can it be done on an ordinary scanner or do you need a fancy pants "film scanner"?

If you have the right attachments it can be done – I used to use a highish end Epson flatbed for film scanning… it was pretty "average" results though (if I am kind!)

hey Rob, some cool pics on your website

what do you think about these?film scanner @ Maplin

ALdi had a similar one for sale @ £40 recently. Results are OK, but then again it depends what you want it for – we only want to be able to see old slides on a PC. If you need things printing properly then you have access to the original negatioves / slides, so you don;t really need a high res high quality scan, do you?

no, just for Lomo/diana cam film converting to digital

If I wanted decent quality scans from film (neg or trannie) I would always have images scanned by a professional using a professional drum scanner. Yes a cheap flatbed will do a job, but certainly not professional quality.

There was a time when print 'repro' houses were everywhere and it was very easy to get scans done, but they don't really exist anymore (due to the digital revolution) but there are a few specialists if you ask Google.

If I wanted decent quality scans from film (neg or trannie) I would always have images scanned by a professional using a professional drum scanner. Yes a cheap flatbed will do a job, but certainly not professional quality.
There was a time when print 'repro' houses were everywhere and it was very easy to get scans done, but they don't really exist anymore (due to the digital revolution) but there are a few specialists if you ask Google.

Yep, tell me about it. That's what I used to do, on a Crosfield 6250 drum scanner. It got replaced by a Scitek A3 flatbed, which was crap by comparison. A mate bought, on my recommendation, an Epson all in one around three years ago, and it does fantastic quality scans, much better than the £35000 Scitek ever did.

Crosfield… Scitek…

That's bringing back memories for me 🙂

How I used to like my meanders to the repro house to drop off/pick up scans/trannies/typesetting/seps etc.

I got a film scanner attachment for my Epson flatbed – basically a flat panel light – but it's effectively specular – a direct light path, so every bit of dust, grease and crap on the light source and the scanner glass are perfectly rendered – and of course they're static magnets, so the result looked awful 🙁

If you've got +£220 to spend, have a look at the new Canon MP990. It's just out and is an updated version of the highly capable (and still available!) MP980 – which should also be dropping in price pretty soon.

That's bringing back memories of a gorgeous Scitek sales rep.

'Scuse me … ahhh … that's better…

😯

How I used to like my meanders to the repro house to … pick up …trannies

we've got your number sonny!

we've got your number sonny!

😀