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**Posted on behalf of Miguel Rodrigues (Imaging Specialist, University of London Computer Centre):**

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Dear Helen,

If you are planning to scan 35mm negatives and slides only and either have a collection that is not too large or have time on your hands, the two best options in what is usually termed the ‘prosumer’ market are the Nikon LS 5000 ED or the Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 II.

The Nikon is overall the best solution, because it is a current product, offers an option for batch scanning mounted slides and is nominally faster. It costs around £800 for the scanner alone, with the option of adding the SF-210 slide feeder for another £300. The two weaknesses of the Nikon are the poor results from Kodachrome slides and the manner in which it emphasizes the grain of negative film due to its light source being a series of LEDs, as opposed to the more common fluorescent light source. If you don’t have Kodachromes in your collection, it should be able to handle all of your 35mm film. The grain emphasis when scanning negatives can be offset by a digital tool included in the scanning software called Digital GEM, which when carefully applied, will reduce grain formation in the scans.

The Konica Minolta is cheaper and better with Kodachrome, but is slower, has been discontinued (with Konica Minolta’s incorporation into Sony), although it is still available, and offers no batch scanning accessories that I know of.

Consequently, the Nikon LS 5000 ED is currently the best option for negative and positive film, with the exception of Kodachrome.

The main problem I foresee is that you will only be able to extract the best quality from your existing film if the person doing the job is an experienced photographer/imaging technician with film scanning practice – particularly with colour negative film, which poses a number of problems to do with the fact that scanners usually fail to respond well to the orange mask layer that is added to compensate for impurities in the other layers; the fact that negative film is an intermediate medium originally devised for printing; and the fact that, unless you have had contact prints of your negatives made, there will be no visual reference to compare your negative scans with.

If you are thinking about a high-volume scanning job, then the best option would probably be outsourcing, as the cost of buying a number of these scanners, plus the labour costs involved, or the price and complexities of a fast-turnaround machine would probably grant that it may be more cost-effective to outsource.

I hope this helps. Should you wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me on (0) 20 7692 7413 (Mon-Wed). Direct email contact: [log in to unmask]

Kind regards,

Miguel Rodrigues

Imaging Specialist
Digital Archives Group
Application Services
University of London Computer Centre
20 Guilford St.
London WC1N 1DZ
http://www.ulcc.ac.uk/
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7692 7413
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7692 1234