Scanner News

Canon just unveiled five new Pixma TS-series wireless inkjet all-in-one photo printers. The Pixma TS9120, TS8120, TS6120, TS5120 and TS3120 printers offer a variety of features, including photo printing, copying, and scanning, in relatively sleek, compact bodies.

Welcome to our newest photography video series: the Shutterbug Showcase. In these videos, we’ll be doing hands-on demonstrations of some of the hottest photo gear on the market right now. For our first Shutterbug Showcase clip, we’re looking at the Epson FastFoto FF-640, which is the world’s fastest photo scanner.

Today Epson introduced the FastFoto FF-640, dubbed by the company as the “world’s fastest photo scanner.” An alternative to flatbed scanners, the FastFoto scanner has a throughput rate of one photo per second with integral photo tools to restore and archive treasured images for print or social media sharing. Ideal for hobbyists and archivists alike, the unit can handle prints up to 8x10 as well as speedy document scanning for those who want to make electronic files of important papers. Shutterbug Editor-at-Large George Schaub got his hands on a pre-release unit and filed this report.

No, we’re not cooking color slides and film negatives in a pop-up toaster like Eggo waffles. The FilmToaster is a device that enables you to create digital image files from virtually any size film or transparency up to 4x5. You supply the DSLR and macro lens. If you have a shoebox full of family negs like many of us do, prepare to bring those old images back to life. 

Are you itching to digitize your film-based medium format images? HP Marketing Corp. is now offering the new Braun FS 120 medium format scanner designed for that exact task.

Designed for professionals, enthusiasts, schools, and clubs, the OpticFilm 120 scanner from Plustek ($1999) can handle negative and positive film, including 35mm filmstrips, individual 35mm slides, and medium format film up to 6x12cm format. The scanner contains an eight-element glass lens and can deliver up to 10,600dpi optical resolution, with a claimed 4.01 dynamic range using the supplied SilverFast software’s Multi-Exposure function. The tabletop scanner is about the size of a six-slice restaurant toaster (about 8x14.5x7.5”) and is supplied with a complete set of very well-constructed film holders, an IT8 calibration target, and a full version (not a trial) of SilverFast Ai Studio 8 software.