Scanner News

If you’re one of those photographers with shoe boxes full of medium format negatives and can’t afford an expensive film scanner to digitize them, here’s a simple solution: Dump out one of those shoe boxes and turn it into a scanner using the ingenious (and cheap) method provided in the following video.

Think of a scanner as an archivist and a digital recording device for both prints and film images. Next think of a scanner as a kind of large format copying device and even a camera. Now put those together and you’ll get an idea of what Epson’s new 12000XL scanner has to offer. 

Today Epson introduced the FastFoto FF-640, dubbed by the company as the “world’s fastest photo scanner.” An alternative to flatbed scanners, the FastFoto scanner has a throughput rate of one photo per second with integral photo tools to restore and archive treasured images for print or social media sharing. Ideal for hobbyists and archivists alike, the unit can handle prints up to 8x10 as well as speedy document scanning for those who want to make electronic files of important papers. Shutterbug Editor-at-Large George Schaub got his hands on a pre-release unit and filed this report.

The new Epson V700 Photo/V750-M Pro Perfection scanners remind me of the very first Epson professional scanner I got to know over 10 years ago. The resemblance, however, is largely superficial. Even though the new V700 and V750 have a shape similar to the Expression of over a decade ago, these new Perfection scanners reflect an entirely different era of scanning performance. While...

No, we’re not cooking color slides and film negatives in a pop-up toaster like Eggo waffles. The FilmToaster is a device that enables you to create digital image files from virtually any size film or transparency up to 4x5. You supply the DSLR and macro lens. If you have a shoebox full of family negs like many of us do, prepare to bring those old images back to life. 

The Kodak Scanza is a basic film/slide scanner that is well made, very easy to use, and capable of producing entry-level scans of your photos. It comes complete with a generous array of accessories and can save digitized images on an SD card or output them to a PC (or Mac) for storage or a TV for viewing.