I Tried CHEAP Film Scanners so You Don’t Have to...

We've all seen some cheap, weird looking film scanners littered across the internet with no idea how good they are. Today we're going to find out, and see if we can squeeze some good, decent, or just to horrible film scans out of them.
Follow me!
instagram: / linusandhiscamera
twitter: / linusnhiscamera
I use copyright free music from Musicbed. Use my link when you sign up: share.mscbd.fm/linusandhiscamera
- My Gear! (affiliate links)-
The gear I shoot with:
Canon R6 mkii: amzn.to/3nFmawb
Canon 24-70: amzn.to/3RgDVyF
Canon 70-200: amzn.to/3R9wzwy
Sony FX3: amzn.to/3SoxzdZ
Portra 800: amzn.to/32qtHkp
Lomo CN800: amzn.to/3wZnudg
CineStill 800t: amzn.to/3GXFlWP
DJ Light: amzn.to/45itFsZ

[@linusandhiscamera]

RIP to my poor shirt that has a rip in the shoulder that I didn't notice while editing but now cannot unsee 😭😭😭 hope y'all enjoy this video it was honestly such a fun one to put together!!

[@NANCEmusic]

shirt with the rip kinda fire tho 🔥

[@linusandhiscamera]

fr fr@@NANCEmusic

[@devaulrg]

No shame, times are tough for a lot of us right now 🙃

[@mariorruiz]

Wouldn’t have noticed if you don’t tell

[@IvanSanchezDS]

that looks fine to me. in fact, my favorite shirt has 3 holes on it and I don't even mind about that... I don't know why... I just like that shirt.

[@WillemVerb]

Volvo laptop saving the day once again

[@linusandhiscamera]

where's the volvo brand film scanner at

[@Shrek_Has_Covid19]

gas powered V8 film scanner

[@aliarby]

The Minolta one would be sick to just have in the living room with some rolls next to it, kind of like a record player for film 😄

[@linusandhiscamera]

i showed it to a few friends before i put this video out, they all loved the little live playback screen 😂

[@PetCactusA_HarmlessLittlePrick]

@@linusandhiscamera Try it with Microfilm.

[@fotoralf]

Minolta has left the photo business in 2006. Their camera branch has been taken over by Sony and they haven't made a film scanner ever since. Supposedly, someone has bought the rights to the name to put it on some cheapo stuff.

[@linusandhiscamera]

crazy how many companies do this

[@mz-pv9ki]

I have this scanner because there are no good shops near me for scanners. The company is called magnasonic and it is the most unreliable garbage. It scans kodak films without issue, but any lomo, cinestill, or fuji has serious colour reproduction problems for some reason. Black and white on these is phenomenal however

[@xmeda]

Similar with Yashica - now some junk is being pushed on market with that famous name

[@Koolken98]

Them being the same scanner internally is CRAZY lol

[@allen_snapped]

Yo! Linus... how about a video on your whole scanning process? That would be dope as hell and incredibly useful. We got two scanning videos from you, and we could see a lil bit of how you do it, but not anything in depth. Would really appreciate it. Thanks again for this and seriously, so glad you're back on YT. Peace.

[@FeralGinger]

This was an insanely fun journey! Thanks for taking us on it! Will continue scanning with my X-T4 and Nikon macro lens until an easier/quicker option comes along!

[@linusandhiscamera]

hoping to share a camera scanning video soon!!

[@baubau24]

Hey Linus, thanks again for this great video ! Would be amazing to have a comparison between the two famous scanner on the market, your frontier SP3000 and a Noritsu HS-1800

[@Francois_L_7933]

Crosley and Innovative Technologies are the same manufacturer. I have a cheap IT model with an LCD screen which I somehow love. I paid 5$ for it about 10 years ago. But the thing is that I don't use it like is intended. I use mine exclusively for for rapidly scanning a roll after I develop it (mine had the rollfilm adapter) and making an index print. When I then see an image I deem worthy of spending time on, I then pop it in the Epson.

[@linusandhiscamera]

ahhh love this! a digital contact sheet in a way

[@patrickjclarke]

For the Plustek with Silverfast, I'd still recommend scanning negs to get the positive as the combo of the built-in film profiles AND the special pass it does to read the rebate color and slight tonal differences per frame and are consistent and high quality. NLP is great for camera scans tho as it's trying to do something similar in software to what the Plustek provides to Silverfast in hardware.

[@linusandhiscamera]

thanks for the advice!

[@TheChosenOne_]

I far prefer using silverfast and NLP. Granted, automatic scratch and dust removal is a cool feature but colors look much better converting with NLP imo. And it gives more control

[@DavidDacaro]

An industry colleague I know has a 1 million dollar scanner which apparently is the best in the history of scanning. There's quite a range of film scanner options it seems, from $5 all the way up to the equivalent cost of a house. That scanner I'm referring to is a one of a kind analog unit in the family of drum scanning machine, and they charge around $1500 per scan/image.

[@linusandhiscamera]

drum scanners are so dope! that would make a very intriguing video topic.

[@WhatALoadOfTosca]

Not many houses at a $1 ;) Then again maybe there is lol

[@BagpiperTomKennedy]

A really well put together video! I'm disappointed that none of the scanners were worth my purchase.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

Even Lidl is now Selling a Negative Scanner with a "High resolution" of 8mp

[@ontime8109]

thank you for this helpful video! I recently was thinking on buying Minolta scanner. Better to save up and get flatbed scanner I think.

[@MaltandMake]

Super useful video. I don't think I'd buy one of these but it's great to have some context if anyone asks me how to get started scanning. Thanks!

[@kaminlnw]

This is what I've been waiting for!

[@linusandhiscamera]

hope you enjoy the video!!

[@orangejjay]

I think you're the best Linus on all of KZbin. Love it! Thanks for suffering for us. ❤❤😂

[@KajiRider1997]

I still have my 5 megapixel film scanner. which works good enough for the things I want. But I really would like to upgrade. certainly because I can just barely squeeze a 120 negative in there without damaging it.

[@SequentialSnep]

Thanks for checking out these scanners, was looking to get one for digitizing my slides but probably gonna skip :)

[@beldron]

These scanners which you have as CROSLEY were sold in Europe under different brands. I have a similar one (only the plastic cover looks different) branded as Rollei DF-S 50 (DiaFilmScanner). Rollei used to be a famous German brand of cameras in old film days but later is was used for selling cheap Asian photo products like cams, scanners... A similar scanner was sold as Tevion TV 6500. Tevion is the technical brand of Aldi, a German discount supermarket.

[@sjenkin88]

The last one would be kinda good to have around to take a quick glimpse of the film/negs before fully processing them, or before heading to the dark room.

[@linusandhiscamera]

this is what all the homies said when they came by and checked it out 😂😂

[@g1234538]

You made a more valiant effort for a $5 scanner you bought off ebay than I would have expected anyone to make lol, even the VM not working so you pluck out your friend's odd laptop But now I'm more interested in the Volvo branded laptop???? Comparing the Frontier scan of the car to the Crosley it's shocking how the car looks entirely different when you see the reflections defined! There's just so much more depth there, I wonder why the cheaper scanners mushed it all together The Minolta one was quite nice for $100. Also, it's interesting that they made some very capable professional scanners (like the Multi Pro or the Scan Elite 5400). I've been looking into high end scanning a lot and it was pretty surprising to me that drum scanners can be beat in almost every way by camera scanning setups. With how little movement there is on drum scanners versus cameras and their sensors, it's not surprising. But good setups there can get really crazy, like using a camera with a high pixel density and getting a macro lens that can resolve that much (or more with a higher magnification). Even other ways of assessing film quality have seemed interesting, like use a slide projector with a good lens, or a microscope. There are so many possibilities! i might just have an unhealthy obsession lol Anyway, great video on these scanners!

[@linusandhiscamera]

you make some good points! hoping to put out a new, updated camera scanning video soon.

[@proxcess4946]

Not actually a laptop manufactured by Volvo. It’s a Toshiba that would’ve likely been used by Volvo techs. Probably packed with Volvo diagnostic software that’s specifically for certified Volvo mechanics.

[@_SYDNA_]

Do you know if negative lab pro is any good at catching/cleaning dust specs in a film image? Also, do you know if it's good at removing the shift towards orange that happens in old echtachrome slides.

[@piercerose8374]

You should try old DSLRS for scanning next! I have my canon 6d that I want to buy a macro lens for and start scanning

[@linusandhiscamera]

working on a camera scanning video right now!

[@copdog4609]

I use an old Wolverine F2D. Does great on black and white, and is pretty decent for color. No computer needed, just an SD card. It has a screen on it. Poached it from my parents, it was collecting dust from when I was a kid and they were actually shooting film still. Can scan a whole roll in the time it takes my Epson V37 to do five shots.

[@lindsaydiaz2330]

Serious question, which scanner would you recommend for film photography?

[@KnutBurmeister]

A standalone negative scanner with a little bit of correction software and maybe DNG output seems to be an impossible task, even nowadays.

[@MarcoRoepers]

I bought 10 years ago a cheap scanner. I was disapointed about the colour scans but the scans of black and white film turned out to be a kind of acceptable.

[@linusandhiscamera]

sounds about right!!

[@Max_Mustermann]

I was going to recommend Plustek for a cheap-ish decent quality film scanner, but I see it's mentioned at the end of the video already.

[@feraudyh]

I have a Nikon LS8000 film scanner. I stopped using it for a few years and tried it recently. Something was wrong. It needs repair. It was great when it worked. At least I scanned around 20k shots with it

[@krono996]

Should've also included examples of a Plustek scanner as well, they are pretty amazing for the price

[@linusandhiscamera]

definitely would have liked to! that scanner is $500-600, these were the cheapest i could find

[@krono996]

@@linusandhiscamera Oh wow, I've seen older, used models here go for as little as 50-100 euros

[@Kage_Fur]

My first scanner was a plustek bought it used for 70€. I use a canoscan 9000F II now, because of 120 Film

[@niket909]

What do you think of the KODAK Slide N SCAN, is it worth it? I wanted to buy a scan to develop my Kodak h35n films but I didn't want something very expensive. I prefer something more accessible and practical, what do you recommend?

[@parranoic]

A friend gave me an "old pc" that turned out to be a Nikon CoolScan 4000, That thing is amazing

[@shrmy]

the first crosley scan was so promising and then it just.... well also the minolta with NLP kinda popped off on the nsx photos ngl

[@linusandhiscamera]

kinda poppppped fr

[@noticiasinmundicias]

6:57 wouldn't you want to use 3600DPI instead of 1800?

[@MrSwaggernaut83]

Was gonna say this

[@GroundUpAzPunk]

I have the Crosley scanner you reviewed in your video but mine is branded IT. So most likely Crosley bought the rights to it from Innovative Technologies. I believe My IT Software is for Windows 98 or vista!!

[@nqxba]

BEB WAKE UP LINUS WEEKLY VID DROPPED

[@linusandhiscamera]

im backkk

[@kevingallegly7077]

Crosley also made cars if you can believe it!

[@MrHauerManuel]

Lovely video! Would you mind sharing the name of that song used in the background? I make videos for a band called ‚Sharktank‘ and it sounds like someone is making instrumental covers and selling them on musicbed…

[@henriquebutcher2574]

Linus, you need set the white balance before you do the conversion on negative lab pro.

[@billyspocketlife]

Ah yes look forward to the results

[@linusandhiscamera]

ayeee live commenting

[@billyspocketlife]

@@linusandhiscamera love the test shot you chose

[@linusandhiscamera]

thank you dude!! @@billyspocketlife

[@kendal1517]

where can I download the FimScan35 I software for Mac

[@trojaaann]

I have Minolta dual scan III. It's great stuff, that costs for about 100$

[@_SYDNA_]

Thanks!

[@louanabv6864]

What do you think about the kodak one that cost 150$ ?

[@adamevans1989]

The Crosley scanner also gets sold by Rollei for way more than 5 bucks, which is just depressing. Just as depressing as the Minolta brand being slaped on total crap cameras and not so great scanners.

[@linusandhiscamera]

wild how many companies are doing this!!

[@toothyweasel2705]

Yeah. My main 35mm is a Dynax 9 which still to this day has amazing performance so to see a name that used to be a top line camera maker like that having its named bought out to apply to garbage products is disappointing.

[@wick801]

Back in the day Crosley made among other things, refrigerators and cars! I am pretty sure the original company no longer exists at least in its original form.

[@calebosborn2231]

Hey Linus. Are you still with CineStill?

[@keithfulkerson]

It would be interesting to see how much empty space is inside that $50 scanner.

[@LaMenteDeDresiSS]

Why using 1800 DPI instead of 3600 DPI? I don´t know why choosing this option on the software...

[@jameslenney]

Given the cost of these scanners normally, it seems the old rule generally applies: if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

[@wawifpv]

I have a question do you need to develop your 35mm film before scanning it?

[@linusandhiscamera]

yes you do!

[@wawifpv]

Alright,but I’m new to 35mm film photography What are the develpment gear that you use to develop 35mm film? I a really love your content and artistic style 🤌🏾

[@wawifpv]

By chance I let my father buy the $100 scanner that you reviewed,because I want a affordable scanner that is easy to use. I a found that the Quality is manageable to post on my socials. I shot some 35mm film already but now I need to learn how to develop them 😅 I going to follow tutorials I’m super excited to see results!

[@KajiRider1997]

1:48 mine works on a sd card and only uses the usb connection for power.

[@linusandhiscamera]

nice!!

[@Ybalrid]

The fact that the innovative technology one displays proudly in front of it that it can scan business cards sounds *extremely japanese* to me

[@Samson1]

Your first mistake was buying something with 'Crosley' on it. 😂

[@linusandhiscamera]

advice i'd been following until this video lol

[@toothyweasel2705]

So what you're saying is I shouldn't replace my Nikon Coolscan 9000 with one of these?

[@linusandhiscamera]

keep that coolscan coolin

[@smalldeekgeorge]

Problem with cheap scanners is they have a lot of processing like noise reduction and edge detect, but with very bad algorithm and processing power! Scans would look so much better if you could disable all processing from scan devices!

[@Daclundunk2012]

can you make a 3d printed film camera that you have to manually twist the shutter by hand with only a 10$ budget (the film doesnt effect the budget)and show the results

[@ThePwig]

Why would you just assume that you had to use the CDRom to install stuff? There’s always a way to download stuff. And even ways to install them on newer OS

[@linusandhiscamera]

I just wanted to use everything that came in the box. I'm sure I could have done it that way, you're right!

[@ThePwig]

@@linusandhiscamera fair enough. I came across as kind of snarky after reading what I typed! My bad

[@slothsarecool]

I still find camera scanning kinda underwhelming, compared to the Plustek 120 Pro which has super nice micro contrast, I couldn’t get similar with a 100mp digital camera, still looks nice but not the same

[@linusandhiscamera]

i hear you! going to be doing some more experiments with camera scanning soon - in my experience i can't say I agree with you on microcontrast but i won't say you're wrong!

[@slothsarecool]

I'll keep an eye on your vids :D definitely interesting. For reference I was using pixel shift on the Leica SL2@@linusandhiscamera

[@kerc]

Cheap scanners are good for quickly looking at your negatives and deciding what to actually scan decently.

[@linusandhiscamera]

absolutely!!

[@martyschnurr]

lol i love this

[@ivan9066]

My brothers in christ, why the hell would you even consider using these plastic pos??? If you’re going to scan some old family negatives, just sent them at the lab..

[@CAJH]

Yesssiirrrrreeee

[@josha254]

Crosley???!!?!?!!

[@Joe-Bazuka]

Please everyone like this video so Linus can buy a new tshirt.

[@linusandhiscamera]

LMAO

[@CHESSZILLA]

is a normal scanner not just better?

[@sarova2000]

I mean… you could buy an older epson scanner for less than 100$ and get better results than this I think

[@bobbleczar]

Let me save you some time. Buy a PlusTek OpticFilm 8200i scanner. The rest are trash.

[@thompsonevergreen8006]

Doesn't colour tweaking defeat the whole point of film photography

[@benbunch4159]

…no. A scan is a digital picture of your negative. A negative is…a negative. It needs color tweaking to look like anything.

[@bratspinat]

i was lucky and got a epson v750 for 15€ 😭

[@JeremyCohen]

about to convert my dot dot dot to jpeg rq

[@StanleyKubick1]

no skater hangs a supreme deck

[@linusandhiscamera]

i don’t skate! the supreme deck was a gift, and the other deck i was bought to support my homie Vuhlandes 🤍🤍 so ur right

[@jlwilliams]

Crikey, I just wasted 12 minutes listening to some beardie tell me that cheap scanners are inconsistent and crappy, which I already knew from my own previous adventures with the exact same boxes branded Wolverine, Kodak, etc. Really, what would you expect from an obsolete phone-camera sensor, crummy plastic macro lens, and crude 10-year-old software? Spend your twelve minutes enjoying a cup of coffee and a donut instead…

[@HolmesThom]

Hey shut up and be nicer.

[@richardeggers]

Let's collab

[@jlsc4125]

Once again I am confounded and confused. So you take a picture on film and digitize it. What was the point of using film ???? It's archaic and has absolutely no advantage over digital anyhow, so what's the point, especially if you're just going to digitize it. I've been a photographer since the early 1970's and digital cameras are the best advancement that cameras ever had. The worst is putting them in cell phones because the sensors are so small they're an absolute joke.

[@thomaseni9237]

What has best quailty/sharpness/details?