It has been my experience that Brother's software, and wifi connectivity, is more stable than any other brand that I have used.

Trouble-free, as in install it and forget about it, nothing more to mess with.

Brother MFC-J480DW. Purchased about 3 years ago on recommendations from here. Loads of scanning, some printing and copying.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
Repeat - "Just say no to inkjets"!

Not necessarily. If you're looking fr photo-quality prints, there is nothing in the consumer/ prosumer marketspace that can outperform an inkjet.

Now are they expensive to run? Most definitely. I read an article a decade or more ago comparing the price of inkjet ink to gold, with gold being significantly cheaper. But inkjets have their place.

For scanners, again, years ago I had a flatbed Epson. I got it specifically for photograph scanning, and it worked great, right up until the time that there weren't any drivers for it on the latest version of Windows any longer. And yes, I looked high and low.

You need to ask yourself what you are scanning (photo vs. magazine articles vs. text), if multiple sheet feed and double side is important, etc. Having said that, I'm sure most of the recommendations above would be suitable. Printers/ scanners are disposable items any more (although I do have a couple of Canons that are going on about 15 years old).

I have a Brother all in one, but honestly for 'scanning', if it's only a couple of pages I take pictures and then convert them to PDFs on my computer.

Only large documents are 'scanned' with the Brother and that is rare (for me).

Whichever you choose, check the resolution of the scanner. The actual optical resolution, not interpolated. I made that mistake once.

I checked the Epson, Canon, Brother, & HP; none of the manufacturers sites allow filtering by scanner optical resolution.

Also checked Best Buy, Staples, & Office Depot; none allow for filtering all-in-ones by scanner resolution.

I neglected to mention that my primary use of it will be photo scanning and, if the resolution is good enough, scanning of 35mm negatives and transparencies.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I neglected to mention that my primary use of it will be photo scanning and, if the resolution is good enough, scanning of 35mm negatives and transparencies.

From a scanner only perspective:

Epson Perfection V370 - 4800x9600 optical resolution, includes transparency unit for slides/negatives ~$118 at Amazon

Epson Perfection V600 - 6400x9600 optical resolution, includes transparency unit for slides/negatives ~$220 at Amazon

I use a Canon Pixma MXC-922 AIO Printer which has an scanner optical resolution of 2400x4800 dpi.

Hope this helps.

check out the cannon flatbeds.

Some of the best for doing photos

For documents I have for years used Fujitsu scanners; the ScanSnap ix500 is the one I use mostly.
But I also have a Fujitsu Fi-7260 which has both a document scanner and flatbed scanner; it is very fast and high-capacity. it’s fine for scanning prints, but NOT slides.

I have tried using an Epson Perfection flatbed scanner for slides, but did not think it worked well.
I have settled on using a Nikon slide copier device on the front of a macro lens on my mirrorless Olympus camera. It works as quickly and as well as a dedicated Nikon slide scanner.

quote:

Originally posted by IntrepidTraveler:

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
Repeat - "Just say no to inkjets"!

Not necessarily. If you're looking fr photo-quality prints, there is nothing in the consumer/ prosumer marketspace that can outperform an inkjet.

Now are they expensive to run? Most definitely. I read an article a decade or more ago comparing the price of inkjet ink to gold, with gold being significantly cheaper. But inkjets have their place.

For scanners, again, years ago I had a flatbed Epson. I got it specifically for photograph scanning, and it worked great, right up until the time that there weren't any drivers for it on the latest version of Windows any longer. And yes, I looked high and low.

You need to ask yourself what you are scanning (photo vs. magazine articles vs. text), if multiple sheet feed and double side is important, etc. Having said that, I'm sure most of the recommendations above would be suitable. Printers/ scanners are disposable items any more (although I do have a couple of Canons that are going on about 15 years old).

Inkjet is the worse. Even as photography enthusiast, I've managed to get by without an inkjet printer for 15 years.

For most people, photo prints should be purchased from a professional. With same day print services and mobile uploads for regular size prints at Costco, Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, you can get your prints back faster and cheaper than trying to print them out one at a time. For bigger or specialized prints, ordering from a pro like Adorama also makes more sense.

If you need the ability to instantly print out an occasional 5x7, get a dedicated photo printer that uses a technology other than inkjet. I have a an old Canon Selphy that prints 5x7 using dye sublimation, and it's far superior to an inkjet. No banding, no wet ink, no dry cartridges.

Laser should be fine for all other printing--color and b&w, text and graphics.

Brother is my recommendation for all-around workhorse laser.

last year I purchased an Epson V600 specifically to scan 35mm slides and to convert many photos to digital. I worked in PrePress for 35 years and I am amazed at the quality of output of this machine. The software supplied makes it nearly a no brainer to scan anything. Although the much more expensive v800 will get you to a D-max of 4.0, you will be very happy with the D-max of 3.2 that this machine provides. Dust cleanup is almost automatic and I'm hard pressed to use the manual settings as the few times it's needed the standard automatic ones are excellent.

I got the refurbed unit from Adorama that was significantly cheaper.

From the website:
The Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner ( This version Refurbished by Epson ) features 6400 x 9600 dpi optical resolution for extraordinary 17" x 22" enlargements from film; TPU for slides, negatives and medium-format panoramic film up to 6 x 22 cm; scan photos, film, everyday documents and 3D objects. Bring faded color photos back to life effortlessly with Epson Easy Photo Fix.

DIGITAL ICE for Prints removes the appearance of tears and creases from damaged photos; DIGITAL ICE for Film removes the appearance of dust and scratches from film. It also features Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to easily convert scanned documents into editable text; four customizable buttons to instantly scan, copy, scan-to-email and create PDFs.

Exclusive ReadyScan LED Technology enables fast scanning with no warmup time; contains no mercury and consumes less power.

Here is the link:
https://www.adorama.com/iesv600r.html

quote:

Originally posted by mrbill345:
<snip>
Epson Perfection V600 - 6400x9600 optical resolution, includes transparency unit for slides/negatives ~$220 at Amazon
<snip>

I looked at this scanner on Amazon, and it looks like the perfect product for me. Except for one thing: Nowhere in the Amazon description could I find any mention of Wi-Fi connectivity, an essential feature. Maybe just not mentioned because it’s taken for granted?

ETA – Searchingly customer’s Q&As, it appears that it doesn’t have Wi-Fi connectivity. Bummer.

www.amazon.com/dp/B002OEBMRU/r..._api_i_V487DbXR7R52D

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I neglected to mention that my primary use of it will be photo scanning and, if the resolution is good enough, scanning of 35mm negatives and transparencies.

Then you need a stand alone scanner.
You should then determine what method of feeding is desired.
Need to feed stacks of paper and copy/scan/OCR then one with a sheet feeder.
Otherwise a straight single page flatbed is fine.
Additionally, if you wish to scan other media types such as film or slides there are adaptors for this - be sure to check the scanner if this can be easily done.
Any flatbed will out perform most all others.
No need for the printer or fax function if you don't need it.
Best brands to look are Xerox, Fujitsu or Epson.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I neglected to mention that my primary use of it will be photo scanning and, if the resolution is good enough, scanning of 35mm negatives and transparencies.

Then you need a stand alone scanner.
You should then determine what method of feeding is desired.
Need to feed stacks of paper and copy/scan/OCR then one with a sheet feeder.
Otherwise a straight single page flatbed is fine.
Additionally, if you wish to scan other media types such as film or slides there are adaptors for this - be sure to check the scanner if this can be easily done.
Any flatbed will out perform most all others.
No need for the printer or fax function if you don't need it.
Best brands to look are Xerox, Fujitsu or Epson.

Agree with this. I didn't notice that primary use was for photo scanning. Canon, Epson, Fujitsu would be my pick. No experience with Xerox products.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I neglected to mention that my primary use of it will be photo scanning and, if the resolution is good enough, scanning of 35mm negatives and transparencies.

Given that a lot of scanners do a good job, I can't underestimate the importance of getting your slides and negs clean before scanning.

I spent twenty years as a professional photographer in the era of wet process photography.

I've been looking and have the same business case as you... 35mm negatives I want to scan.

My research points to either the Epson Perfection V600 or the much more expensive Epson Perfection V700 or higher versions.

An all-in-one will not meet your needs.

Who handles brothers scanners?

Found a B&H Photo Film Scanning Guide that may be of some help.

Thanks to all.

So, I chose this one- Epson Perfection V600

Please don't tell me if you know that it sucks. It's on the way to me, so, it's too late. Arrives in a couple of days. Well see how it works.

More than one Amazon review mentions that this unit is used by camera stores and photo labs and that's good enough for me. Supposedly a very slow scanner, but this is not an issue for me. I won't be using it for high volume work.