Scanning 120 - Hasselblad 501c

Any scanner you buy will pay for itself in the long run with the money you save from not paying a lab to scan, plus you will have more control. I use a Canoscan 8800F which is less than $200. I have been happy with it so far although I have yet to scan any slides. I did a search on Flickr for 8800F scans and the slides I saw there looked good to me. Others will recommend the Epson V500 which I believe to be close in price and will give you comparative results. What model do you have currently?

I would start by getting a good quality, color balanced light box to view your transparencies and to evaluate negatives. Medium format transparencies look great on the light box.
Shooting and scanning transparencies offers the best of both worlds - You have an archival reference image in the slide as well as a digital file to work with for web and print. A good way to try this approach out is to send your 120 slide film to North Coast Photographic Services in San Diego. For $6.50(develop) + $11.95(scan) they will develop and scan 120 at high resolution (or you can get a lower res scan for just $5.49/roll). Then if you like the approach, you can invest in a scanner later. NCPS has the best-priced scanning services I have found for 120, and the scans are of high quality so you will get a good idea of what is possible using this workflow.

My current scanner is an Epson V100 Photo. It has a template for 35mm negatives & slides. I'm guessing this scanner is underpowered for the job? If it will be sufficient, is there a way to buy a carrier for the 120 slides?
Appreciate the lead on NCPS - I paid 2x that just to get the slides processed. I read another thread of a member going to WalMart & sendiing the film out direct to a local Fuji lab.
The light box sounds like a good idea but with a scanned image, I can at least get a better view in Photoshop or Lightroom. Does a firm like NCPS have an FTP site to upload images for reprints? Or can anyone suggest another resource?
Thanks again,
Ken

NCPS does have an FTP upload facility as well. Wal-Mart, Costco, etc are OK for developing and prints, but their scanning services are very inconsistent, and my local stores don't do 120/220. Finding a good lab that consistently delivers high quality isn't easy. I don't even use Fuji any more for just that reason - I had problems with their 35mm processing on several occasions.
You might be able to use your V100 for scanning MF. Just purchase a few 6x6 slide mounts, remove the glass in the mount, and put the film frame to be scanned in one. lay it on the glass under the transparency illuminator to scan. Depending on how your unit focuses, you might have to stack another mount under the slide to get it at the proper height to focus well.

To the best of my knowledge, your Epson V100 is not set up to scan anything, slides or otherwise, in 120. I used to have an Epson V700 that I used to scan 120 but have since replaced it with a dedicated film scanner, the Nikon Coolscan LS-8000 ED. It does a noticeably better job than the Epson, but that could be said of any dedicated film scanner vs a flatbed scanner. You can find Epson V700's used on Fleabay for less than $1000.

Dig around on Epson's refurbished equipment site. An Epson 4490 or V500 scanner should be around $100. These two scanners are essentially identical, so just get the cheaper of what they have on hand. With these, you can expect to extract around 16MP of out of 6x6.

Next step up is the Nikon dedicated scanner; the 9000 model is current. Improvement in digitization quality over the Epson flatbed is dramatic, but the price increase in equipment cost will shock you into a coma. Alternatively, send out for service with Indian outfits like ScanCafe which uses the Nikon equipment. A MF scan is a buck or two.

Most professional labs with scan for you, and post images on line for you too. I have shot medium format for over 30 years now, started in 1974, I always used professional negative film, better latitude, more types to choose from. Portra film is designed from the ground up for scanning... more labs do C31 processing than slide processing.
But this is just free advice, take it for whats its worth, also you have more print options from negative film. 2cents.....

Hi Ken,

I shoot with a Pentax 67II & Fuji G617 and have scanned thousands of my negatives & trannies on an Imacon 343. This is an excellent scanner and I've made some wonderful, large prints from my files, all the way up to 4'x5' from the 67s and eight feet wide with the panoramic camera. I could do some custom scanning for you, if you wish. Please contact me offline @ Tim-at-TimMulholland.com Just off of the top of my head, I'm guessing that I could scan them for about $7.50 each and return the film to you with a disk...


Good luck,

Tim!

Scanning is not limited to slides (reversal film), and in many ways, negative film is better. It is cheaper, has a much wider dynamic range and C-41 processing is widely available (while E-6 processing is disappearing rapidly).

There are many flatbed scanners which can handle 120 film, reversal or negative, for reasonable prices. You can also purchase used or refurbished scanners for half-price or less. However, in order to get the most out of 120 film, you need a dedicated film scanner like a Nikon LS-8000 or LS-9000. They're not cheap, and often hard to find (Nikon has discontinued most of their scanner line, and they're the last ones standing). Quality wise, most DSLRs will give better image quality than 120 film scanned on a flatbed, or 35mm film scanned on anything. It's up to you to decide how much value to place on tradition.