- This topic is empty.
Calling all Canon 8800F Scanner users/ owners..
-
Hi,
Would love to get people’s feedback on their experiences with the Canon 8800F scanner.
I’m considering picking up one of these this weekend, and off the bat, my primary use of this scanner will be scanning 35mm b&w negatives for web proofs (1000px * 800px max), and wet prints from the same negatives.
I would like a bit of flexibility, in particular capabilities to scan medium format negatives, and colour 35mm negs.
I will be using the scanner on an intel iMac, running Leopard, and have ascertained that drivers, etc, are compatible.
I imagine this scanner, like the epson v500/700/750, does a fantastic job on medium format negatives, but wonder how people have found it for 35mm film.
Lastly, would love to hear anyone’s real-life experiences with the ergonomics of this unit, in particular the film holders, and also the scanning times I can typically expect to face.
Thanks in advance, and hope there are at least a few 8800F users out there!
Damien
hi damien, I’ve had this scanner for about a year- I got it cheapish c. €150 thru work and found that it does an acceptable job. I used it for
scanning mainly 6×6 though it’s grand for 35mm for web, I’ve printed 8×10″s from some 35mm scans and consider them acceptable.
In the las t8 months I started shooting 4×5″ and scan them in two sections and stitch in ptgui, it’s a less than ideal situation but will do
till I can convince myself to get an epson V700.You’ll find it will take some time to get to know the scanner software, the canon gui is v. user friendly but the bundled silverfast software,
while looking rough gives more control. You can check out examples of scans on my flickr. All of the film was scanned on the 8800f.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johndmurphy/show/ Any other questions just ask and good luck. JohnCool, thanks for the feedback and images John. I remember you mentioning you had picked up one.
That seems funky, re: 5*4 scanning, definitely gives me food for thought, as I thought I’d have to forego large format capabilities.
How do you find the film holders out of curiosity, I can’t help but feel the most most important piece in the chain with flatbeds, seems to be the film-holders,
Damien
“How do you find the film holders out of curiosity” Pap. I just set the neg on the glass and put late glass on top, I haven’t done any tests as to whether or not
I’m losing any sharpness due to focus. I like having the film rebate visable and the holders crop slightly. I’m gonna get round to filing them down sometime, but
as most of my stuff recently is large i haven’t bothered. But using glass as a pressure plate gives another 2 surfaces to clean and re-touch. BummerJust picked up a Canon 8800F today, and looking forward to have a prolonged fiddle with it tomorrow..
Damien
Hi John,
Hoping I can pick your brains on the settings you use for scanning. Have been playing around with the 8800 since getting it Saturday, and while I haven’t starting ploughing through the negs I have developed yet, I’m hoping to settle on a workflow and standard settings so I can..
So, if I could get your feedback on your workflow and output, that would be great, especially with regard to some of the following..
– Software. I like straightforward.. and am currently using the bundled canon software, in addtition to a demo of Vuescan.. but Silverfast has initimidated me :)
– DPI. Not sure where to begin.. loving the speed and file sizes of lower dpi, but not the tonal and dynamic range my scans seem to be giving me..
– Multi-Scanning. Do you use this/ find it’s necessary..
– Exposure. Maybe it’s my developing skills (which I’m not ruling out..), but a lot of my negative scans are coming out too dark/ too bright, with the exposure control on the software doesn’t seem to be too great.. is this also a problem for you ?
All the above, are in regard to my own 35mm self-developed B&W (various films) negatives..
Any help appreciated,
Damien
Hi, Well it certainly will be a learning curve and don’t be put off if it takes some time to get consistent scans. I’ll ramble out my workflow –
bearing in mind i don’t use a neg carrier and use silverfast.for 35mm scan at 2400dpi, any higher on this scanner is just a waste of space, for mf and lf I scan at 1200.
leave sharpening at none, some people scan b/w in rgb colour in the belief that it gathers more info, I’m
not convinced and generally scan in grayscale, the files are much smaller, but for 35mm they’re not too
big anyway. The masks in the neg carrier help the auto exposure thing do its job, but that can often be way off.
I make a manual crop around the selected frame, make an enlarged preview and toggle on/off the auto exp. and ccr
(colour corrections) and decide whether to scan as is or use the levels and curves facility. There is a crude eyedropper]with which you
can check black/white points. Name the file and scan. Listen to music or respond to a post on a forum….Open the file in the image editor of choice, don’t be too disheartened if it still looks crap. I open straight into lightroom,
levels, curves, colour balance if colour or tone if you like for b/w, I don’t sharpen at all yet, I open a copy with these
adjustments in photoshop and clone out the inevitable specks, I perversely enjoy this part, and do any dodging/burning,
this is saved again and opened in lightroom and sharpening applied.I’m sure my workflow could be improved and i’m open to suggestions, but it does the job for me.
you will spend some time learning your own way. Stick with it and post up some results.Hi John,
Thanks for detailed reply! Taking all of the below on board, and hoping to thrash out a somewhat decent workflow in the next few weeks.
Can I ask you one last question – how do you align the negatives properly when you don’t use the negative holders ?
Damien
lay down small amounts of clear tape, 3m comes of easiest. use this as a guide, it’s important to use small amounts and
clear tape as any reflectivity is taken to be from the negative thus would throw off exposure.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
