35 mm Negative Scanner How To

 

 

When an artist desires to go digital the first step is undoubtedly the purchase of a 35mm negative scanner. Both photographers and graphic designers need to make an informed choice when it comes to the purchase of a digital scanner. And it cannot be emphasized enough that the right 35mm negative scanner can only be found by the informed and to the subject educated artist.

 

Too often the artist ends up spending a significant amount of money thinking he made the right choice because he compared the advertisements of some of the electronic companies only to notice soon that this really is not of the quality and standards he expected it to be. Avoid the hassle of spending money on equipment that does not give you ultimate satisfaction. Take the time to read up on some of the different options before you break the bank. 35mm negatives as well as slides can now be transformed into digital images, but carefully reviewing what is on the market is definitely a must.


Choose a 35mm negative scanner that does not just take care of the very center, the so called sweet spot. Ensure that your scanner can take care of the complete surface. Inferior scans are useless and you will end up back in the stores to find what you were really looking for. Look for a scanner that is capable of getting the complete dpi. Evidently these scanners are a little more pricy than those who fail to get the full dpi. Remember that as an artist you look for perfection in your work. An amateur version is not going to give you the quality scans you were looking for in the first place.


Go for a scanner well above 1200 dpi if possible.

Fuzzy images are not what you were looking for. If you need to scan more than just the smaller size images you should definitely consider a +2000 dpi scanner. Evidently, the higher the dpi the better the quality of your work and a dpi of 4000 is not unusual for a 35mm scanner for the professional.


Keep in mind that technology changes continually.

Look what happens to the computer industry. A five year old computer that carried a price tag of 1.000 dollars back in the days you purchased it does not even come close to the quality and possibilities of the 500 dollar computer you can find on the market today. The same is the case for 35mm negative scanners. The very first decent 35mm negative scanners were far more expensive then the much better scanners you can find today at maybe not even half of what you paid for your first machine. When you purchase a 35mm negative scanner you should thus definitely keep in mind that even just one year later you are probably going to consider buying a better one.