![]() This is really useful, especially when scanning medium format. The Epson V600 will chew through a strip of 6 35mm negatives at 4800 DPI in around 20 mins, giving roughly the double the resolution in the same time as the Canon. Practically, 2400 DPI is the most usable resolution with reasonable scan times of around 3-4 mins per frame. This is a special kind of slow that can realistically only be used if you plan to do a massive print and scan just one particular frame for that purpose. The downside to this is that a single frame of 35mm scanned at that resolution will take the best part of 15 minutes. The Canon 4400f tops out at 4800 DPI before it starts to make things up and use interpolation to make bigger images. We’re talking minutes faster, although it will still trundle along for several minutes at a time for each strip it works through. Whilst the Epson can in no way be described as rapid, it certainly manages to scan a negative and transfer the data to the computer much quicker than the Canon. I’m not going to draw a table and start stroking my beard about scanners, but there are a few differences worth highlighting between my 15 year old Canon and the new Epson. ![]() The cheapest, competent and not obsolete medium format scanner I could find was the Epson V600 photo for approximately £230. There is basically zero choice in the “sane price” segment of the market right now. ![]() You’d think this was a difficult job and you’d be wrong. Surprisingly, these machines are going for almost the same money as a brand new scanner from the usual outlets, so it didn’t make sense to risk going down that road.Īll that was left now was to decide which one. I spent a while browsing ebay to see if there were any scanners that fit the bill which could be picked up for reasonable money. I’d toyed with the idea of spending the money on a decent macro lens and using the lightbox and SLR approach to digitising negatives but for sheer convenience and the volume of negatives I need to get through, a flatbed seemed like a no brainer. I currently have a roll in a Yashica LM, one that has been through a Fulvue and another from a Voigtlander Bessa (also my Grandad’s camera). The other bonus of buying a new scanner was that I’d finally be able to scan 120 film that I’m starting to produce with various TLR and box type cameras. Some of these photographs have not been seen in at least 30 – 40 years and as far as I’m concerned your family history is something that should be preserved regardless of the cost. There are hundreds, possibly a thousand or so frames of 120 film in that bag, along with at least 110 35mm slides. I have recently been given a shopping bag stuffed to overflowing with medium format negatives that my Grandad had produced over his lifetime. There was actually a far more compelling reason to upgrade my scanner. Why upgrade at all? Expensive, massive, useful. It was time to browse Amazon and buy a new film scanner. I don’t mind taking things apart, but when a device is the only one you have, with no backup, I’m reticent to start waving a screwdriver in case I break it and end up without the tools I need. Designed for Windows 7, the software is really showing its age these days and it refuses to work at all on Windows 10 without some significant cajoling which gets in the way of your workflow.įurther to this, it doesn’t allow the scanning of medium format and worryingly it has developed a haze under the glass that I cannot clean off without dismantling the whole thing. I invested in a Canon Canoscan 4400f in 2007 at the very beginnings of my ventures into film photography and it has lasted very, very well albeit with a few annoying limitations. Every now and again, however, there comes a point where you either have no choice, or should admit defeat in the pursuit of a bargain and just spend a decent chunk of cash if you really do want high quality results. There’s something I like about the challenge of finding the absolute best kit you can find for basically next to nothing and this approach has been good for some time. I’ve long been the advocate of operating on a budget when it comes to film photography.
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