# Best scanner for old B&W film negatives



## Wiser13

I have some old B&W negatives from the early fifties on and wish to convert them digitally to positive images. What's the best and quickest (and cheapest) scanner to do this with? I have a Canon LIDE 210 which will work but takes a lot of work with Photoshop to get only a fair copy of the image in black and white.


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## photocyclist58

I purchased an Ion Film2sd scanner to use for my slides. It worked rather well for how simple it was to use. I've not tried it with negative film; but, it comes with negative holders. I was satisfied with the slide scanning. It has a negative setting.


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## usayit

If quality is your ultimate goal and negative is the only media, I highly recommend a dedicate negative scanner.... They are fairly expensive so you should start with setting a budget and posting what it is here.

If you need something in the lower budget range, I like my Epson V700 flatbed.  Others have posted excellent reviews around the smaller and less expensive V600.   The issue with flatbeds is that it is tedious work.... loading and unloading the carriers and making sure they are dust free.

A the bottom the range are cheaper units such as the one already mentioned.   They are essentially cheap P&S technology packaged in a unit that is much like a slide copier attached to a camera.   The ones I have sampled aren't too impressive but my standards are high.  They just might be good enough for some.   

Now..

If this is a one time thing and you don't intend on future scanning, then I would call around first to a camera shop that has access to high quality scanner (make sure its a good one) and have them do it.  Let them do the work (it is tedious.. even with a dedicated negative scanner).  Negotiate on how you want the final images delivered to you (JPG, TIFF, etc), if they will do the initial contrast adjustment, and/or photoshop scratches and dust.   The services can vary but it saves you a tone of trouble....  Just deliver the negatives to them and call it a day.


It all depends on your priorities.... for most people that have gone full digital but have old negatives / slides that they want to archive together with their digital library, the option of getting someone to do it for you seems ideal.


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## grafxman

My elderly aunt had several family photos taken many years ago and she wanted prints so here's what I did. The B&W negatives were rather large, bigger than 35mm. I think they were about 2.5" square or something like that. Anyway, I just grasped them by a corner with my left hand then held them up to a white cloud. With the other hand I photographed them with my Canon SX260 point and shoot camera. Then I opened the photos in Corel's Paintshop Pro and used the negative feature which turned the negative ino a nice positive. It wasn't professional but my aunt sure was happy with the prints.


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## lenny_eiger

Not a fair question. You ask what is the best, and then add what is the cheapest. Those two qualities rarely go together. I run a "best" scanner, an Aztek Premier 8000 ppi drum scanner. It's not cheap, altho' one can get a few scans from me for less than it would take to buy one and learn it...

Lenny
EigerStudios
Museum Quality Drum Scanning and Printing


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## webestang64

I use a Epson V700 and a Nikon Coolscan 9000. Both are excellent for old negs. A V700 will set you back around $200-$300 used and the Nikon 9000 is selling for around $1200 used on the web.


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