What is a negative scanner and how much should a decent one cost?
A negative scanner is a piece of equipment which allows you to scan slide negatives and film negatives and turn them into digital images, in a similar process to that of using a traditional scanner.
If you need something to let you scan in old 35mm negatives or slide negatives to the computer, a negative scanner is the thing you need.
How long does it take to scan in negatives with one?
Negatives can usually be scanned in small batches of around 4-6 depending on the scanner involved and the capabilities of it. Scanning can take between a couple of minutes per batch, upto 10-15 minutes again depending on the scanner and also the results you are looking to achieve.
Is the quality good and how much should a decent one cost?
With prices ranging from around £40 upto many hundreds of pounds you should expect to get quality in comparison with the price. Like many things in life you get what you pay for, however having said that if you are a novice to photography or negative scanning then the lower end of the market may still be more than adequate for your purposes. You could always upgrade at a later date should the quality not be up to your required standards.
With prices ranging from around £40 upto many hundreds of pounds you should expect to get quality in comparison with the price. Like many things in life you get what you pay for, however having said that if you are a novice to photography or negative scanning then the lower end of the market may still be more than adequate for your purposes. You could always upgrade at a later date should the quality not be up to your required standards.
Alot of pc scanners come with negative holders that may do the job also so consider looking for a holder if you currently have a normal flat bed scanner.
For those into photography that use a negative based camera should consider converting to a Digital SLR such as the entry model EOS 1000D from Canon.
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7 Comments on "What is a negative scanner and how much should a decent one cost?"
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Bernard Jelley on Thu, 22nd Jan 2009 9:08 pm
Is there a reasonably priced negative scanner that will scan
2 and 1/4 inch transparancies
admin on Fri, 23rd Jan 2009 9:33 pm
You could use a flatbed with a transparency adapter which would be the easier method if you already have an existing flatbed scanner. Otherwise i would suggest looking at the Epson Perfection range depending on the price you are looking to pay: http://www.epson.co.uk/products/product_hub/home_scanning.htm.
If they suite your needs but the price is out of your range then second hand via eBay may be an alternative option.
Tony on Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 6:05 pm
I have quite a few of the ’80s fashionable ‘disc’ camera negatives and would love to be able to scan them to SD or PC. Does kit exist to be able to scan theses thumb nail size negatives??
admin on Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 6:46 pm
Hi Tony,
Do you mean something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film
If so I don’t believe there is a purpose built negative scanner for disc negatives.
Your best option would be to use a flatbed scanner with a high resolution setting of at least 6400 dpi due to the small size of disc film as this would give the best results using some dedicated negative software.
Your other option is to get someone to do it, a quick look around and it appears these will do it: http://www.processc22.co.uk/ although the price is not cheap and as you have quite a few it may be worth attempting it yourself.
John on Mon, 29th Mar 2010 1:23 pm
I am looking for a cheap scanner that I can use with 35mm and 110 negatives….any ideas….ta
Louise Cotton on Thu, 26th Aug 2010 4:13 pm
I am thinking of buying a negative scanner (for 35mm negatives), but don’t know what quality of digital copies I need in terms of dpi’s or megapixels. I would like the quality of a copy to be such that a print taken from it would be of the same quality as a print taken from the original negative (the object of the negative scanning being to be able to throw away the boxes of negatives).
Advice please!
admin on Thu, 26th Aug 2010 6:10 pm
Hi Louise
One of the purpose built negative scanners such as the Veho would give the same sort of quality as a print taken from the original negative.
To improve the results further you could always use additional software to tweek the scans instead of the bundled software that comes with the scanner.
There is an article on software for negative scanners here.