With a little knowledge, choosing the correct scanner to preserve your negatives is simple.
With the huge variety of negative scanners, the process of choosing one to fit your needs can be bewildering. However, if you keep a few basic technical specifications in mind, you can easily compare scanners objectively to find one with the features you want that fits your budget.
Dots Per Inch
The first specification you should look for is the scanner's maximum resolution, or dpi (dots per inch). This tells you how much detail the scanner is capable of capturing. The higher the number, the sharper your pictures will be, and the larger your printed file can be expanded to without becoming blurry or pixilated. Some scanner specs list both an optical dpi and an interpolated dpi. The interpolated dpi is always higher, and is created by the software that comes with the scanner rather than its optics.
Dmax
Dmax is a mysterious sounding specification that most people have never heard of, but the concept it stands for is simple enough. Negatives have different levels of density---the more dense a part of a negative is, the less light can pass through it. A scanner's Dmax (density maximum) is a measure of the range of densities it can capture throughout the negative, which translates directly to the range and tones a scanner can capture. The higher the number, the greater the scanner's range.
Bit Level
Scanners have various bit levels, which are related to the resolution or dpi of a scan. Scanners with higher bit levels capture more subtle variations in tone and color because they capture more information. Simply put, the more bits, the more colors an image can contain, which means that smaller differences can be captured and digitized.
Tags: capture more, higher number
