film scanner

File:Canon canoscan 2700F.jpg | Canon CanoScan 2700F for APS film

File:Epson F-3200 Film Scanner (3974180129).jpg | Epson F-3200

File:Nikon Coolscan II LS-20.jpg | Nikon Coolscan II with adapter for film strips

File:Nikon Coolscan film.jpg | Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED with cut film strip feeder

File:Nikon Coolscan slides.jpg | Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED with automated slide feeder

File:Plustek.jpg | Plustek OpticFilm 8200 with slide tray

File:2009-12-10-Reflecta-Sanner-2.JPG | Reflecta x²-Scan with accessories

File:BASA scanner for negatives and microfilms.jpg | BASA scanner

Film scanners are designed to accept either strips of 35 mm or 120 film, or individual slides directly, and typically are equipped with mechanical devices to hold the film during scanning. Inside the device, the film is scanned by illuminating the film with a LED or fluorescent light source and passing a linear CCD over the film at a precise rate, resulting in a resolution of approximately 2000 to 4000 dots per inch (DPI).{{cite press release |url=https://www.nikonusa.com/press-room/nikon-announes-new-and-enhance |title=Nikon Announces New and Enhanced Suite of Coolscan High-Speed Desktop Film Scanners |date=January 5, 2004 |publisher=Nikon USA |access-date=10 July 2025}}{{cite conference |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2009ASPC..410..128S |title=Evaluation of the Nikon Coolscan 9000 ED Film Scanner for Astronomical Research |first=Ian |last=Shelton |date=2009 |conference=Preserving Astronomy's Photographic Legacy |location=San Francisco |publisher=Astronomical Society of the Pacific}} In some scanners, a multi-line linear CCD is used so that all three colors (red, blue, and green) can be scanned in one pass.{{cite web |url=http://kmpi.konicaminolta.us/eprise/main/kmpi/content/cam/cam_product_pages/DiMAGE_Scan_Dual?mDetail=Specifications |title=DiMAGE Scan Dual: Specifications |website=Konica Minolta US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051027204234/http://kmpi.konicaminolta.us/eprise/main/kmpi/content/cam/cam_product_pages/DiMAGE_Scan_Dual?mDetail=Specifications |archive-date=October 27, 2005 |url-status=dead}} Some recent film scanners use two-dimensional image sensors, similar to those available for smartphones and digital cameras, to digitize film; in these cases, the scanned resolution is stated in megapixels (MP) rather than DPI,{{cite web |url=https://www.kodakphotoplus.com/products/kodak-scanza-digital-film-slide-scanner |title=Kodak Scanza Digital Film Scanner |publisher=Kodak |access-date=10 July 2025}} and the scanner is essentially a digital camera with specialized firmware and hardware to handle exposed slides and negative film.{{cite web |url=https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/reviews/kodak-scanza-digital-film-scanner-review |title=Kodak Scanza Digital Film Scanner review |first=Matthew |last=Richards |date=November 13, 2023 |publisher=Digital Camera World |access-date=10 July 2025 |quote=Unlike a conventional scanner that works on a line-by-line basis, the Kodak Scanza is based on an LED light source and a 14 megapixel 'camera' that captures an entire frame of film in one shot. [...] Something that we really like about the Scanza is that it comes with a wide range of trays and inserts, enabling you to scan positive or negative frames of 35mm, 126, 110, 8mm and Super 8 film.}}

Low-end film scanners typically only take 35mm film strips and slides, while medium- and high-end film scanners usually offer several interchangeable mechanical film handling modules. This allows the same scanner platform to be used for different sizes and types of film. For example, the Nikon Coolscan III includes both the MA-20 module, which is designed to handle single 35mm slides, and the SA-20 module for cut 35mm film strips. These modules are used one at a time, or they could be supplemented with additional accessories and modules, including:{{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/ls30ftg.pdf |title=Nikon LS-30 35mm Film Scanner Fast Track Guide |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}

• IA-20 for Advanced Photo System cartridges
• FH-3 (35mm cut film strip holder with MA-20)

File:Ivana Trump shakes hands with Fahd of Saudi Arabia.jpg greeting King Fahd in 1985, accompanied by Donald Trump, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, was taken by Michael Evans on February 11, 1985, and later digitized using a Nikon Super Coolpix 9000 ED film scanner]]

Later scanners offered by Nikon were bundled with updated slide and filmstrip modules (MA-21 and SA-21) and were compatible with more modules for 35mm film, including:{{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/scanners/LS4000_40_en.pdf |title=Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED / Coolscan IV ED |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/noprint/LS5000_50_en_noprint.pdf |title=Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED / Coolscan V ED |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}

• FH-G1 (glass microscope slide holder with MA-21)
• SA-30 (roll film adapter)
• SF-200 & SF-210 (automated slide feeder){{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/scanners/sf200.pdf |title=Slide Feeder SF-200 (S) |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}

The Nikon Super Coolscan 8000 ED and 9000 ED offered a wide variety of film holders, rather than mechanical modules, to accommodate different film formats, including 120/220:{{cite web |url=https://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/2004_coolscan.pdf |title=Nikon Coolscan film scanners |publisher=Nikon Corporation |date=2004 |access-date=10 July 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/manuals/scanners/LS8000_en.pdf |title=Nikon Super Coolscan 8000 ED |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/8000.pdf |title=Nikon Film Scanner Super Coolscan 8000 ED (brochure) |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=10 July 2025}}

• FH-835S (35mm strip film)
• FH-835M (35mm mounted slides)
• FH-869S (120/220 strip film)
• FH-869M (120/220 mounted slides)
• FH-869G (120/220 strip film with glass platen)
• FH-869GR (120/220 mounted slides with glass platen)
• FH-816 (16mm film)
• FH-8G1 (Medical slides)

{{multiple image |align=right |total_width=300px |direction=horizontal |title=Canon CanoScan 8800F

|image1=Canon CanoScan 8800F-0397.jpg |caption1=Lid open, document mode

|image2=Canon CanoScan 8800F-0398.jpg |caption2=Lid open, film mode

|image3=Canon CanoScan 8800F-0389.jpg |caption3=Lid closed

|footer=This is a flatbed scanner that can scan documents or film}}

Flatbed scanners typically have a glass platen on which a document or picture is placed, face-down, to be scanned; the inside of the lid is lined with a flexible, opaque white surface backed with foam to press the original flat against the platen while accommodating minor surface irregularities. Some flatbed scanners are equipped with a special lid to facilitate film scanning; for these scanners, the opaque white surface lining the lid can be removed, exposing another glass surface with a built-in backlight to illuminate the slide or negative filmstrip during scanning.{{cite web |url=https://www.filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV600Photo.html |title=Epson Perfection V600 Photo flat bed scanner |first=Patrick |last=Wagner |website=filmscanner.info |access-date=9 July 2025}} These dual-purpose flatbed scanners can be distinguished by a significantly bulkier lid with an electrical connection to the scanner unit, since an additional light source is fitted to the lid.

{{multiple image |align=left |direction=horizontal |total_width=250px

|image1=Olympus slide copier hg.jpg |caption1=Olympus bellows unit with slide copying attachment

|image2=Film digitizing rig - Flickr - pedrik.jpg |caption2=Digital camera with Micro-Nikkor lens, copying stand, and lightbox}}

Slide copying attachments are used with bellows extension attachments for close-up photography.{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/closeupphotograp0000coop |url-access=registration |title=Close-up Photography and Copying |series=Nikon Handbook |first1=Joseph D. |last1=Cooper |first2=Joseph C. |last2=Abbott |publisher=American Photographic Book Publishing Co., Inc. |date=1979 |isbn=0-8174-2489-X}}{{rp|54–56}} A suitable bellows, lens, and slide copying attachment produced during the era of film photography can be added to a digital interchangeable lens camera to scan slides. The light source to illuminate the film can vary from a bright cloudy sky to a diffused speedlight.{{cite web |url=https://www.eos-magazine.com/articles/viewfinder/slidecopying.html |title=Slide copying |website=EOS Magazine |access-date=10 July 2025}}

Alternatively, a macro lens can be used along with specialized accessories,{{cite news |url=https://casualphotophile.com/2023/07/12/solving-scanning-with-the-nikon-es-2-film-digitizing-kit/ |title=Solving Scanning with the Nikon ES-2 Film Digitizing Kit |first=James |last=Tocchio |date=July 12, 2023 |website=Casual Photophile |access-date=9 July 2025}} or an appropriate backlight and supports to ensure the camera's sensor is held parallel to the film's surface.{{cite web |url=https://imaging.nikon.com/imaging/information/story/0094/ |title=NIKKOR - The Thousand and One Nights No.94: Nikon Mini AF600QD/Lite-Touch AF |first=Kouichi |last=Ohshita |website=Nikon Imaging |quote=Film was originally digitized using a film scanner like the COOLSCAN. Now, however, it is possible to convert film into high-resolution digital data by photographing it with a digital camera and a Micro lens. The images below were digitized using an AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G on a Nikon D3300. |access-date=9 July 2025}} For comparison, at 2000 – 4000 DPI, a typical 35mm film frame which measures {{cvt|24|*|36|mm}} can be scanned to a file with an equivalent resolution of {{#expr:24*36*((2000/25.4)^2)/1e6 round 2}}–{{#expr:24*36*((4000/25.4)^2)/1e6 round 1}} MP. The Sony SLT-A77, released in 2011 with a 24 MP APS-C sensor, can be used to generate files which exceed the resolution available with a 4000 DPI scanner.{{cite web |url=https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta77 |title=Sony SLT-A77 In-depth Review |first1=Barney |last1=Britton |first2=Richard |last2=Butler |first3=Kelcey |last3=Smith |date=October 25, 2011 |website=Digital Photography Review |access-date=10 July 2025}} Results can vary; in some cases, a dual-purpose flatbed may give a superior scan.

File:Nikon Coolpix 4500 with SLIDE COPY ADAPTER ES-E28.jpg with ES-E28]]

For digital cameras with fixed lenses, some manufacturers have produced dedicated slide / negative copying accessories. For example, the Nikon ES-E28 can be attached to specific Coolpix digital cameras to scan film. Some of these cameras (including the Coolpix 995, 4500, and 5000) have a special "invert colors" mode to facilitate scanning film negatives.{{cite web |url=https://cdn-10.nikon-cdn.com/pdf/ESE28.pdf |title=Nikon ES-E28 Slide Copying Adapter |date= |publisher=Nikon Corporation |access-date=9 July 2025}}

Some software used to process images scanned by film scanners allows for automatic color correction based on the film manufacturer and type. In many cases the source film may not be marked with this information in human-readable form, but might be marked at the bottom edge with a DX film edge barcode following a standard maintained by ANSI and I3A.

Dust and scratches on the film can be a big problem for scanning. Because of their reduced size (compared to prints), the scanners are capable of resolutions much higher than a regular flatbed scanner; typically at least 2000 samples per inch (spi), up to 4000 spi or more. At these resolutions dust and scratches take on gigantic proportions. Even small specks of dust, invisible to the naked eye, can obscure a cluster of several pixels. For this reason, techniques have been developed to remove their appearance from a scan, see film restoration.

The simplest is the median filter, often called despeckle in many graphic manipulation programs, e.g. in Adobe Photoshop and the GIMP. It works by examining a pixel in relation to the pixels surrounding it; if it is too different from the surrounding pixels then it is replaced with one set to their median value. This and other methods can be quite effective but have the disadvantage that the filter cannot know what actually is dust or noise. It will also degrade fine detail in the scan.

{{main|Infrared cleaning}}

Infrared cleaning works by collecting an infrared channel from the scan at the same time as the visible colour channels (red, green, and blue). This is done by using a light source that also produces infrared radiation, and having a fourth row of sensors on the linear CCD sensor. Photographic film is mostly transparent to infrared radiation (no matter what the visible image contains) but dust and scratches aren't, so they show up in the IR channel. This information can then be used to automatically remove the appearance of dust and scratches in the visible channels and replace them with something similar to their surroundings. A major limitation of this technique is that it can only be used on dye-based (color and chromogenic black-and-white) films; the image-forming silver particles in most black-and-white film stocks are opaque to infrared radiation.

Scanner manufacturers usually have their own name attached to this technique. Kodak developed Digital ICE at their Austin development centre, and is licensed by Epson, Konica Minolta, Microtek, Minolta, Nikon, and some others. Canon developed its own FARE (Film Automatic Retouching and Enhancement) system. LaserSoft Imaging developed the iSRD dust and scratch removal, on which among others Plustek is relying.

• Image scanner
• Motion picture film scanner

{{reflist}}

• {{Citation | url = http://www.canon.com/technology/canon_tech/explanation/fare.html | publisher = Canon | title = A full array of image correction features for a variety of documents |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023211251/http://www.canon.com/technology/canon_tech/explanation/fare.html|archive-date=23 October 2010}}
• {{Citation | url = http://asf.com/products/ice/FilmICEOverview/ | title = Products | publisher = ASF | type = overview | contribution = Kodak Digital ICE | access-date = 2007-03-20 | archive-date = 2007-01-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070121002647/http://asf.com/products/ice/FilmICEOverview/ | url-status = dead }}.
• {{Citation | url = http://www.silverfast.com/highlights/isrd/en.html | publisher = SilverFast | title = Highlights | contribution = iSRD}}.
• {{cite web |url=https://www.nicovandijk.net/coolscan.htm |title=Nikon film and flatbed scanners |first1=Nico |last1=van Dijk |first2=Harry |last2=Dekkers}}

{{Photography}}

Category:Photography equipment

Category:Image scanners