I have about 150 medium format negatives. What are the options for scanning these and what would the cost estimate be? I am looking for the highest quality possible so that potentially 20X30 photos can bemade from themif necessary. I am also looking to keep the cost under some level of control as well. Your input is appreciated.
Your going to have a hard time trying to do this cheaply. My best guess would be to buy a Nikon coolscan 9000ED and do it yourself. I'am guessing having them scanned (all 150) commercially wil cost as much as the coolscan (which you could sell off and recover almost all the money you invested in the first place). The downer with the coolscan is you'll be spending a fair amount of time scanning them.
I bought a Microtek Artixscan M1 for scanning hard copy and film (mostly slides) and it works fantastic with the glassless setup. The only drawback is the speed. And the fact that they discontinued selling consumer products in the US. (They only sell commercial equipment now.) You might be able to find one for a reasonable price and do it yourself...
The only other option for GOOD high resolution scans is going to cost a good bit of money. (And if it is cheap, their will be a reason.)
Rent a Nikon Coolscan 9000 or buy an older 8000ED second hand and resell it after you are done. The Nikon Coolscans don't depreciate a lot, so a second hand deal could be interesting. Renting rates here in Europe are about 25 euro a day or 170 a week (incl. tax). Both solutions will satisfy your needs and quality standards since quality of the 8000 and 9000 is at a high level. As others mentioned above, it requires quite some time to make scans at the highest resolution and you should be prepared to invest some time in the learning curve of getting control over the scanning process. A good scan (colour balance, contrast, gamma and gamut control) is the result of photographic skills and good understanding of the scanprocess. Don't forget to use the right software that makes use of Nikon's dust and scratch control (ICE) for colour negatives and slides. The software usually comes with a second hand scanner. At rental stations a copy of the software is part of the deal or sold separately. Another reminder is to negotiate a deal with the right set of negative and slide holders. Some companies rent those holders at ridiculous prices compared to the scanner itself.
If you are not willing to spend the time on scanning, send the slides to a pro lab for a drum scan. Not cheap, but high quality. But someone like you who wants max control over quality is probably best served with his own scanner, rented or not. I hope this is helpful.
Scanning is always time consuming, the better the scan modality the more time consuming. Drum scans being a long workflow, $50 is cheap for a drumscan from what I have seen, many labs charge $100+ depending on the resolution.
The Nikon LS9000 is where to start, they can be difficult to find, Nikon doesn't seem to import many. Not a drum scan but a decent scanner.
Next step down is an Epson V700/750, these are capable of decent work, but must be set up properly. Since they don't have focus settings the initial setup is critical. I have been using one for 3 years and like what I have gotten from the scanner. The 35mm results were better than my Nikon 35mm LS2000. I have scanned 35mm - 4x5 and gotten good results.
West Coast Imaging is running a deal RIGHT NOW for 600mb 16bit DRUM SCANS! (Keep in mind, that is the same resolution as a 300mb 8bit scan, but with more pixel depth which is always good.)
I got this in an email yesterday:
BLAST OFF into the holidays with a new portfolio of prints; a fully stocked gallery; and gifts for your loved ones. You have ONE week until Thanksgiving, and the official start of the holiday season. This is it. It's time to take a look at your film and send us a batch for scanning, so you can have images to work on come January after the holiday rush subsides.
WEEK NINE SALE:
600MB 16-Bit Scans for $47.97
This week we're offering one of our best scan sales ever...save 40% off our 600MB 16-bit Tango Drum Scans, making them just $47.97 each.
600MB scans are the most popular scan size for large and medium format photographers. Once you digitize your images, you can work on them in Photoshop, then make big and little prints to sell or give to friends...send them in as magazine submissions...share your images online...the possibilities are endless...but the first crucial step is to make an excellent scan.
So, break out your light box, and inspire yourself as you sort through your archive of images. Whether you have 6x6; 6x7; 6x17; 4x5; or 8x10 film...or something in between...this scan sale is good through Wednesday, November 25, 2009....Show more →
This is about the best deal you could get for such a scan. (I scan negs and slides for people now and then but for that size of a file, I charge almost that much and it's not even a drum scan.)
Thanks for the great suggestions everyone. I think I may choose two or three negatives out of the 150 to have drum-scanned as spending $7500 to have all of them scanned this way is not an option for me. I do appreciate knowing now that this is the highest quality option and that there is a sale that I can take advantage of at least for a negative or two. It looks like for the rest of the scans I have a couple of options locally that can work with my budget:
1) Nikon Coolscan 9000 scans at a local photo shop.
2) Noritsu scans with an option of 16 Base or 64 Base at a cost of about 3X the 16 Base scans at a local photo shop.
Any opinions or experiences with either scanner and it's output? I know that there is much more to it than the machine itself but given that the skill level of the person scanning is the same which of these would produce the best output. Also, would 64 base make much of a difference over 16 base for prints up to 20X30? How about for cropping.
What does the photo shop charge for LS 9000 scans.
I'm figuring the Noritsu is a drum scanner, what is the res they are using for 16 base and 64 base, never liked that terminology because 1 I don't understand it and 2. I have seen very different resolutions mentioned between vendors, or vendors who turn up their noses when you ask. 2000ppi at 8 or 16 bit makes sense, 4000 ppi at 8 or 16 bit makes sense, 600mb files at 16 bit makes sense.
Give me the data not the terminology.
The Noritsu is NOT a drum scanner. It's an automated CCD scanner that is generally part of a photo lab's printing department. They use the scanner part of the Noritsu printer to digitize film that has been just developed and is to be printed on the Noritsu. Not really great quality scans but good enough for maybe a decent 8 x 10 or so. The Nikon, once you learn it will give the best quality short of a drum scan.
If you want to see what a great quality drum scan can do, contact me off list and I can make a sample scan for you. As with any scanner, the quality of the scan is very dependent on the quality of the person doing the scan.
I've ran a Noritsu before and the scans from the Nikon Coolscan should be better IMO. (it depends a lot on the skill level of the tech doing the scanning) Will they be correcting the color, sharpening and spotting for dust with the Coolscan scans? That's time saved on your part if they take care of that for you.
Keep in mind Nikon Scan is no longer supported. It wont work on OS X 10.5 or 10.6 - I'm not sure about its compatibility with Windows. For the money, VueScan is a nice little program but Silverfast is miles ahead of it atmo.
As far as what kinds of equipment and things you need to keep in mind when approaching the project, I think the other posters have covered things pretty well.
This forum is fantastic. Hopefully I will get up to speed at some point and be able to contribute as all of you have here.
I feel much better equipped to make a decision on these scans.
Tomm101 - The charge for the Nikon Scans is $2.75 each. The charge for the Noritsu scans at 16 Base is $1.50 each and $4.50 each for 64 Base. I am not sure what that terminology translates into in terms of "data".
Peter - Thanks for the info. you are right the Noritsu is part of their photo lab. Thank you for the offer to learn a little bit more about drum scan capabilities. I'll send you a PM.
I see strong support for Nikon (aside from drum scanning) so I will explore that option further.
Glazer's Camera in Seattle has a Hasselblad X5 for rent at 60$/hr that I use from time to time. They also have a Nikon 9000 that rents for 75$/day. I know other large cities have rentals as well. -R
