canon negative scanner

[Grammy]

Has anyone ever used this scanner? Can you give me your opinions please, good and bad. Thanks. Tammy

2925B002 Canon CanoScan 5600F Flatbed Scanner, 4800 x 9600 dpi, 8.5" x 11.7", USB 2.0 Interface for Windows and Mac OS

[venchka]

First things first.
How much film do you intend to scan?
Do you shoot slides at all?
Is all your film 35mm?
I ask because these entry level consumer scanners only accept 4 slides or a strip of 6 neagatives. 1 hour photo labs return color negatives cut to four frames. All of this film loading and unloading adds time to an already slow and boring process.
Scanning isn't easy at first. After awhile, you get the hang of it and scanning goes a little faster with better quality.
Do not fall for the markting scam DPI resolution mumbers. These scanners are ok for 4x6 to maybe 8x10 prints. The larger prints if your negatives and scanning are perfect.
There are better scanners for more money. What do you want to do with your analog to digital conversion TIFF files?
I use Epson. My friends use Epson. I expect the Canon scanner is probably equal to a similar price Epson scanner.

[Dobick]

I have a canoscan 8600 on my desk. The thing about film, is that it does great for the ones that I want to make into digital. Which means that it is not a viable solution for any sustained workflow solution.

As for the dpi -- it seems that I can effectively get a very nice 16x24 inch print out of a scan on this machine (which I think is the same resolution as the one you listed) as long as I am careful with negative handling, as well as start with a good quality slide/neg. When I pixel peep on one that came out clean, it seems to have as much detail as images from my 7d (that is on a scan of fuji velvia 100 that for exposure was on the money so no pushing or tweaking of the image was required) and when scanning Med Format, it does a very nice job.

I have never once noticed a focus problem with this scanner, so that is a plus in it's favor. I used a "community" nikon 9000 at school once and someone came in and made some custom tweaks to the focus that were not reset when I sat down to do a batch, and most of my images from that batch were horribly out of focus. But when they are on and right, the nikon scanners are the best of the best and worth every penny that you will pay for them.

[Grammy]

OK, thanks to both of you. I have a lot of 10 - 20 yo 35mm negatives, some professional most personal, that I want to digitize.

I am also considering offering this as a service to my clients.

What scanners do you recommend - I do have some uncut negatives to scan also.

Thanks, Tammy

[venchka]

It sounds like Kent's Canon does a great job. I print 16x20 and 13x19 from 6x7 and 4x5 negatives. I don't think I've ever printed that big with 35mm.
I would look for a gently used Epson 4990 with all the film holders and software. If you can't find one of those, the Epson V700 is highly regarded. Epson runs specials at their online store from time to time.
If I were going to do this professionally, I would absolutely get the film holders from Betterscanning. They are adjustable so you can find the right film height and best focus.
Having said that, there are several online services that offer silly cheap scanning services. I saw one last week that was like $0.29/35mm frame. I can't turn my scanner on for that price. If your clients don't see that price, then maybe you can make a go of it.
As Kent says, the late great Nikon film scanners are the best. They were discontinued last year and prices have gone sky high. More expensive than the cameras and lenses used to expose the film. Bummer.
You are in Alvin. Watch Houston craigslist for used scanners.
Good luck.

[Grammy]

Thanks Wayne.

[groovyone]

I have a CanoScan 8800F and while it does great on positives I cannot seem to get 35mm negatives focused correctly. I think it is an issue with my unit.

[Grammy]

Thanks bunches groovyone. I think I'm gonna look into the epsons. I have an Epson printer and it is a real workhorse.

[groovyone]

A coworker of mine has been eying the V600 but has not yet picked it up. Personally I picked the 8800F over the V700/V750 because it was LED. Not real sure that was a good call since I also own a Minolta 5400 Elite II film scanner now.

[venchka]

Originally Posted by groovyone

A coworker of mine has been eying the V600 but has not yet picked it up. Personally I picked the 8800F over the V700/V750 because it was LED. Not real sure that was a good call since I also own a Minolta 5400 Elite II film scanner now.

How do you like the Minolta?

[mdparthum]

I got the Canoscan 9000F for Christmas and have been a scanning fool as of late! I really like the quality I get after I Photoshop the scanned images. My only complaint, and this isn't aimed at Canon, but the terrible amount of dust and fibers that have been sitting on my negatives for years. I am now greatly aware of how fragile negative film is or was. But, on the positive, I have gotten excited about images from years ago that I thought I would never use again because of the shift to digital.

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by venchka

How do you like the Minolta?

I like it. I had been messing with a few different software options with it, put it away to scan some of my grandfather's albums on the Canon, and haven't gotten it back out yet. Initial results with Silverfast and Vuescan were quite good! I am quite certain any issues with it are purely on the user side. I really need to learn good settings for scanning different negatives.

[venchka]

Thanks.