Picture scanners

[EGS]

I want to get a scanner so that I can put my old pictures on my computer.

Are there any brands to avoid? Anything that I should look for?

 

[Contract Logger]

I'll second this question-- I have much to contribute to the site, by I am a technology midget, lol. What will be the best scanner so my friend EGS and I can show off our film pics???

 

[Alberta]

Are pictures the only thing you want to scan ? How much do you want to spend ?

 

[Contract Logger]

Mostly pics and brochures for me-- I was thinking of a flatbed-style, something around a hundred bucks? For personal, evening use to scan old pics and docs for emailing, etc.

 

[95zIV]

This is the brand that my company just issued to everyone in our operations divisions. It seems to do a decent job, I've never done a photo with it and with some software other then what I've got you might pretty good results. I will say that for documents and receipts, which is what we got them for, I've had really good results.

The model I have is a PS600-03 which is no longer in production and has been replaced by a newer model. Remember also, these are like anything else these days, the more money you put into one, the better you'll get. Flatbed scanners are nice especially if you have little or no patience, because then you aren't fighting to feed things through them. Another option is a printer with the scanners built in, they work pretty darn well too.

http://www.ambir.com/products-catalog/scanners-document-scanners

 

[Alberta]

My preference is Canon, with Epson as second choice.HP can be hit and miss. You want a scanner with a minimum optical resolution of 4800 DPI, CCD sensors (not CIS/LED), dynamic range of at least 3. Color depth is not an issue since most have at least 24 to 48 bit. Hardware based infrared cleaning, for dust and scratch removal (digital ice or fare).Also look for bundled software...

 

[EGS]

Thank you Alberta and 95.

I mainly just want to scan pics. I am the most impatience person there is, so I better get the flatbed style.

Thanks guys!

 

[RonG]

I have several different scanners,I started with Microtek many years ago,my largest scanner is an Microtek 9600XL which will scan 11"x17" which is about the size of a newspaper page these days.It has the transparency adapter which will allow you to scan film and slides,basically the scanner cover is the light source and you can fill the bed with slides and batch scan them while you tend to other things.
I have had HP scanners,I now have a Canon which does not impress me too much.My latest aquisition is an Epson which I like.I am trying to get the film holders for it and it also has the transparency adapter in the lid like the Microteks have.I think that it may be the best scanner I have for pics and film but have not spent a lot of time with it.
I also have a dedicated slide/film scanner which will also batch scan the whole roll of film once you get it configured for brightness,contrast etc.Scanning is a slow process and the ability to batch scan helps a lot because you don't need to tend to it while it works.
The one common denominator with my scanning is my scanning software.I use Vuescan and it gives you a lot more control over the scanning process.If I had old film and pictures to scan it would be my first purchase.I scanned all of my old military pics before I found out about it and really should do them all again.Vuescan will work with thousands of scanners and Ed Hamrick updates it daily.You can download it from hamrick.com and it is a fully functional trial copy which you can use forever if you can live with the watermark on your scans.When you register it the watermark goes away of course.
You can buy some fantastic scanners on ebay for very little money,I would not buy new without a good reason.Ron G

 

[heavylift]

If your buying a combo printer/ scaner/ whatever.... which is what I'm looking at right now.... get one with the cheapest inks replacements.... nothing like buying a printer that the inks are more than what you paid for the printer...

I need a new scanner... my film scanner quit... as did the flatbed...

If you happen to run across some of my photos here... some have been taken with the lenses jerry rigged from an old fingerprint and mugshot camera....to a cheapie digital camera..