For several years, I collected strips of 35 mm film, as well as slides, from my aging family members.
My intentions were to put together a pictorial family history, charting the journey my family took from Poland in the early 1900's and following it through to the present time with family pictures taken over the summer at the last family reunion.
This project overwhelmed me as I soon realized that many of the negatives I had, while wonderful pieces of history, were badly damaged.
Some of them were grainy and water-damaged while others were scratched.
I was relieved I had the negatives, as most of the actual photos originally produced from these negatives were no longer in existence.
The flatbed scanner I intended to use had always worked fine on film negatives for photos that had been taking more recently.
While it was always cumbersome to haul out, I didn't think I really had another choice.
I knew my scanner just wouldn't be adequate enough for the cropping and digital repairs my negatives needed.
I decided to do some research to see if there was anything else I could use.
I discovered that a film scanner does everything my current flatbed scanner does, plus much more.
A film scanner has several benefits over the traditional flatbed scanner.
Their size alone makes them an attractive option for those with limited space for storage.
In my situation, I would've loved having this film scanner all along, especially as I began collecting more negatives, which took up more room than I anticipated.
The smaller film scanner is also much easier to physically handle.
I have limited dexterity in my hands and manipulating the bulky flatbed scanner was challenging.
This smaller film scanner is a fraction of the size.