Photo scanners...advice pls
Discussion
Im looking to digitise all my old 35mm pics, juts to tidy things up, and to make them useable for websites etc.
My question is this, will a simple device like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epson-Perfectio
Be worth having ? Im not lookin for total perfection, just to modernise them really.
Apologies to the Repost Bib, did a quick search and turned up nowt.
Thanks all.
F
My question is this, will a simple device like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Epson-Perfectio
Be worth having ? Im not lookin for total perfection, just to modernise them really.
Apologies to the Repost Bib, did a quick search and turned up nowt.
Thanks all.
F
Are you planning to scan photos or negatives/slides?
If photos, are they faded or damaged at all and in need of corrective action?
In general the more recent the scanner them more likely it is to offer a usable turn of speed at the scan level you are targetting - and that is important since scanning and filing for anything close to a largish collection consumes a lot of time.
In that respect the software that should come with the scanner is probably more important than the scanner itself, though you can always find other programs to drive the scanner if you are not happy with what you get.
On the other hand if your main use is for web sites the scan resolution required will not be great (you will want to keep the files small) so the ultimate scanner image quality may not be so important for you. 2400 can give some large files. If you can buy the unit cheaply enough experimenting to see if it will give you what you are looking for is not likely to break the bank and if you're not happy just sell it on and buy something a little better.
Budget for some more disk space though - even if you think you have plenty to spare. And be sure to backup to something which will not mean lost files if your system crashes - you won't want to repeat the scanning process.
If photos, are they faded or damaged at all and in need of corrective action?
In general the more recent the scanner them more likely it is to offer a usable turn of speed at the scan level you are targetting - and that is important since scanning and filing for anything close to a largish collection consumes a lot of time.
In that respect the software that should come with the scanner is probably more important than the scanner itself, though you can always find other programs to drive the scanner if you are not happy with what you get.
On the other hand if your main use is for web sites the scan resolution required will not be great (you will want to keep the files small) so the ultimate scanner image quality may not be so important for you. 2400 can give some large files. If you can buy the unit cheaply enough experimenting to see if it will give you what you are looking for is not likely to break the bank and if you're not happy just sell it on and buy something a little better.
Budget for some more disk space though - even if you think you have plenty to spare. And be sure to backup to something which will not mean lost files if your system crashes - you won't want to repeat the scanning process.
LongQ said:
Are you planning to scan photos or negatives/slides?
About 98 % photos
LongQ said:
If photos, are they faded or damaged at all and in need of corrective action?
Not really, most are in good order.
LongQ said:
In that respect the software that should come with the scanner is probably more important than the scanner itself, though you can always find other programs to drive the scanner if you are not happy with what you get.
I believe it comes with elements, altho I already have cs2
LongQ said:
On the other hand if your main use is for web sites the scan resolution required will not be great (you will want to keep the files small) so the ultimate scanner image quality may not be so important for you. 2400 can give some large files. If you can buy the unit cheaply enough experimenting to see if it will give you what you are looking for is not likely to break the bank and if you're not happy just sell it on and buy something a little better.
I say websites, its really more a case of just being to share a pic over the web, ie I have loads of old drag 35mm that I (a) want to share , and (b) want to provide to another nostalgia website, where quality os not quite so critical.
LongQ said:
Budget for some more disk space though - even if you think you have plenty to spare. And be sure to backup to something which will not mean lost files if your system crashes - you won't want to repeat the scanning process.
I have about 75gig hard disc left, but was actually thinking of burning on to dvd ?
Many thanks for your input.
Based on your answers I would guess it would do the job for you easily.
I'm not familiar with the model you linked to but I have an Epson 4990 which produces some excellent results from photos, slides and negatives. I mostly scan negatives.
I have no idea about the acceptable cost price for the model on eBay but no doubt you have done your research. Looks like equivalent new current models would be priced at around 60 to 80 quid but that comment is based on a very brief internet check.
You should be able to limit the files sizes for web sharing and still get very acceptable results. No worry about disk capacity either really if you do that. The files can be quite small. Backup to CD or DVD or an external hard drive still recommended of course in case of disk failure. It would be a pan to have to re-scan if you had a computer catastrophe.
Hope this helps.
I'm not familiar with the model you linked to but I have an Epson 4990 which produces some excellent results from photos, slides and negatives. I mostly scan negatives.
I have no idea about the acceptable cost price for the model on eBay but no doubt you have done your research. Looks like equivalent new current models would be priced at around 60 to 80 quid but that comment is based on a very brief internet check.
You should be able to limit the files sizes for web sharing and still get very acceptable results. No worry about disk capacity either really if you do that. The files can be quite small. Backup to CD or DVD or an external hard drive still recommended of course in case of disk failure. It would be a pan to have to re-scan if you had a computer catastrophe.
Hope this helps.
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