Canon Lide 110 for quick contact sheets only?

[lhotse]

Hi all,
I currently have a Plustek (7400) for dedicated film scanning but I'm really missing the ability to produce a simple contact sheet containing all 24/36 prints to quickly eye-ball what needs a proper scan.

In an attempt to overcome this issue I'm considering buying a cheapie flatbed - in this case the canon lide 110 (cheap, compact, usb powered) - just for contact sheets. Now obviously this scanner does not have the lit cover required for scanning negs, but I have read that a piece of white paper will do if quality is not too important and I just want the full sheet for proofing.

I had considered the epson v330 - but from what I can tell while this unit has the backlit lid it will only scan a single 5-6 image strip (i.e. the backlight does not cover the whole lid) and I really want an old-school style contact sheet with all my prints on a single page.

My question is - does the use of the canon lide 110 for this purpose sound reasonable if I'm not bothered about resolution? Is there some technical reason this will not work?

Any advice here is much appreciated
Thanks
Dan

[Aristophanes]

I'd go for an Epson V500. They are often around for $40-60 and are backlit.

[lhotse]

Originally Posted by Aristophanes

I'd go for an Epson V500. They are often around for $40-60 and are backlit.

Thanks mate - unfortunately the v500 still retails at around $300+ in Australia - so is somewhat over the odds for quick contact sheets.

I'm really just trying to make sure that there is no technical reason why the canon lide ($100) won't work - I know that the quality will be crappy but for just proofing the negs for better scans I'm hoping it will be viable.

[Roscoe]

Originally Posted by Aristophanes

I'd go for an Epson V500. They are often around for $40-60 and are backlit.

The v500 is lit only in a single strip in the middle, the same as the mentioned v330. For full sheets you would need to step up to the v700. Another option would be the epson 4990. I passed one up locally for $40 before I realized what it was and he said he used it for contact sheets.

[Bob Michaels]

Originally Posted by lhotse

...................... My question is - does the use of the canon lide 110 for this purpose sound reasonable if I'm not bothered about resolution? ................

2 questions come to mind:

1) have you seen the actual resolution of a digital print of a flatbed scan of an entire sheet of negatives? You say that resolution does not matter but to me, the incredibly low resolution of the print made it worthless.
2) are you aware of the file size of an 8x10 high rez file? That may or may not be a problem for you.

My preference is to dispense with my age old process of evaluating contact sheets, as I did in the wet darkroom, and simply evaluate the actual negs with a loupe on a light table. I have been doing that way for 10+ years and would not consider anything else.

[wkkato]

Technically, it might not be possible to turn out the light from inside the scanner when you scan and end up with flat no contrast sheets.
The light from above should be a whole lot brighter than from below so that the vast majority of the light goes through the negatives.
I'm with the poster above--After scanning hundreds of negatives after looking at them through the loupe, you just know.
Warren

Originally Posted by lhotse

Thanks mate - unfortunately the v500 still retails at around $300+ in Australia - so is somewhat over the odds for quick contact sheets.

I'm really just trying to make sure that there is no technical reason why the canon lide ($100) won't work - I know that the quality will be crappy but for just proofing the negs for better scans I'm hoping it will be viable.

[lhotse]

Thanks for the replies fellas - you have convinced me that this is a foolish endeavour and I should just stick to my loupe/lightbox.

I think this all just stems from missing contact sheets and how great they look