Originally posted by Beepaitch Thanks a lot for the replies and details. I've had some lab scanned work and it's been good, but expensive in these parts (UK) for higher-res stuff.
I do like to do my own post-pro so definitely aim to get setup with my own scanner.
I'd not even heard of Reflecta @Stevebot, so thanks for adding another to my list of potentials.
Emphasis above is mine.
I like to do my own post-processing, also. That is why I pay someone else to do my scanning. One of the great savings of paying someone else to scan my negatives is that I have way less post-processing to do. Doing your own scanning, like every other endeavor, is a series of compromises. I have no desire to spend my time scanning 12 (6x6) to 36 (35mm) frames for each roll of film I shoot. What I do want is the best results I can get from the gear I am using. Plain and simple: paying a professional to use professional-grade equipment will always yield better results than I (me, not necessarily you) can get at home. If I allow 5 minutes per frame, I have devoted from 1 to 3 hours to EACH ROLL OF FILM, and I've done nothing with regard to post-processing yet. Paying $5 per roll saves me 3 hours of work? SOLD! On top of that, I get better scans than I could ever get at home. WIN-WIN!
More benefits of paying TheDarkRoom.com (TDR) to do my scanning. I overexpose every roll of film I shoot. Color negative film has at a truck-load of overexposure tolerance. My baseline is +1EC, and adjust from there. TDR knows how I shoot; they process my film accordingly. My overexposed film is developed at box speed (not pulled), which results in denser-than-usual-negatives, which requires density adjustments for my scans. Finally, TDR does my basic post-processing for me: exposure adjustments, color balancing. I spend way less time processing my film results from TDP than I ever did in 10+ years of shooting digital. Don't even get me started on the fallacy that is RAW digital shooting. Get it right in-camera and you have no use for RAW.
Bottom line, I am getting better results, requiring less time (and slightly more money) by paying someone else to scan my negatives. If time is money (it is!), I am ahead of the game at $5 per roll to pay TDP to develop and scan my film.
As usual, YMMV.