Railfan Technology > Slide/film scanners (again!)

Hi all,

The other day my Nikon ED4000 Coolscan film scanner died and of course Nikon no longer supports or repairs them or makes new ones (thanks Nikon) so I am looking for another one. A friend loaned me his PlusTek 8200 but I am not impressed at all with it.

Someone else recommended an Epson V800 and it looks ok, but apparently it is fixed focus, which to me is not acceptable. While most of my slides are Kodak processed Kodachromes, there are a fair number of slides in other mounts of different thicknesses. I see that Epson does offer shims (?) to adjust for that, but that would be really time consuming to scan, shim, re-scan, etc. Even some of the Kodak processed slides have slight differences in mount thickness, and some the film itself is a bit warped or mis-mounted.

I have been checking eBay for used Nikon scanners, but they are selling for more than they did when new, and I am not willing to spend that kind of money on a used scanner that could go south at any time.

Does anyone make a decent slide scanner with auto focus like the Nikon had?

Thanks!

Ted

Ted,

If you didn't like the Plustek, choices are really slim to nothing. What software did you drive it with? You might get better results from it with a different driver, such as Vuescan.

I agree with you on the Epson. I have a V700 and use the shims for scanning negatives but it's a PITA.

I still use a Minolta DiMage Elite 5400 II for transparencies but they are just about as difficult to come by as the Nikon units, and definitely not inexpensive.

If I were in your shoes I'd probably focus on the Plustek and try to find a driver that can get the most out of it.

I wish Sony would re-release the Minolta 5400 II under it's own brand now that it owns Minolta's assets. Seems like they could dominate the market with that unit with Nikon out of the game, and Plustek stumbling and bumbling along the way they are.

Or, depending on how many slides you have to scan, consider a service that uses Nikon scanners. One that comes to mind is www/digmypiks.com

I did forget to mention I am using VueScan, and while I can make the scans look better with Photoshop CS6 (I refuse to rent software!) the scans still aren't as good as what the Nikon could do.

You would think that Sony, Nikon, etc would notice the prices on eBay for decent scanners and realize there is still quite the market for a good scanner! Nikon's attitude about scanners is one of the reasons I went with Canon when I finally gave up on film a few years ago :).

Thanks!

Ted

Anything we should know before we send them slides to scan?

Let me suggest you take a different track (pardon the pun!), and simply take digital pics of your slides rather than use a duplicator. This technique is covered from the Center for Railroad Photography and Art, here: http://www.railphoto-art.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/RH49-OTA8.pdf. I've been taking RAW digital pis of my negative collection for the past few months, and am thrilled with my results. You're welcome to PM me if you'd like.

Thanks for the info...I bookmarked it and will read it tomorrow and see just how they do their scanning.

Ted

ATSF5669 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let me suggest you take a different track (pardon
> the pun!), and simply take digital pics of your
> slides rather than use a duplicator. This
> technique is covered from the Center for Railroad
> Photography and Art, here:
> http://www.railphoto-art.org/wp-content/uploads/20
> 12/10/RH49-OTA8.pdf. I've been taking RAW digital
> pis of my negative collection for the past few
> months, and am thrilled with my results. You're
> welcome to PM me if you'd like.

There's a guy in Florida who makes his living repairing and servicing Nikon film scanners. He has a supply of parts and reconditioned machines. The email adddress I have for him is:

abstudios@live.com

Ken Goslett

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Anything we should know before we send them slides
> to scan?


Make sure to send your slides via a service with tracking...UPS, Priority Mail, etc. I've lost a few slides to careless pre-press people and also a couple were 'lost' in the mail.

They apparently use Nikon 9000 scanners, which is good. Be sure and ask for uncompressed .tiff files and not just jpegs.

Ted