Scanners - advice ?

Discussion in 'Photo Restoration' started by China Hand, Jun 30, 2009.

  1. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Not sure if this is an appropriate part of the forum for this, but I could not see any others...if the mods want to move this to somewhere more suitable, please do !

    I am planning to buy a scanner, so as to be able to post some of the photographs I have been collecting over the years and also maybe some stuff from some old ephemera, manuals etc...and also for possible printing in magazines/books etc later too, so need good resolution for both colour and b/w.

    However, the range of types available is a bit daunting :unsure:. Ideas from anyone with such technical experience welcome. I need one that is (a) compatible with a Mac (b) can do photos and books/paperwork too and (c) in price range maybe up to GBP150.

    I have been looking closely at the Canon Canoscan 5600F - anyone got one of those ??

    Ta !
     
  2. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    I have a Canon Scanner / Printer combo here. Bought it because it was about all I had available, in a hurry. Hateful thing. Allows me very little control and turns out horrible results.

    First, and last, prior to this was a Hewlet Packard Scanjet. Flat bed job. I've scanned a LOT of entire books through it, over the space of about eight years or so. It was fantastic!

    That's where I'd be looking, if I were you ;)
     
  3. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    I have a Canon Scanner / Printer combo here. Bought it because it was about all I had available, in a hurry. Hateful thing. Allows me very little control and turns out horrible results.

    First, and last, prior to this was a Hewlet Packard Scanjet. Flat bed job. I've scanned a LOT of entire books through it, over the space of about eight years or so. It was fantastic!

    That's where I'd be looking, if I were you ;)

    Interesting, cheers - what's the exact model of HP that you have, so I look it up ? Ta :)
     
  4. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    Scanner are a bit of a specialsit tool really, most people think they need one and they dont really so you'll find EBAY is full of nearly new ones. "it came with a puter from PC world and ive never used it" brand new in the box, bif a few quid, make the most sense. Flatbed A4. Make sure its USB.

    Their a real pain cos there so big so I tend to only connect when I need it. with USB it aint such a problem

    You'll need some sort of software to convert the scans it into a usable (ie less disk space) format. I tend to used Adobe photodeluxe, it was free and works.

    Kev
     
  5. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Thanks for that, kfz...useful thoughts. Def need flatbed 'cos I want to do some books etc as well as pics.
     
  6. kfz

    kfz Very Senior Member

    Thanks for that, kfz...useful thoughts. Def need flatbed 'cos I want to do some books etc as well as pics.


    The flatbed isnt so good for books cos the of the spine stops it lying flat of the plate. This is where the handheld ones come into it.

    Pics are fine.

    Kev
     
  7. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    China Hand; The exact model of Scanjet I used is now immaterial. Remember I bought it about eight years ago? It's since been superseded beyond all belief. But it really was a belter. Real work horse. I'd love another one and shall slow down and be sure to get one, once this Canon blows up.

    Like KFZ says; The Bay is as good a place as any to look. Only, I'd look for a Scanjet.

    USB and Adobe Photo DeLuxe appear to come as standard with them. More than I can say for this Canon thing.

    Alternatively; I wonderif Dixons ~ or what ever ~ might have any on display and up and running? I'd never have bought this Canon one, if I'd had an oppertunity to test drive it first :mad:
     
  8. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    China, I have the canon 8600f which I bought over a year ago for digitising negs and slides, and I was happy using that for books as it also had an option in advanced setting for gutter shadow, which meant I didn't have to press the books down and damage spine. I was very happy with the results on old photos as well.

    Not sure if it's available any more though...
     
  9. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    China, I have the canon 8600f which I bought over a year ago for digitising negs and slides, and I was happy using that for books as it also had an option in advanced setting for gutter shadow, which meant I didn't have to press the books down and damage spine. I was very happy with the results on old photos as well.

    Not sure if it's available any more though...

    Ah that's good to know..the 8600F is a "big brother" of the 5600f, I gather, with slightly higher specs, but the 5600f seemed Ok for my needs. Good t know re "gutter shadow" setting, I should ask about that on the 5600f. Ta :)
     
  10. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    I've been using the Epson Perfection series of scanners for well over ten years now and owned about three or four different models. They are high quality and very reliable. Currently I have the 4490 PHOTO model, which is very good value for money.

    Forgot the combo scanner/fax/printers as you just end up with a poor a printer and an even poorer scanner.

    With scanners it is very much worth paying that little bit extra to get good results. Also scanning is a lot like photography and requires a certain amount of skill and artistry to produce good results.


    Lee
     
  11. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Thanks Lee that is helpful ! I will have a look at Epson too.
     
  12. Bodston

    Bodston Little Willy

    I have an Epson stylus DX4400. It came bundled with my new mac. It's a combi scanner/printer. Basic, but seems to work fine.
     
  13. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    I have a combination scanner/printer/fax (don't use the fax!) Brother MFC-235C and it is the fastest scanner I ever had! And guess what, it cost me some 80€ in the shop only :)

    Consumer electronics has come down so much in prices that you can go to the high street and buy something very good for great value. And you get the guarantee (2 years here), something which you won't get in ebay so think about that as well.
     
  14. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    I have a combination scanner/printer/fax (don't use the fax!) Brother MFC-235C and it is the fastest scanner I ever had! And guess what, it cost me some 80€ in the shop only :)

    Consumer electronics has come down so much in prices that you can go to the high street and buy something very good for great value. And you get the guarantee (2 years here), something which you won't get in ebay so think about that as well.

    Cheers for that. I will gather folks' various ideas together and have a rummage in our computer shops shortly. You are right re guarantees.

    Also right re prices - all those productive Chinese chappies ;)
     
  15. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    I've been using an Epson Stylus Photo RX425.
    It is a printer/scanner/photocopier.

    There is also a direct photo printing facility. Plug in the memory card and you get an index of the photos printed out small. You just mark which you want printed and the machine does the rest.

    It has worked well for the last three years and the scanner provides good images.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  16. geoff501

    geoff501 Achtung Feind hört mit

    My experience: bought a cheapish Mustek 10 years ago, connected to LPT port, It had the most amazing OCR software with it, could read almost anything printed.
    Two years ago I needed a portable USB scanner to do some work off site. Bought a Xerox because it was the cheapest probably and only needed for one job. Good scanner with a very bright tube (the Mustek was red,green, blue LEDS). The Xerox software on 2 or 3 discs was dreadful; I tried to load it on 3 different machine. Gave up. Went to the website and downloaded the latest Twain driver. Loaded just this driver to run into photoshop. Worked great for a bit but everytime I plugged a USB stick in it went searching for the scanner. Eventually it could not find a scanner after a few months. (probably my PC is too old). Got the Mustek out of retirement, downloaded a Twain driver. Works just great!

    If I was starting again, I'd go for one on recommendation and just load the latest Twain driver, that's all I would need as I use Photoshop.
     
  17. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Thanks, Geoff, Smudger !
     
  18. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Just bought a Lexmark X2670 from Tesco for £29.97.
    Bargain I thought.
     
  19. Paul Pariso

    Paul Pariso Very Senior Member

    Has anybody got a WiFi "All-in-one"? I need to get one but am not sure which one to buy :unsure:.
    Cheers...........
     
  20. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    Has anybody got a WiFi "All-in-one"? I need to get one but am not sure which one to buy :unsure:.
    Cheers...........

    Hi
    We have the Canon mp620. Never used the scanner though...

    so not able to say whether it is any good or not.

    D
     

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