Leica good scanner for B&W negatives?

chalkdust

Regular
Long, long ago when I was nearly always broke, I shot entirely in B&W and processed film and printed my shots with an enlarger in a darkroom. I do not want to set up the enlarger and darkroom thing again, but I recall that processing the film was simple enough in a dark bathroom since it happens in a lightproof tank anyway. I recently looked prices for good old D76 and some hypo and some film. The prices are all very reasonable still. I think I can find my old development tank and thermometer. But if I cannot, those are not expensive either.

I am thinking about re-entering the B&W film hobby. But I would like to scan negatives and do my printing digitally.

If anyone else does this, I am interested in gleaning from your experience. Which scanners are good and which are not? What unexpected difficulties have you found and how did you overcome them?
 
This is what I would recommend:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...783064365321_OpticFilm_8100_Film_Scanner.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._783064365345_optic_film_8200ise_scanner.html

The 8200i is the functional equivalent of the Plustek 7600i, which is what I use. The only difference between the 8100 and the 8200i is that the latter has an infrared channel which, through the use of Digital Ice, allows for dust and scratch reduction. However, Digital Ice DOES NOT work on conventional B&W films or Kodachrome, so if you only intend to scan conventional B&W, you can save the difference in cost.

The only difference between the 8200i SE and the 8200i Ai is that the latter comes with a more advanced version of Silverfast (the scanning software). I absolutely hated Silverfast and use VueScan instead, which is fairly inexpensive and much more user friendly. So, get the SE version and VueScan instead.

Here are some samples:

On Ilford Delta 400 rated at 500 and developed in Ilfotec-DDX. Processed to enhance grain and toned in Silver Efex.

View attachment 7226
La vecindad - El contador
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

8533565802_456b021a4f_b.jpg

La vecindad - Garage Ferrer
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

On Tri-X rated at box speed and developed in D76 1:1.

8449674027_605618b1b4_b.jpg

El güiro
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

8450759940_b60d4bc03f_b.jpg

El Santo Sebastián
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

On Ilford Delta 100 developed in D76 1:1.

8354708429_734582fedb_b.jpg

En la Calle Luna
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

8358027466_996a2beb35_b.jpg

Baltasar
by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

All on a Leica M6TTL. Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Antonio
 
I recently received my 8200si and have scanned a few mono negs to try it out. I did a lot of scanning years ago with a Nikon 2000, so I know what to expect pretty well. The results so far with the Plustek are excellent. I like latest Silverfast a lot and I think this is going to be a successful combination for me. I don't think you'll do any better unless you want to pay a great deal more. By the way, the Plustek/Silverfast combination produces superior scans to my Nikon Coolscan.


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