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I apologise if this is in the wrong group but I have a question that I
hope those involved with digital photography can answer.

My wife and I (over 60) both still use film cameras but we have many
hundreds of negatives and transparencies that are deteriorating and we
would like to scan them into our PC and eventually get them
transferred to disc or some other form of storage.

Our question is this: In the Daily Telegraph last Tuesday there is an
offer for a scanning system made by Zennox and it is claimed to be
capable of scanning negatives and slides at the touch of a button.

The information given states that it is a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor
with 3,600 dpi interpolation and 48 bit colour scan and has features
such as High resolution images with automatic exposure control, fixed
focus and colour balance. (Most of this means virtually nothing to
us!)


It is for purchase at £79.99 which appears reasonable.


Would this be a good investment or are there better machines out there
within £100.00?

Any advice would be appreciated, Peter.

What types of film and how old? By type, I mean name such as Ektrachrome
E2, Kodacolor-X, Kodachrome II, etc. Are any of them subject to the
infamous colour shift?
If there are very many that have the colour shift problem, then scans from
this unit will require intensive post processing.
I am not a fan of interpolated resolution.
You could view your situation as a minimum cost to determine whether you can
recover the images to your satisfaction. Personally, though, I would keep
looking.
Jim
"petercharlesfagg" <> wrote in message
news:2993ad1e-be5b-49e3-8bb9-...
I apologise if this is in the wrong group but I have a question that I
hope those involved with digital photography can answer.

My wife and I (over 60) both still use film cameras but we have many
hundreds of negatives and transparencies that are deteriorating and we
would like to scan them into our PC and eventually get them
transferred to disc or some other form of storage.

Our question is this: In the Daily Telegraph last Tuesday there is an
offer for a scanning system made by Zennox and it is claimed to be
capable of scanning negatives and slides at the touch of a button.

The information given states that it is a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor
with 3,600 dpi interpolation and 48 bit colour scan and has features
such as High resolution images with automatic exposure control, fixed
focus and colour balance. (Most of this means virtually nothing to
us!)


It is for purchase at £79.99 which appears reasonable.


Would this be a good investment or are there better machines out there
within £100.00?

Any advice would be appreciated, Peter.

On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:49:46 -0800, petercharlesfagg wrote:

> I apologise if this is in the wrong group but I have a question that I
> hope those involved with digital photography can answer.
>
> My wife and I (over 60) both still use film cameras but we have many
> hundreds of negatives and transparencies that are deteriorating and we
> would like to scan them into our PC and eventually get them transferred
> to disc or some other form of storage.
>
> Our question is this: In the Daily Telegraph last Tuesday there is an
> offer for a scanning system made by Zennox and it is claimed to be
> capable of scanning negatives and slides at the touch of a button.
>
> The information given states that it is a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor with
> 3,600 dpi interpolation and 48 bit colour scan and has features such as
> High resolution images with automatic exposure control, fixed focus and
> colour balance. (Most of this means virtually nothing to us!)

And for good reason. It means virtually nothing. Most scanners I'm
familiar with do not have a fixed sensor as in a digital camera, they
instead have a linear array which travels along via the aid of a stepping
motor to scan the negative.

>
>
> It is for purchase at £79.99 which appears reasonable.
>
>
> Would this be a good investment or are there better machines out there
> within £100.00?

You're probably be better off, IMHO, with an inexpensive flatbed scanner
capable of handling slides and negatives. I've found very good units like
that at the Epson online store for under $100 (refurb).

You might also consider that scanning negatives and slides is a time
consuming process. If you want to scan several hundred, I'd recommend you
price having it done for you.


>
> Any advice would be appreciated, Peter.

petercharlesfagg wrote:

>Our question is this: In the Daily Telegraph last Tuesday there is an
>offer for a scanning system made by Zennox and it is claimed to be
>capable of scanning negatives and slides at the touch of a button.
>
>The information given states that it is a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor
>with 3,600 dpi interpolation and 48 bit colour scan and has features
>such as High resolution images with automatic exposure control, fixed
>focus and colour balance. (Most of this means virtually nothing to
>us!)
>
>It is for purchase at £79.99 which appears reasonable.
>
>
>Would this be a good investment or are there better machines out there
>within £100.00?
>
>Any advice would be appreciated, Peter.

The scanner you mention is sold under a variety of names. (I don't
know who makes it.) I do know that it only scans at 1829 dpi, which is
insufficient for all but the smallest prints (say, 4 x 6 inches). When
they say "3,600 dpi interpolation" they mean that it interpolates from
its true resolution (1829) up to 3600, which is really of no benefit.

I think it's poor value even at the price you mention. You would
probably be much better off looking for a second hand film scanner of
higher quality (and still stay under £100.00)



--
Mark Roberts Photography & Multimedia
www.robertstech.com

petercharlesfagg wrote:
[]
> The information given states that it is a 5-mega pixel CMOS sensor
> with 3,600 dpi interpolation and 48 bit colour scan and has features
> such as High resolution images with automatic exposure control, fixed
> focus and colour balance. (Most of this means virtually nothing to
> us!)
>
>
> It is for purchase at £79.99 which appears reasonable.

Peter,

I've seen the results from a similar "scanner" just recently, and it would
be at the very bottom end of the quality range I would accept. The
advantage is that it's quick, as the whole image is made at once, whereas
conventional scanners use a line sensor (not an area one), and have to
scan the image by moving the film slowly across the sensor.

This is the unit I saw:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?VEH-VFS004

If all you want is "holiday snap" quality it would possibly do, but if you
care about the quality you may want to go for a more expensive, and
slower, scanner.

Cheers,
David

ray wrote:

>
> And for good reason. It means virtually nothing. Most scanners I'm
> familiar with do not have a fixed sensor as in a digital camera, they
> instead have a linear array which travels along via the aid of a stepping
> motor to scan the negative.

No, I have seen this. It is a 2D imaging chip- same as in cameras, with
a fixed focus lens. The advantage of it is its convenience and ease of use.

Several years ago 5 Mp would be considered okay. Now, maybe not in
these days of 10 Mp cheap P&S cams.

However, for the price it is okay- cheaper than most flatbed scanners
that do negs and slides.

Will it get all of the data on your films? Depends on the film you
used, the quality of the camera you used, etc. Also, the quality you
need is dependent on what you will do with the results. If you intend
large prints, maybe it is better to go with a more expensive scanner. If
you just want them to keep in a computer or digital picture frame, or to
do 4 x 6 prints, that unit is probably fine. It certainly will make
digital files to save your heritage.

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:09:54 -0600, Don Stauffer wrote:

> ray wrote:
>
>
>> And for good reason. It means virtually nothing. Most scanners I'm
>> familiar with do not have a fixed sensor as in a digital camera, they
>> instead have a linear array which travels along via the aid of a
>> stepping motor to scan the negative.
>
> No, I have seen this. It is a 2D imaging chip- same as in cameras, with
> a fixed focus lens. The advantage of it is its convenience and ease of
> use.

Thanks for the info. How are they speed wise?

>
> Several years ago 5 Mp would be considered okay. Now, maybe not in
> these days of 10 Mp cheap P&S cams.
>
> However, for the price it is okay- cheaper than most flatbed scanners
> that do negs and slides.

I've found several refurbished models at the Epson online store that are
under $100 and do negatives and slides.

>
> Will it get all of the data on your films? Depends on the film you
> used, the quality of the camera you used, etc. Also, the quality you
> need is dependent on what you will do with the results. If you intend
> large prints, maybe it is better to go with a more expensive scanner. If
> you just want them to keep in a computer or digital picture frame, or to
> do 4 x 6 prints, that unit is probably fine. It certainly will make
> digital files to save your heritage.

My thanks to all who have responded I appreciate your taking the time.

In answer to some of the questions.

Since I was 11 years old I have used mostly B&W film because of my
colourblindness in the Red/Green section of the spectrum. For more
years than I care to remember Ilford FP4 was my film of choice, then
Kodak Gold 100, transparency wise it was Ektachrome for me because I
could process the film in the bath, my wife preferred Kodak Slide
(Kodachrome) film which she sent away for processing. In later years
I have been using Ilford XP2 400asa because it can be processed on the
high street!

Many of the transparencies are fading and gremlins are eating some of
the surface away!

Anyway, all of the negatives and slides really need to be archived in
one form or another hence the original question!

If I take all of this onboard perhaps it would be better to pursue a
package of a Nikon Coolscan (I have used their equipment for years),
your further thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards, Peter.

My apologies, a neighbour suggested the Nikon Coolscan and I have just
checked the prices!

They are way outside our budget, please ignore my statement.

Peter.

"petercharlesfagg" <> wrote in message
news:fee4de73-3921-4e51-8445-...
> My apologies, a neighbour suggested the Nikon Coolscan and I have just
> checked the prices!
>
> They are way outside our budget, please ignore my statement.
>
> Peter.
Yes, they are expensive. But, they are quite capable of recovering your
faded images.

You can partially restore such images with variable results by processing in
one of the many photo editing programs.
The results tend to be quite variable, at least for me.

Jim