Tabletop 35mm Film Scans vs. Professional Lab Scans 

*Glad I decided to get the **Bestt.Digital** slide scanner. It us very easy to use, and as an added bonus it can hook up to HDMI on a TV and be used as a slide projector.*

It's a lot easier to see the difference between 2 images when its just a straight cut. any added transition gets in the way

The biggest setback for me was the crop but I used the slide adapter and the 126 format to get full view of people in the frame at expense of the wide cutout. Still it was worth it for the price. I scanned over 1300 pictures of family dating back over 4 decades.

i want to see color shots

Thank you, you just changed my life

I've got this little device as well, so I'm going to add my pluses and minuses here. Plus #1: the device also has a phono output and includes a cable to connect to a TV. You can run a slideshow that way. Plus #2: the device has 100 megs of internal memory so you can scan and store ~25 images internally. Plus #3: the device inverts negative images to positive. Plus #4: the device can be powered on USB when attached to a computer (if that's convenient) and when attached to the computer can also be set as a USB mass storage device, allowing you to directly download images to the computer (or upload images for a slideshow). Now the minuses: Minus#1: although the device says it makes 20 megapixel scans - and it does - that 20 megapixels is poor (at least for colour scans; I haven't tried b&w). I believe the JPEG compression the device is using over-compresses images: they're blocky. There's no option to change JPEG image quality, or to save to something uncompressed like TIFF. Minus #2: This might be related to minus #1, but I think it's in addition: the scans that result have poor colour rendering and poor dynamic range. These are hardware limitations: attempting to improve the quality of the scans using the internal adjustments doesn't get you very far. I was able to get much better scans using the 35mm slide and negative holders that come with this device, and putting them on top of my cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S9+, using free Android "LightBox" software). I shot pictures of the slides and colour negatives using a tripod holding my Canon T7i with a Sigma 70mm macro lens (things I already had). I could invert colour negatives to positives using Lightroom (or Raw Therapee if you want a free option). I'll admit that's more effort than some will want to spend, but in my case I'm digitizing old slides and negatives of my father's. I think of this as for posterity and I don't want to do the task twice. But your mileage may vary. If your ultimate destination for these scans is online on Facebook or Instagram or whatever, you could be prepared to accept a suboptimal scan; it might in fact make no difference to the final product. Bottom line: this device offers some value for money and is easy to use. If you want quick and easy colour scans, and don't care much about quality, it's a good deal. For my part, I'm looking for the best DSLR scanning method that will leverage the camera, lens, and tripod I already have, while giving me very good quality.

Interesting video. I found one of these tabletop machines at a garage sale last summer for $5. The box is still sealed, the buyer never used it. Here in the U.S. the original sticker price was $100 ($99.98). I've got a giant box of 35mm negatives dating back to about the 50's. Thanks for the encouraging video. P.S. Here's something I've wondered about, why do modern day photographers shoot film and then digitize the photos? Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to just shoot digital in the first place? Thanks

Thanks for showing the comparison to professional scans. It sold me on buying this and stop wasting my time with a light table DSLR setup. As a beginner and not wanting to invest in an expensive flatbed scanner, this is perfect for quick digitizing for editing. The convenience and speed of using this compared to my light table/DSL set up outweighs the fact that the files are not high-res, since I'm not making prints right now.

It's 2020 and I went back to film (35mm) using Canon's EOS cameras and EF lenses do to the high cost of going to a DSLR full frame camera. All used equipment from Ebay of course in excellent to mint condition. Right now I have my film processed and scanned through The Dark Room. I may buy a film scanner sometime down the road.

Dude, I live in Vancouver too. The Lab is dope!!! They do such a good job. 🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼

Coming from scanning myself to working in a lab I have a couple notes. I have tried all the methods and these are my findings. The factors are price, labor and quality 1: Plastic, cheap scanners: You don't want a cheapo scanner, you really don't. The quality is just terrible, it takes forever to scan a roll, and for the same image quality you can buy a much cheaper digital camera. 2: Flatbeds: flatbeds are fine, it's not lab quality but it's fine for most people. Again you'll run into the amount of time it takes to scan, mounting, dusting, waiting for the scanner and mounting the next strip. After this you will still have to color correct. Don't believe the dpi on the box by the way. Most flatbeds don't really resolve anything above 1200/2400 dpi (and those are the more expensive models), scanning above 1200 dpi is a waste of time and HDD space. 3: Lab scans: Lab scanning will achieve a couple things you can't have at home without buying a lab scanner and some training. First is the color science, any lab tech worth his salt is going to take a decent amount of time to correct your negatives, that's their job. Lab scanners also offer a critical sharpness that's just not found in home scanners, that's part of the reason they cost so much, it's a precision instrument. Periodic part replacement and maintenance can cost thousands, especially as these machines are getting older. Sure it costs more, but you're also buying an hour of your own time you'd otherwise spend scanning that roll yourself at a lower quality. 4: Camera digitizing: sure, it's a nice thing for a hobbyist to tinker with, I tried it myself, but unless you want to spend some serious money and time on building an automatic, arduino controlled film advance mechanism from cannibalized Fuji frontier parts, it's still going to take a lot of time. And without some seriously good glass and possibly even multiple pass scanning, I believe the quality the tinkerer would strive for is just not there, compared to a lab scanner that was built to do this kind of thing.

For 35 mm format, Plustek scanners are the way to go - for 35 mm even better than the Epson flatbed scanners in resolution. The few hundred bucks for a Plustek pays off very quickly. It also comes with professional scanning software, Silverfast 8. But the scanner requires a desktop or laptop computer.

Excellent vid. I would have liked to have seen the color shots. Also, how big are the jpg files?

I agree, film developing and scanning costs are outrageous. My solution for myself and to help others is to offer a much lower cost options on eBay. Developing + Scanning + CD for $5 USD (plus whatever is costs to ship the film to me, return shipping included. Lots of labs such as the Darkroom do a great job but prices are $$$

I have an Epson V600 scanner and I’ve stopped using it and resorted to using a $20 light table from Amazon and taking pictures of my negatives with my camera. The files are significantly sharper and it’s so fast to scan them with my camera. I found that using the scanner it takes around 35ish minutes to scan a roll of 35mm and 120 film where as it takes honestly about 4-5 minutes to take pictures of them. If you have any digital camera and a cheap tripod, you can get much better results than from a scanner. Hope this helps👍

I bought one of these, the 22mpix version. the scan is terrible, blue tones, light leak in the corners and lot of noise

Thank you for sharing! This is what I wanted to study before buying tabletop film scanner!!

As a personal lab technician for a friend I develop be, c41 e6 at home and scan the frames via my dslr setup. Yes it is a bit of work to get everything in order but I get a really nice high resolution scan from the frames! Do I recommend dslr scanning to everyone? No! Only for those that don't mind a do it yourself setup and are a bit adventures!

If you want to scan both small and medium format it's an Epson flat-bed film scanner all the way. This also gives you control of various items like color, exposure, highlights etc. Most places that develop film do really crappy low res scans. You 35mm film can produce clean images with up to about 24 mp. I usually scan 135 at 2,400 dpi which produces about 6 mp, a workable size. You also can save as other than jpg for better editing Why settle for a dusty 2 mp image. With scanning you don't need a darkroom to use film. You don't really need to develop but you MUST scan. How about the local mass market developers like drug stores not returning negatives anymore? Who does that?

Thank you Scott! I was originally looking at scanners for medium format, but stumbled here..glad I did as I have a ton of my old film negatives I've been wanting to get digitized. Nice little rig for the money!👍

great video man appreciate you sharing!

I have both a desktop scanner ($70 Amazon/DIGITNOW Digital Film and Slide Scanner) and an Epson Perfection V550 scanner (under $200 on eBay, a little over $700 on Amazon, 6200 DPI and full negative scan if you ever want it). Worth checking out the V550. I like eBay on such because, if it isn't "as described," eBay will make sure you get a full refund, within a week, plus a prepaid return mailer. I still have my original Canon AE-1 film camera, bought when they came out. Excellent video, thanks.

There is a Kodak scanning rig made out of what seems to be foamboard, but you use your phone camera to scan the negative/positive. What's decent about that is modern phones have RAW output which might be giving you a 10-12 bit scan.

35mm film = 24mm x 36mm (0.945" x 1.417") 'The Lab Vancouver' use the Hasselblad Flextight X5 scanner with a resolution of 8,000ppi. This equates to an image resolution (for 35mm film) of more than 85mp. (7,560 x 11,336 = 85,700,160) That 20mp desktop scanner is still mighty impressive though and seems like a bargain!

DSLR "scanning" is far superior to any "affordable" desktop scanning.

Great review, thank you

Why not buy a second hand epson 1200p flatbed with the film scanner accessories, and use Vuescan software. The scans would be far better, and you'd have profiles for a load of different film stocks. The file size would also be bigger with the option for tiff, jpeg and RAW.

Where's the best place to buy black and white film? I used to shoot a lot of it (Kodak, and a little color process Ilford. I once developed my color process BW film, but wasn't happy with it, though I think it was most likely operator error.

nice! congratulations! I am from brazil!

At 86 cents a scan per negative, by a pro lab, my Kodak Scanza is a decent trade off. After some minor photoshop adjustments the images look good at an 8 x 10 print size. Depending on the film, camera and lenses used digital artifacts start showing up. It’s speed and workflow is way faster than a flatbed. Uploaded all my images to Smugmug and on two separate external drives.

Where did you get the white roll cart behind you?

Really liked video. Just purchased. Please recommend iOS app for processing the negative. Positive and editing effects

Thrifted this little table scanner for five bucks- Hopefully I can edit the blue tones out through photoshop!

is that high resolution scanner ? - i have bough a similar device in Photo shop,but dpi resolution was limited only to 300 - but i payed only 49 british pounds

Refurbished v550 from adorama. Works great and I'm cheap as hell lol.

does it allow you to focus?

Could you please do a review of negmaster? Love that software for converting negatives!

Maybe you should consider send films to Korea. 3$ (us$) for color negative, 6$-8$ for b&w and positive in South Korea.

Just bought one of these about two months ago and I haven't had time to use it yet. I was wondering how well it would work. Thanks for the review. :-)

Excellent review - thank you for making and posting. Was wondering, what wrist watch are you wearing? It has a great old school look to it. I'm thinking 1960's vintage.

Thank you for providing this information. I have a box full of 35 mm negatives from the 1950s. Can't wait until I order and receive it. Question: The scanner link you provided; it shows different models to select. Which model do I select? Thank you.

Cool content brother! Does this scanner only produce black & white??

Just wondering about the output dpi. I notice it stated “3200 dpi interpolated” Just want to scan and edit some old photos in Lightroom. Do you notice any grain after scanning? Thanks and great video!

These cheap scanners are good for low resolution old negatives which you wouldn’t otherwise pay to be scanned at a lab. Most of the time you can’t make out what’s on the negative so this is good in that sense.

Have you tried making small prints with the scans 4x6 or 5x7?

there's truth to the adage that "you get what you pay for". So, pay cheap, get cheap. Having said that, im not advocating getting the most expensive nor the latest and greatest either. I have a Nikon Coolscan V-ED for 35mm and an Epson V750 Pro for Medium format and larger. The trick is to find something in the middle between cheap and expensive that works for you. If all you need is for the web, i guess cheap is ok... problem is down the road you might need more quality as in printing... then cheap wont work. My 2 cents... peace!

Images looked out of focus. Spend a little more and get an epson. Still save in the long run.

In my local lab the cost of scan is 34czk which is 1.4$ :D

does it annoy you that the device can't fully capture the full frame of a 35mm? it's a major dissapointment that the sides are cut off where important details might be present.

If you wanna develop the film at home too its 30$ for the tank and about 1$ per roll if you use the b&w chemical for its recommended 16 rolls, but you can push it to 25 rolls if you keep contamination low and filter it after. The chemical sells for 20$ For 1 quart

I recently bought an 81' Sears SLR KS Super camera, that came with film (35mm) left by the original owner, the film was wrapped around the sprocket, but was only extended out twice so MAYBE two pictures taken. Guessing it was sold by the previous owners recently because the batteries inside were still good including the spares so the film was recently put in as well, but I can not tell whether the film was used or is just exposed or has been through any stages of development, I was wanting to know if there was a way to figure that out at home with no scanners? - Any information is greatly appreciated at this point lol ♥️

so right at the end, you say the results are not that great for colored film convert? i have a ton of old film negatives that I need to scan, some are colored. Please advise, thank you

For higher image quality use a Nikon ES-1 slide copier ($60 B&H) with your digital camera sensor. It mounts as a 52mm filter, so maybe you'll need a filter adapter to 52mm. You'll need a macro lens or extension tubes and to get image to fill frame and focus. No need to reinvent the wheel www.scantips.com/es-1.html

great video

No color scans? I tried this same test many years ago and the lab was so much easier and better. I have a new project with 1100 slides to scan. I’m sending it all away for scanning.

The reason i shoot film is too slow you down and consider the image you take 👍

Hii great review!! I’m new to film cameras, is it possible to get a colored photo from a negative film on this device?? and if so how?

So no issues with your negatives getting scratched as you push them through the negative holder? I really want something like this but am concerned about scratches .. thanks!

What I would do is just select couple of good pictures and send them to professionally scanned. You don't want to scan all of them cuz it's really unnecessary and expensive!

Hmm.. I've got four 100 foot rolls of Super XX in my fridge, they've been there for the last 20 years. Maybe I should start shooting it? I've been looking at buying one of these... Lots of old slides and negatives.

Could you try it with color film? :)

Nice review. I have a ton of 35mm slides and film to archive so this will be super handly and cost effective. Btw, I see you are a watch guy... that is a very cool looking vintage diver? You paired it well with that Nato. Can you provide me with the info on that watch? Merci beaucoup!

Thanks for this, been looking for a scanner for 35mm film. quick question? Can you scan 120mm film with that one too?

Im looking for someone who converts digital footage to film, but all results are film to digital By the way the post production on digital is not free, you have to buy softwares for editing, grading, animation, unless we download free torrents, but yeah, its a one time spending. For film, you can also buy a projector and watch it there, no scanning, just developing. You could use DSLR to record that footage too, with the right settings and digital framerate.

Hi Scott. Can I ask how long does the actual scan take? Was that it we saw in the video or is that just the preview. I have a LOT of my old B+W negs I'd like to convert over to digital. My other question is does it save to card by default or do you have to save it as another step. I have to be honest I'm very tempted, these are cheap as chips of ebay. Thanks for the video mate. Regards Wayne

Great minds think alike !.....Great video Scott and a little surprised how good that little scanner is!

You've done Phase 1 now. (scanning) Phase 2 is developing your own B&W yet? It's not hard, you can do it in your kitchen sink. The gear costs maybe a hunge, max. With that and this little scanner, you're pretty well set; then you're just buying film. Phase 3 is bulk loading your film. For name brand Ilford B&W film, it'll save you almost 50%, compared to buying by the roll.

Why do people say digital is FREE? Digital photos are not free, we must account for time in post.

I'm about to develop my first roll of b/w and was going to set up my Fuji with my 80 mm, but I also have an Epson v600...have you tried it to see what the quality would be versus the standalone that you bought.

Dumb question but here I go, If I have a disposible camera and wanted to take out the film out. Can I use this product to develop it?

Can you show how you develop your film rolls ?

Just buy a XEs scanner, worth the extra cost and will do way better on all film types, these cheap film scanners have weak dynamic range and are all cmos which is inferior no matter what for scanning film by design. It has weak color reproduction limited ability to resolve slide film detail and is really noisy. CCD based film scanners are simply put superior in every way. CMOS is good for digital photography but not digitization of film. The mentioned scanner also physically resolves over4k dpi which is higher than any 35mm film can produce you need about 3200 dpi to resolve every drop of detail in good 35mm film, Slide film is of course on the higher end detail wise and color negative is on the lower side about 2400dpi.

Does this produce good enough quality for Instagram? Or does the “built in zoom” distort and cut the images? Also do you recommend their other more expensive models too? Or does this do just fine ?

Do I have to turn it off everytime I pull out the tray? I'm using single negatives that have been cut w scissors. Should it be turned off or keep it running??

Great Video! Have been looking for a simple to the point vid on good ways to develop myself. You are right. 4 rolls of film and that little machine pays itself off!

Hi Scott, slightly different topic, who is playing the music in this video, I like it a lot, in the style of BB King, would like to hear a lot more from that band - Thanks

Was skeptical of the unit’s claim to process and convert 35mm slides into quality images. ru-vid.comUgkxKmnkpmXKhuEJXQRC5kmg2WDHyWIdGyiE The reviews convinced me to try it. Glad I did and was quite surprised! As you can see in posted image, I scanned 16 Carousel slides trays in three partial days with 30-40 trays remaining. I had researched companies that process for you but they were ridiculously expensive. This route was the most cost effective for me. The repetitive motion can cause some fatigue. I’d scanned two trays, then took a break. I also had some 47 year old color negatives that I could not identify. Ran those through the unit and the results were great. It automatically converted them to perfect images. I will use a separate photo program to fine tune any images that need an adjustment. In a nutshell, this scanner works great! I highly recommend it. Well done, Kodak!

nice vid✊ can i scan pics in colour or does just work for black and white film? (in the tabletop scan)

And films?

I'm wondering how do you open the 35mm film cartridge to get to the negatives.

Very cool gadget. I will not be shooting film again, but I do have 20 years worth from the ancient times, so that thing would be a great way to revisit some of my oldies. Is it fast? Can you adjust the scan settings?

hi. does it do 120 format? if not.. please do a review for one.. thank you and nice work man

Hello I’m making a film on 35 mm. I need to convert it to digital. What would be the easiest way to do that ? Thank u

How well does this work with Kodachrome slides?

Does this work for negatives that are snipped into singles? I found a bunch of old negatives that were cut into single pics with scissors!

can this be used with color film? and also, how do i use it, because i thought film was damaged by light?

Doesn't work for super 8mm film that's not stills, does it?

imagine having 120 films to the lab instead..... 12 shots per film + higher charges for 120.

Starts scanning negatives at 4:51

How about color films?

First if you do bnw why dont develop at home it gives you nore latitude in results and control? If you shoot only 135 film than you have some great scanner plustek 8100

does it only do B&W negative or can it do color also?

Totally agree with you, shooting film has become hugely popular again. And so film and development of said film has gone up terribly in the uk ? For example: film cost at least £10 uk pounds and around £20 pounds to get 6x4 prints film developed plus neg scan. That's to get high quality results i want 😩and believe me there lots of rubbish developers out there in the UK... I too have that film Scanner by hanel same thing. My main criticism is keeping dust away from the light box. I use colour film so maybe worse for me .the problem could be solved i think if the light box was further way from the film plane so would be out of focus or a removable light box to give it a good clean? What do you think 🤔 great video.

I’m sorry, but the only good thing about these little scanners is the price. The scans are comedically bad and the little 35mm film holder leaves marks on some emulsion. The contrast comes out wrong, the scans are so soft they look out of focus, and it crops your framing. The nuances of shooting film end as soon as you put your film into one.

There's still no mobile solution for scanning other than an Epson :\ Or maybe a DSLR and a light table, but still...too much hassle...

Anyone recommending a scanner: Just don't if you have more then a few negatives. If you want speed you need something like a Nikon ES-2, or ES-1 if you only have slides. Or a self-built setup with a DSLR, might no be as fast though. Still probably much faster then scanning. Quality wise too, try getting 4000 dpi from a scanner that doesn't cost a fortune.

hey man, i have about 5h of video in super 8 film. I want to digitise them. Can this solve myproblem? Thanks

Why not develop at home? It's crazy easy

Video begins at 2:30 or so. The pro scans are much nicer, you get what you pay for. The transfer device has nothing to do with the topic, sorry.

Do color next time.