Best way to get 35mm strip negatives to digital

[chrisk]

is the best way a v700 or is there something better/ easier ? i have hundreds of strips i want to get onto the PC. i dont need a scanner to do anything else and dont need any multifunctionality, its only for this purpose.
thanks.

[Matt. K]

Best way is with a drum scanner.......but very, very, very expensive. Next best is a V700....and you will not be able to tell the difference unless you print 5 metres by 5 metres. Maybe not even then.

[the foto fanatic]

I think the best way is to pay somebody else to do it!

[chrisk]

I think the best way is to pay somebody else to do it!

I had considered this aswell. What's the going rate ? Do they charge per strip or what ? Anyone have any recommendations/ experiences in Sydney ?

[biggerry]

Between you and Suren wanting to do some film scanning i would just buy a V700 and charge ya both
The V700 is around the 600 buck mark, i guess depending on how much it costs to have some one do it - a quick google search reveals 90 cents a image seems to be a going rate for 'hi-res' strip negatives... if you have a thousand images and teh time to burn, then a V700 might be a better option?

[Reschsmooth]

I think the best way is to pay somebody else to do it!

I had considered this aswell. What's the going rate ? Do they charge per strip or what ? Anyone have any recommendations/ experiences in Sydney ?

Have a look at C41digital in Brookvale, Next to the knock shop or Vision Graphics at St Leonard's,

Depending on how many strips you have, you cold buy a V700 and then resell after you finish. You would probably only lose about 200-300.

[Murray Foote]

A V700 is the way to go. I don't know that you'll find a drum scanner these days even in a lab, Nikon film scanners are obselete and I think don't work with Win7-64 and an Imacon costs about $10,000. An Imacon would give you close enough to full resolution which if you were shooting Velvia with impeccable technique and equipment is probably around 4,000dpi or possible a little more. A V700 will give you probably 2,500dpi, maybe up to 2,800dpi, good enough for an A3+ print. The claimed 6,400dpi resolution is theoretical not actual. A cheaper Epson scanner is not a good idea because even though the scanning engine and the quality will probably be the same, you will waste too much time scanning say one strip at a time. Scanning is always time-consuming.

The standard Epson software is likely to be good enough. You may get a bit more with Vuescan (eg multiscanning) but the extra $80 is probably not required. You may get a bit more again from Silverfast AI Studio (eg better multiscanning and may be better for negs) but that's quite quite expensive and there's a significant learning curve. Cheaper Silverfast options are likely to be a waste of time. If you really want to get adventurous and experimental in search of better scanning quality, wet-scanning is a possibility. I've never tried it myself and it's likely to be time-consuming; I doubt you'd want to but I should be able to find some links if you do.

I don't think getting scans done is a good idea. Either it'll cost too much or the quality probably won't be that good (and it may still cost too much) and you're losing control of the process.

So, likely recommendation in summary: V700 with standard Epson software. You'll want to scan without clipping highlight or shadow detail, generating a somewhat flat file somewhat like a RAW file, then optimise in Lightroom or Photoshop.

[Matt. K]

Here's the trick...buy a V700 and scan all of your negs withing 3 months. Sell V700 with 9 month guarantee left on it and you will only lose about $95.00 on your original purchase price.

[Matt. K]

Forgot to mention...you get a version of Silverfast with the purchase ofa V700...but the Epson software is excellent.

[the foto fanatic]

Another point to consider is the quality and type of the original negative or slide.

If they are fine art shots then you may well want to have full control over the process as Matt suggests. But if they are happy snaps and family memories such fine detail may not be necessary or even optimal.
You will have to judge what your time is worth too - do you wish to spend hours scanning, or are you happy to pay someone to get it done.
When I was digitising my slides I soon tired of it and sent them to a lab.

It may be worth getting a handful done to judge whether you are happy with the quality. If you aren't, then it might be time to buy a scanner.

[chrisk]

Thanks guys. You've been a great help.

Im going to count the strips then ask for a quote first to get an idea on how much it will cost to get someone else to do the work the work from there.

You're also right about quality of negs, some are pretty old. But kept in a closed storage box at least so should be dust free.

[chrisk]

So the going rate seems to be $1.80-$2.40 PER PHOTO !
If I have 1,000 pics it's gonna be around $2000. Epsom v700 is looking pretty damn good now. lol