Film Film scanner advice

I recently bought a Hasselblad Xpan and am in the market for a film scanner. I've done a bit of searching and found that an often recommended film scanner is the Plustek OpticFilm 120 but they're a bit hard to find at the moment. I am seeing the Plustek OptciFilm 8100 still available though - is this able to scan Xpan film? I believe the 120 is able to scan regular 35mm film, Xpan film, and medium format film. But I think the 8100 is only able to scan regular 35mm film but I'm unsure whether it can scan Xpan film as well.
 
I just got an Epson V550, and I believe you can scan the raw film strip by placing the negative on the scanner without the frame holder... I will try and test this for you so you know whether you can get the full wide frame! The V550 is really nice for the price: I got mine from Adorama refurbished by Epson for $119.

I'm jealous about the Xpan, by the way. Love the format and the camera itself looks amazing.
 
The V550 definitely lets you scan wide 135 strips, you don't even need to place the negative without the holder. Just pick the option in the software that shows the whole scan instead of automatically slicing up the frames, then obviously you will have to crop to the actual pano framing.. It lets you scan very high DPI so you can get good resolution. This is a screenshot of the negative strip:

Untitled.jpg
 
The V550 definitely lets you scan wide 135 strips, you don't even need to place the negative without the holder. Just pick the option in the software that shows the whole scan instead of automatically slicing up the frames, then obviously you will have to crop to the actual pano framing.. It lets you scan very high DPI so you can get good resolution. This is a screenshot of the negative strip:

Reading your posts have set me down a different path, I'm now considering the Epson V scanners. I looked them up, I'd like to get a bit more resolution in my scans so I'm looking at the V600 or possibly the V800 too.

I'm seeing some webpages talking about using some kind of film plate to hold the film flat. Is that what you use too?
 
I'm 80% sold on the flatbed scanners after reading agentlossing's advice, and seeing your recommendation for the HP.

There seem to be some views that flatbed scanners aren't as sharp as a dedicated negative film scanner, I'm having a look at that at the moment to see whether I'm likely to notice it or not.
 
The challenges I have with flatbed scanners is that they collect dust.
Lots of dust.
And in places not easy to access, such as the inside of the glass on the flatbed.
The higher the resolution the worse it gets.
 
Dedicated negative scanners are supposed to be crisper, but they're also really expensive. The ones you commonly see available that advertise somewhere between 18-22MP scans are cheap and up-res pretty low quality scans.

Dust can be an issue, fortunately the software does include digital ICE for reducing dust and scratches. I've yet to get totally dust-free scans, but I'm not handling my negatives optimally for avoiding it. Compressed air cans help though. I don't think there's a way to completely avoid dust.
 
Dedicated negative scanners are supposed to be crisper, but they're also really expensive. The ones you commonly see available that advertise somewhere between 18-22MP scans are cheap and up-res pretty low quality scans

I can't find a cheap dedicated negative scanner that can do Xpan film anyway.

I do the occassional paid work so I'm thinking I need something that is perhaps halfway between pro and bare consumer level. The flatbeds may be the way to go now that you guys have put my mind on them.
 
I would put it directly on the scanner bed, it will scan it all including sprockets but still can be set to a huge resolution and cropped down the film guide helps with straightness. Also you might experiment with the 120 film holder just to try and get things lined up straight.
 
I would put it directly on the scanner bed, it will scan it all including sprockets but still can be set to a huge resolution and cropped down the film guide helps with straightness. Also you might experiment with the 120 film holder just to try and get things lined up straight.


I would love to scan it with the sprockets 'n all. If it's a photo that I want to print at a later date, I may consider cropping the sprockets out (or maybe I won't).

Why is there a lot of talk about film holders if we don't need them? I'm trying to learn as much as I can myself but the info available on the net is confusing me somewhat.
 
The film holders automate the process so the scanner can figure out where to crop photos, also it lines the negs up just right so you don't have to straighten them out after. I have noticed the V550 crops a tiny bit into the frame when using 35mm negatives and the holder. If you want sprockets, or at least the black frame edges a la Henri Cartier-Bresson, you need to ditch the 35mm holder.
 
I have no advice, really, but a friend gave me a Nikon Coolscan 9000ED years ago. I haven't used it for a while, since I've been using a Lenovo laptop for a desktop computer with peripherals, and no IEEE connection. I just got a new desktop, though, which allows me to use the Scanner. Vuescan has reverse engineered the drivers, and though I like the original Nikon scanning software better, Vuescan does fine. I'm scanning a 75th birthday party for my mother from 1991. I've never used a scan from any scanner without first putting it into Photoshop, and this is no different, but if you can get a good deal, it's still a nice scanner. Even the underexposed shots don't look bad, just grainy, as you'd expect. Here are a few of my favorites, the first one is of my Mum and her twin brother squeezed onto a small chair. They'd have been 104 this March 12.
2020-04-11-0001a.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
2020-04-11-0003a.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
2020-04-11-0004a.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
2020-04-11-0005.1.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
2020-04-11-0005b.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
2020-04-11-0010.jpg
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Back
Top