Are there medium format film scanners with automatic feed?
Asked 11/10/2014
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I have a very large number of old medium format (120) negatives to scan—around 1,000 frames—and I’d like to automate the process as much as possible. Are there any medium format film scanners with an automatic feed system, or is this only available on certain lab machines? If automatic feed isn’t realistic for 120 film, what’s the most practical scanning workflow?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
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Yes, the minilab scanners do (such as Fuji Frontier and Noritsu). An older one with acceptable resolution and speed can be had for around 3k. There are online vendors specialized in recycling and reselling these machines (see here).
I haven't heard of any consumer level scanner with this feature. But even if there is, it doesn't solve much of a problem for you, because each 120 film contains only a few shots, after which you will have to reload the scanner.
Instead of that you can get a high end desktop scanner that takes two strips of MF film and buy an additional film holder as well. Then you can load one holder while the other one is in the scanner. So, you will load the scanner twice for each 120 film roll. This is only twice the loading effort that would be needed with a completely automatic system with roll feeder!
Originally by user31597. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user31597
11y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Automatic feed for medium format film is generally a lab-only feature, not something commonly found on consumer desktop scanners. Community answers point to minilab scanners such as Fuji Frontier and Noritsu as examples that can handle automated feeding.
For typical consumer or desktop medium format scanners, auto-feed is not really common, and with 120 film it helps less than you might expect anyway: each roll only has a small number of frames, so you still need to reload film frequently.
A more practical approach is usually a high-end desktop scanner with multiple film holders. You can load one holder while another is scanning, which reduces downtime and keeps the process moving. For 120 film, that means only a small amount of manual handling per roll, and it may be the best balance of cost, convenience, and scan quality unless you specifically need a full lab machine.
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