I have a large number of 60's 35mm negs & transparencies and 6x4 and larger prints without their negs. Can I sensibly get away with the Canoscan 9950F for both, or do I need to buy a dedicated slide scanner too? (eg Minolta 5400) Anyone's experience would be valued as I am new to this kind of scanning.
It depends on how large your prints will be.
Chris,
My experience with the 9950F is:
nice prints up to 4x6 or 5x7" from 35mm, up to 10x12 from rollfilm, up to 20x25 from 4x5" sheet film.
Real scanning resolution of the 9950f is about 1500dpi (not 4800 dpi as official specs say).
Regards,
Finding a good 9950F can be difficult. I am on my fourth one now. Look for subtile streaking in clear blue skies along the direction of the scan.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
Definitely get the Minolta 5400 if you have the $650 for it (B&H I believe). Results are *fantastic* and you will never have to rescan them again. I just scanned about 100 old Kodachromes and retouched them and they look amazing. A few cons about the scanner though:
1. The Minolta scanning software takes a bit of getting used to.
2. The digital ICE is great but extremely slow.
3. The scanner doesn't like to be overworked and will start doing weird things after many hours of continuous scanning.
Then again, if you just want 4x6 prints, you could do well with the 4870, 9950 or even a cheaper 4000dpi film scanner.
Folks
thank you for your useful replies which answer my question exactly. The Minolta 5400 wins.
Be very warry of the Canons. I have just rejected another replacement scanner from Canon. Same steaking problem and no help from Canon. Lots of my time wasted on their problem. My Epson 4870 works fine ( I was looking for higher speeds and large volume for batch scans. Don't buy the Canon.
Thanks,
Kirk
at age 73:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep"
Thanks to the advice given by you guys I bought the Minolta 5400 with which I am more than a little pleased. However I still find I need a good flatbed. I have the HP ScanJet 6300c which is pretty good but I would like to go one better as I hope to print as high as A3 and certainly A4. Several of you have serious reservations about the Canon 9950F. Any other suggestions please?
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