Spec Me: A Negative Scanner

enigmo · 22 Sep 2011 at 15:17

That's right, old school.
Well, short story is I'm after a negative scanner. Well, actually wanted one for nearly 10 years and just decided it's time I dealt with the backlog before it rots. Need it to do 35mm and APS, but not fussed about 120mm or slides etc. It's for archiving purposes, so a £40 Lidl jobby won't cut it, and budget is a maximum of £500 including the cost of any APS adaptor needed. Don't mind if it's 2nd hand, obviously.
I've had a look at the Nikon Coolscan 4000ED and like it, but the Nikon APS adaptors are apparently shoddy at best. They fail on 40 frame APS cans after only 50 or so, and I have 100s. Current leading option would probably be a Canon FS4000US even though it's apparently not as good, optically, as the 4000ED, but if you guys have any better ideas, let me know.

Tomsk · 22 Sep 2011 at 19:27

If you are able to find an old Minolta DualScan, I have an APS adaptor for it that I would gladly loan to you.

I too have a few rolls of APS that I would like to archive. I've managed to get some 35mm glass slides that I intend to use to scan the film, once I get a new scanner.

AHarvey · 23 Sep 2011 at 12:21

Have you considered taking your £500 budget and seeing if you can get them all backed up with a professional service.

Its ok having the equipment to do it yourself, but the time it takes is a real ball ache!

enigmo · 23 Sep 2011 at 12:36

AHarvey said:
Have you considered taking your £500 budget and seeing if you can get them all backed up with a professional service.

Its ok having the equipment to do it yourself, but the time it takes is a real ball ache!

It did go through my head, and after I looked up how much these services cost I figured I could buy my own scanner and the best part of a Land Rover for the price of getting them to do it! It bascially works out at £1/frame, so after 10-15 rolls of film it's better value to do it myself, and there's more than 15 rolls in just the first box!

enigmo · 26 Sep 2011 at 16:04

Tomsk said:
If you are able to find an old Minolta DualScan, I have an APS adaptor for it that I would gladly loan to you.

I too have a few rolls of APS that I would like to archive. I've managed to get some 35mm glass slides that I intend to use to scan the film, once I get a new scanner.

Thanks for the offer

If I do manage to get ahold of one, I'll let you know.