Advise for 35mm film scanner below $300

[Konei]

Actually, I have an idea. Why don't you just rent it from one of the guys who have a good film scanner.

Firstly, I think you only have a batch of old film to scan. Nowadays most people are on a digital camera, so unlikely to have new film to scan later on. Secondly, you don't need to buy a good (and expensive) film scanner. I think maybe a $50-$100 rental (depending on period) is very reasonable and probably the lender will also be happy that he can recoup some of his hardware investments without losing the scanner. And you can be happy with the scanning result withou having to invest in a scanner. Yeah and you pay much less than having to buy a film scanner that you'll not use afterwards.

BTW, since I'm also looking to rent a film scanner to archive my old photos, anyone who is willing to rent out a dedicated film scanner .......

 

[Konei]

Yeah, and I know someone will recommend going to a shop to get it scanned. But if you have 30-40 rolls to scan, that's going to cost like $500.

 

[micky]

Actually, for a ~$300-$400 scanner, is it possible to get quality from a 35mm that is equivalent to a 6-8 megapixel DSLR? I tried scanning some of my slides and 35mm on my girlfriend's HP scanner (dunno what model.. it's those 3 in one type), but the result is extremely grainy and lots of white spots, which i presume is dust. How much will someone have to spend on a scanner before we can get one that will not have these grainy results?

 

[bringal]

I usually scan my 35mm film at 1200dpi at least, for a 4R output. 2400dpi is preferred. Scan in tiff format instead of jpg. Noise level will not be so bad then. For those who have faded films, try the Color Restoration feature in Epson scanners. It works! I am satisfied with my Epson 4180. It can also scan medium format, slides, stripfilms and A4 documents. Film scanners are more expensive and is limited to stripfilm and slides only.
I guess it really depends on your budget and what you want to do with your scanned films.

 

[mpenza]

Actually, for a ~$300-$400 scanner, is it possible to get quality from a 35mm that is equivalent to a 6-8 megapixel DSLR? I tried scanning some of my slides and 35mm on my girlfriend's HP scanner (dunno what model.. it's those 3 in one type), but the result is extremely grainy and lots of white spots, which i presume is dust. How much will someone have to spend on a scanner before we can get one that will not have these grainy results?

maybe you could try some second hand film scanners that would give better results? I'm currently using the HP S20 Photosmart which does the job quite well. Used to have the Minolta Scan Dual III which performed well too.