Thread: Slide/Negative/Photo Scanner

1. Microtek and

2. Epson

Depends on the quality you want to get and the application you are using them in. Dmax is an important thing to consider when purchasing a scanner. A scanner with a high Dmax will pull detail out of shadows and black where you might not have though there was any detail.

I have used same as Waldo have the Epson 3590 and it does a very good job of slides negatives and photo's as well as other material.

Bob have you set everything up although it is stand alone surely there is some connectivity for updates etc.??

Also it may be your setting in viewing, such as screen resolution, colour settings etc.

Thanks for the replies. When connected to the PC it acts as a Mass Storage Device. There was no PC software with it and there is no way to upgrade anything that I can find. Settings are pretty limited. You can change the resolution from 5Mp to 10Mp but at 10Mp the scans are worse (edges are very jagged). Interestingly, when you view the slide. it is clear and sharp, it only changes when you scan. I can't change the speed, or aperture of the scanner (camera). I haven't tried negatives yet, so I'll see how they go.

G'day Clubbyr8,

Seeing as you don't have the software etc., the best way to get around it is to install Vuescan. Works on both platforms pretty well, unless you pay the US$10 to unlock the demo you will get $ signs all over your scans, but pay that fee and it's a brilliant piece of software.

VueScan Scanning Software for Windows 7, Mac OS X (Snow Leopard) and Linux

Top of the market for scanner software is SilverFast, but VueScan with a cheap price is well worth it.

(I have nothing to do with this software other than a happy user of it)

I also endorse Vuescan. Been using it for years.

There's been pretty significant increase in the quality of flatbed scanners over the last few years, to the extent I am now happy to scan negatives on a flatbed scanner with attachment rather that use my Canon dedicated slide/negative scanner. Dedicated scanner was giving 100mb+ file sizes.

The upside of the dedicated scanner is that you can do batches of slides/negatives instead of one at a time.

You should not be experiencing lines or other artifacts if your scanner is working properly.

But softness could occur if the print or negative is not entirely flat. If there is some bend or twist the narrow depth of field may cause part of the scan to be sharp and other parts soft.

Cheers,

Dan

Thanks for the replies. Just tried Vuescan and the improvement is amazing. The slides and negatives are excellent, no lines, great colour and contrast. The photos, well I need to play around with them. Matt ones are atrocious but the glossy ones are pretty good, though they take a hell of a long time. SVP scanner is going back as the place I bought it from (City Software) have offered a refund. HP software will be ditched also. Strange they can't run their own scanners properly.
Thanks for the advice...