glass so there is less distance to cause a loss of fine detail and more even lighting, fewer surface shadows, etc. It's like the difference between a print made from putting the negative in an enlarger versus a contact print with the negative pressed against the photo paper. The difference is substantial if you compare something taken in a copy stand with a 600 dpi scan.

    How much you invest in your scanner matters too. I can see a difference between less expensive or portable scanners with CIS sensors and a decent flatbed with a CCD sensor. CIS sensors (such as you would find in a Canon LIDE or FlipPal) cast shadows on wrinkles or the surface texture of a print because the light comes from only one side. Also, in my experience, color fidelity is not as good with my portable Canon LIDE 200 as with my Epson Perfection V600 flatbed. The Epson was well worth the $200 investment over the $100 for the Canon or $150 for a FlipPal. If you decide to get something like the Epson you might want to experiment with scanning one or two of your favorite slides at 2400 dpi on the Epson - I bet you'll see a difference in detail over the camera copy method. I did.

    I would suggest that you put as many prints on the platen at a time as you can and then digitally "cut them out" in a photo editor afterwards. You can get things scanned much faster that way - especially if you have a lot of small snapshots. Scan everything at 600 dpi in 24 bit color (whether or not it is black and white) because you can sometimes use color to separate stains, silvering and other damage from the image.

    The resolution you scan is based on the amount of detail you are likely to get from a black and white print. At best the grain structure will yield detail up to about 400 dpi - sometimes closer to 600 dpi for old contact prints. Color prints will yield at best about 200-300 dpi because there are three layers of emulsion.

    These are some test scans I made with my Canon LIDE 200, the Epson V600 and an iPhone 5. You can see the differences (such as the more visible wrinkles with the CIS sensor) in the enlargements. http://www.bishir.org/scans/

    I've found this web site to be very helpful in all this. http://www.scantips.com
    Last edited by donworth; 27 September 2016, 01:48 AM.

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  • Terry Smith
    started a topic Photo Scanner Experience?

    Photo Scanner Experience?

    I want to update my very slow, 15+ year old flatbed scanner.

    My feedstock consists of several thousand prints now in the "shoebox" that have been accumulating for a long time. They've lasted this long, but . . .

    I want to scan to generate .tiff files, catalog them in LightRoom, and clean them up in LR or Photoshop. Reunion multimedia will be produced as .jpegs from the cleaned-up .tiffs. The .tiffs will be archived for my heirs and assigns.

    The scanner will _not_ be used to scan slides or negatives. I've had excellent results digitizing over 2900 slides using a DSLR fitted with a macro lens and minimal additional hardware. That project is completed. Negatives are a low priority for me at this point.

    Edit: I forgot to mention I'm also checking into setting up a copying stand to accomplish this project. If anyone has ideas on this approach, I'd certainly be interested in what you see as the pros and cons. Thanks.

    Both cost and ease/speed of use are important. Every hour spent on this project will be one hour I'd rather have spent on research and production of results.

    Thanks to any willing to share your experience and suggestions re: scanner hardware.

    Terry
    Last edited by Terry Smith; 26 September 2016, 02:45 PM. Reason: To mention a copying stand as an alternative.
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