Thanks for the info - something to go on!
J
Is there a scanner aimed at 6" x 4" and 7" x 5" prints?
With some sort of photo-feeder?
I would like to digitise a large number of pre-digital photos - that task
may not need a large flatbed, but it does need a sheetfeeder which can
handle prints.
I have tried sheet feeders on a couple of flatbed scanners, but it didn't
like photographic prints :*(
Thanks for any advice.
Jeremy H
Hi Jeremy,
I run a photo scanning business and about two years ago I started
looking into how we could scan large batches of photos. Up to then
we'd been using flatbed technology (Epson 4990) which while excellent
is incredibly slow when you're scanning shoeboxes full of photos.
Finding the type of device you describe, a hopper fed photo scanner,
was my mission too.
The answer to yur question is yes.
I ended up with the Kodak s1220, which as far as I can see is the only
product on the market that fits the bill. We've been together for
about a year and I'm more than happy with the scanner and the overall
support I've had from Kodak. The unit I think is now around £800, it
will handle colour, monochrome, scans front, back or both sides of an
image at 300, 600 or 1200 dpi. If you take this route you'll need a
chunky PC (Windows only, no Mac), you must keep the scanner window
scrupulously clean as well as the complete paper path. Kodak's
software is pretty good and you can get the hang of it in an hour or
two.
Don't be tempted by the physically identical and much cheaper i1220 as
this will not handle photos. Only the s model is photo friendly. If
you want to see what the scans look like there are some samples on our
website. Having done comparison tests on my own snapshots I don't
think 1200 dpi is worth the bother, if you aren't planning
enlargements 300 dpi is adequate and scanning speed incredibly quick.
I opted for 600 dpi as a standard and client feedback has been
excellent.
You will see many sheet fed scanners on the market, primarily aimed at
document scanning. Paper is much thinner and doesn't mind being folded
through a bendy paper path in a way that would ruin a photo print so
that rules out the majority of ADF scanners, never mind what the image
quality might be like. However I have recently seen a Fujitsu ScanSnap
advertised, primarily as a document scanner, but it seems to have a
straight paper path similar to the Kodak scanner. It's much cheaper
and both Windows and Mac compatible. I don't know what kind of quality
it delivers if you try to scan photos with it.
If your volume of photos justifies the investment I don't think you'll
be disappointed by the Kodak s1220.
Jeff Underwood
1Scan.co.uk
