Luddite needs a new scanner

[Wayne]

I need to replace my old scanner which has refused to work despite the best efforts of HP. My new scanner needs to have only 3 qualities.

1) ability to scan text, and b/w and color (mostly Ilfochrome) prints reasonably well, ie good enough for web publishing purposes (no film ability needed) I have pretty low standards, am I correct that just about any scanner will work just fine or do I need to look for something special?

2) available at Best Buy or Office Max

3) relatively inexpensive, ie hopefully under $200

any make/model suggestions? I havent looked at scanner since the last (and only) time I bought one 5-6 years ago. I do know there are a lot of all-in-one types out there these days but I dont want one unless its my only option. Thanks

[Donald Qualls]

For your needs, you should be able to find what you want for well under $100. You can get one with fax/modem/printer/copier functions for $200.

Eliminating the requirement to scan film and slides drops both the need for handling transparent originals, and the need for extremely high resolution -- 600 ppi should be plenty and you'd probably be happy with 300 ppi scans from prints, unless you routinely make tiny prints or need to scan original Polaroids in pack-film sizes. That, in turn, puts you in the range of the very bottom end of scanners.

Buy two; they keep.

[Brian C. Miller]

Well, for $78 you can have something that will do all of that. Just look on the web sites, CompUSA has some good deals. There's even one for $35.

[Wayne]

Just for the sake of discussion, lets say I did want something with the ability to scan color trannies-what ballpark would I be in then, dollarwise, and would I have to find one specifcially made with film scanning in mind?

[Donald Qualls]

There are flatbed scanners with backlight lids that do a pretty good job with film. No, they won't pull 100 megapixels out of a 35 mm frame, but few of us need that (and on the rare occasions when you do, you can probably justify paying a bureau for a drum or Imacon scan). The current crop of Epson scanners do a pretty reasonable job with negatives and trannies, and there are models that will accommodate up to 4x5, but then you're getting into some money; I'm not sure those will stay under $200, and furthermore Epson flatly lies about their resolution -- nowhere do they tell you that their advertised resolution is obtained by interpolation and in fact they only get, at most, about 2400 ppi optically and mechanically -- but if you understand their optical and mechanical limits, some Epson models can do an excellent job.

Mind you, 2400 ppi is plenty for web display, even from 35 mm, if the scanner is well focused on the film and the film is kept flat. I have an older flatbed scanner with a glassless film carrier that accomodates up to 4x5, or will take 8x10 film on the glass, and has 2400 ppi vertical, 1200 ppi horizontal actual resolution -- my scans look great, and I paid about $160 including shipping and buying the SCSI card and cable needed to connect to my computer. (Most modern scanners are USB, so you don't have to mess with SCSI.) And 2400 ppi will, if required, pull 100 megapixels out of 4x5, which is enough to make a digital print in the 24x30 inch range, even if it's to be viewed at less than arm's length (much larger if you assume standing back from a big print, as is usually the case).

Worth mentioning, with a little trickery a simple flatbed can be made to scan film -- it's still only at the flatbed's resolution, but from MF or LF film that might be enough for web display. One method I've seen is a mirrored "roof" that reflects the scan light onto the back of the film. There are commercial products that will do this on any flatbed, though they have limited film size; with some mirror, glass cutter, and duct tape you could make one that would scan a 4x5 on an A4 scanner bed. That would allow scanning negatives and trannies with the sub-$100 scanners, and likely still give adequate quality for web display.

[Wayne]

I wont be doing any digital printing in this lifetime, this is just for web display. It just occured to me after my original post that i could scan some of my color trannies that I've never gotten around to printing. Your last paragraph is probably the ideal solution.

Pardon my Luddishness but what is A4?

[Brian C. Miller]

"A4" is a paper size.

Also, the right-angle mirror actually stinks. I know, an HP scanner I used for a while had one and it didn't work that well. You can get a scanner with a transparency light source for $300.

[Ken Cravillion]

A4 is also an Audi car but try getting that on your scanner!

[Donald Qualls]

To be a little more specific, A4 is the European/metric paper size that most closely matches the American/English "Letter size" of 8.5x11 inches. As I recall, it's a tiny tad narrower and about a quarter inch longer, but I couldn't swear to it. Most low-end scanners are A4/Letter dual format -- that is, they're wide enough for letter, but long enough for A4.

[Wayne]

Thanks for the education. For 300 I can live without the tranny scanner, I'll just get the el cheapo.

I hadnt thought about Polaroids though, I just bought a Polaroid that is en route to me . I'll be using 3.25 X 4.25 in it, and I may do some 4x5s later. I may want to scan some of those-will I need higher resolution or other specs for that to come out well? I called the computer store tonight and asked them, but I got the distinct impression the clerk doesnt know what a film camera is and since I know next to diddly about megapixels so we just frustrated each other.