[SOLVED] Need help finding a Linux-compatible 35mm Film Scanner

DMLinux · 06-16-2022, 02:11 AM

Can anyone suggest a 35mm slide scanner that is confirmed to work with Linux? I have A LOT of slides (14+ Carousel trays and 11 or 12 index trays) to scan for preservation. I have both Canon and Epson flat bed scanners that have slide and film attachments, but according to the SANE database, the Canon is not supported and the Epson is not "confirmed" even though drivers are available. I have not bothered to try either one. I am not concerned about bundled software - I won't be doing much editing other than basic color correction. I don't want to spend $400 for a dedicated slide scanner and then find out that it is Windows/Mac only. If you or someone you know has been successful scanning slides with Linux, please let me know what is in use. And I can be distro-agnostic for this project. If there is one particular distro that is well suited for photo work, please pass that on too. This is going to be a several moths to maybe a year or two project.
Thank you all!

beachboy2 · 06-16-2022, 06:21 AM

DMLinux,

Welcome to LQ forums.

Which Epson model do you have?

The alternative is to install Virtualbox (VB) in a Linux distro such as Linux Mint and then install W10 inside VB.

Then run one of your existing scanners in W10.

The Epson Perfection 4870 has Linux support.

http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/se...h/searchModule

Downloads:
http://support.epson.net/linux/en/is...version=2.30.4

A new one here for $200 (it should have the slide holder):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/28483437005...3ABFBM_siAz61g

Used one at $77 (does it have the slide holder?):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184735186...IAAOSwR4ZgYx42

The V330 also has Linux support:
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/se...h/searchModule

Downloads:
http://support.epson.net/linux/en/epsonscan2.php

Unused V330 with slide holder for $115:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/39403817581...3ABFBMkve83K1g

The Perfection V600 has Linux support :
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/se...duleFromResult

Downloads:
http://support.epson.net/linux/en/epsonscan2.php

BestBuy at $299.99:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-p...&intl=nosplash

The V600 comes with two film holders; one for 35mm film strips and mounted slides and another for 120/220 film.

These videos may be of help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs7tmOyYpxk

https://www.craiggiven.com/blog/2018...an-35mm-slides

DMLinux · 06-16-2022, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

DMLinux,

Welcome to LQ forums.

Which Epson model do you have?

The alternative is to install Virtualbox (VB) in a Linux distro such as Linux Mint and then install W10 inside VB.

Then run one of your existing scanners in W10.

-<SNIP>-

The Perfection V600 has Linux support :
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/se...duleFromResult

Downloads:
http://support.epson.net/linux/en/epsonscan2.php

BestBuy at $299.99:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/epson-p...&intl=nosplash

The V600 comes with two film holders; one for 35mm film strips and mounted slides and another for 120/220 film.

These videos may be of help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs7tmOyYpxk

https://www.craiggiven.com/blog/2018...an-35mm-slides

Thank you for your reply! I have an Epson Perfection V370 which appears to have only partial support. The Canon is an 8800f (I should have noted that in the first post) I do have the V600 that you suggested bookmarked on Amazon, along with a 3rd party film holder for 616 film. I will go back to the SANE page and look again. I thought it said either partial or no support.

What I really want is a dedicated 35mm scanner like the Plustek 8### series, but they also have zero or limited support. I don't want to have to fumble around with the lid mounted attachments that the Epson and Canon flat bed scanners use. I have (I think) 14 of the high capacity Carousel trays of my own slides, and 11 of the old style file boxes of my father's slides. And since I was too cheap to buy Kodachrome, I am going to have a lot of color correction to do with my slides.

I will take another look at the V600 to recheck my first read. Meanwhile, I'm hoping someone will come along with knowledge of a dedicated 35mm option.

beachboy2 · 06-17-2022, 09:40 AM

DMLinux,

Much more research is needed, judging by the feedback from purchasers of various slide scanners, both dedicated 35mm and flatbed.

Putting Perfection V370 in this link shows that your scanner is supported in Linux:
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/se...h/searchModule

The latest Epson Scan 2 driver is dated 6-17-2022:
http://support.epson.net/linux/en/epsonscan2.php

If you want a dedicated 35mm scanner like the Plustek 8200i, you really need to be using Windows,(on a Windows machine or via VirtualBox on Linux), since suitable Linux drivers are not available for any Plustek model.

Follow the KISS principle and use the right tool for the job. Would you use a fork to eat soup?

Useful scanner review:
https://www.popphoto.com/reviews/best-film-scanner/

Plustek 8200i SE at Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Plustek-Optic...ct_top?ie=UTF8

Review of Plustek 8100i:
https://www.35mmc.com/08/04/2016/plu...-8200i-review/

The next USB scanner can be connected to a Linux PC (see feedback below).

KODAK Mini Digital Film & Slide Scanner:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JJBGG...=camdenxpph-20

Amazon feedback:

Quote:

A bit of a disappointment. Quality promising and easy to use. Easy to see as an external drive on Linux and drag-and-drop of images straightforward.

But build quality not great. The 35mm tray does not fit correctly and stops/locks into place too soon, causing a vertical bar to appear on display (see photo circled). This seems to be caused by the notch underneath the negative adaptor. I took a sharp knife to the notch and whittled it down and now the tray slides in further and the vertical block is not an issue.

However there is cropping. One of the things that appealed to me about a negative scanner is the possibility of capturing areas of the negative that were lost on the photo, but it's obvious even without any great scrutiny that there is cropping around the outside.

One highly-rated alternative is a Nikon Coolscan (IV or V), such as this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185433709...IAAOSw-G5iVZqP

How to install Nikon Scan 4.0.3 on Windows 10 64bit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNMtTH8HlQI

Good luck with your research.

syg00 · 06-17-2022, 05:47 PM

I keep a Windows laptop for this plus a few other programs. Tool for the job.

Perhaps you need to bite the bullet like I did and harshly prune your collection. Did I really needed boxes and boxes of shots from my outback trips in the 80's and 90's ?. Same for the family.
Kept a few representative shots and dumped the rest. Wasn't as hard to do as I imagined it would be - just spend some time on the light table rather than the scanner.

SW64 · 06-17-2022, 09:10 PM

https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/supported-scanners.html

Check out VueScan. It is a payware software. There is a Linux version of VueScan that I was able to get working on my Slackware via slackbuilds.org. I've been meaning to get that software and the Plustek 8200i SE scanner. Ai is SE bundled with Silverscan.

The Nikon slide scanners were and still are the best one. IMHO, of course. I regretted not getting the Coolscan 4000 ED when I had the opportunity years ago.

beachboy2 · 06-18-2022, 02:59 AM

DMLinux,

I have never used VueScan, but many people report good results and some prefer it to the included software (SilverFast) with the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i SE (see feedback below).

From that feedback it seems as though the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i SE, VueScan and Linux (Ubuntu) do work together quite happily.

I recommend either Linux Mint MATE (or Xfce) 64 bit, not Cinnamon, instead of Ubuntu, but choose whatever you prefer.

VueScan from Hamrick:
https://www.hamrick.com/

The Professional edition will be needed for slides:
https://www.hamrick.com/support/freq...scan-cost.html

Amazon feedback:

Quote:

I am at a certain age where all the really old relatives are dying off. The first one left me 5000 or so slides. I bought the Nikon Coolscan (this was was 15 years ago). It worked OK, but the scans were relatively poor quality. It did have a slide hopper but it jammed frequently. I finished like a year later.

This time around (Feb 2021) the Nikon isn't made any more and this relative left like 100,000 slides. Really. So I tried the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i SE on a whim.

First off, don't even bother with the included SilverFast software, just toss it. Instead I bought "Vuescan" (Google it) And I used a fast Linux (Ubuntu 20.04) Laptop.

Wow! I was up and running in 5 minutes and it works flawlessly. This technology is MUCH better than the Nikon. The IR is extremely effective. These 60 year old slides are dirty, scratched, some have active mould. In almost all cases virtually all the dirt and dust disappeared on the IR scan!

Review of VueScan and SilverFast:
https://uk.pcmag.com/software/46999/...edition-review

Extract:

Quote:

One of VueScan's advantages compared with SilverFast is that you don't need a separate program to post-process the image. You can use the Raw File option to save the file to disk without throwing away any of the scan information and reopen it to tweak the image and resave it later as a TIFF or JPG.

With SilverFast, you need a separate program to reopen the file later.

Good luck.

syg00 · 06-18-2022, 03:23 AM

Let's hope the OP can provide a review if they purchase same. I no longer have the need, but I tried (and trashed) several cheaper alternatives. Even under Windoze they were unacceptable.

Always happy to have a better linux alternative.

beachboy2 · 06-18-2022, 05:47 AM

DMLinux,

Just to add that you may need some extra slide holders to speed up the copying operation (see feedback below).

Plustek 35 mm Slide Holders for 8200i:
https://www.amazon.com/Plustek-Mount.../dp/B083XDF7ZN

Feedback on Amazon:

Quote:

I didn’t bother to try the bundled software because I’ve had bad experiences with older versions of it on different scanners. But with VueScan Professional, this scanner works quickly and easily on my carousel trays full of old 35mm Ektachrome slides. Light infra-red cleaning is all I needed, at 3600dpi, which is all the resolution I need (don’t need the huge files produced by 7200dpi. I purchased an additional set of 4-slide holders to keep the traffic moving so I could refill one while the other was scanning. The scanner also comes with a strip-film holder for negatives. The scanner is also compact, another plus.

Quote:

I am using this scanner to (finally!) start to digitize about 4000 slides from 40 years of photography. I tried several scanners before this. Now with the 8200i I am getting some slides scanned! I spent about 15 minutes with the SilverFast 8 software, but found it way too complicated for even this longtime software geek to fool with. Also, the QuickScan software that PlusTek supplied with the 8200i would not run on my Windows 7 64 bit machine. I could never get the user interface to open.

Fortunately I already have a license for VueScan Professional for my other scanners. VueScan works flawlessly with the 8200i, and is easy to use and understand. VueScan fully supports the features of this scanner.

I am scanning at 3600 dpi and using the infrared dust removal feature in the 8200i. A preview scan takes 15 seconds, and the final scan takes 120 seconds for the two passes (color and infrared). I purchased 2 extra slide holders so I can turn around the slides quickly. I am also using a Giotto rocket duster. The quality of the 8200i seems high, and the scans are very accurate. The dust removal works about as well as you could want - not perfect, but good enough. You can't really see what is inside this scanner, but that is one of it's best features - it just works.

I highly recommend this scanner, but don't waste your time with SilverFast. Buy the Professional version of VueScan, and you won't be sorry.

davcefai · 06-19-2022, 10:59 AM

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Runs out of the box on Devuan.

Cheers

DMLinux · 06-24-2022, 08:07 PM

After a considerable amount of reading reviews, I have decided to go with Vuescan and either a Plustek 8200i, or maybe 8300i if it has hardware differences making it worth the extra money. I installed the trial version of Vuescan and I like the way it works. Vuescan claims to support the infrared dust removal. I have a lot to learn about that and color correction.

Thank you to all who replied!

PS for @syg00
"Nothing is ever as simple as it first appears" is 100% true 100% of the time. And a guy named Murphy has a law that will bite you when you expect anything to be simple.

SW64 · 06-25-2022, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMLinux

if it has hardware differences making it worth the extra money.

No, it's pretty much either 8100i or 8200i SE/Ai for us Linux users. Vuescan does not support the Linux version for 8300i and 135i. Maybe we can get the bundled software working in wine but that's a big pair of dices to roll. Much better bet to get Windows/Mac computer for the 8300i/135i instead. If you want the calibration slide, Ai's the one to get. That's another pair of dices to roll since we don't know if the Plustek's calibration slides are compatible with Vuescan's profiling feature. Calibration IT8 slides can be had cheaper elsewhere online.

So ultimately, it's either 8100i or 8200i SE. Infrared dust removal or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMLinux

Vuescan claims to support the infrared dust removal. I have a lot to learn about that and color correction.

If I remembered correctly, it was a matter of turning it on and let it do its thing. It was my experience that the auto-heal function of this feature sometime overcook the masking which produce weird and noticeable results. Maybe Vuescan will do a better job at this. Color correction is the one with the learning curve.

You'll want to purchase one of those air squeeze blowers and a brush soft enough to use on slides and films. The less dusts on the slides/films, the less post-scan processing you or the scanner will need to do. Available in photography shops.

SW64 · 06-25-2022, 12:09 PM

In my researching for scanner info for this thread, I came across a film scanner new to me, the Pacific Image PrimeFilm XAs. Vuescan does support it for Linux. It has a better dynamic range (4.2 Dmax) and resolution than the Plustek 8200i. My first impression of the sample images found online is that the XAs is the better scanner over 8200i. The XAs images are sharper, apparently due to the higher scan resolution. Otherwise, they're both seems to be decent film scanners. Colors were good on both of them.

Pacific Image PrimeFilm XAs: https://www.scanace.com/product/film...-super-edition

Other Pacific Image models: https://www.scanace.com/product/film-scanners

Plustek 8200i pool at flickr.com: https://www.flickr.com/groups/plustek8200i/pool/

Pacific Image PrimeFilm XA pool at flickr.com (look for XAs in photo descriptions): https://www.flickr.com/groups/2709387@N21/pool/

graemev · 08-13-2024, 08:22 AM

I note you say you had "Carousel trays"

I assume you have a DSLR, you could try a variation of this idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPCpwcn2Q6w

You could skip a lot of the automation and just "live with" needing to press remote buttons on camera & Projector.

I guess ,with this scheme, a lot of the effort is in the initial setup ...even lighting, right lens, steady mounts etc.