A Decent Affordable Flatbed Scanner

I just won a $100 giftcard to officemax through an online sweeps.
I need a scanner desperatley! Im a horrible photographer and a scanner would suffice.
I think the new Kodak scanner is ok..but its around $120
Is there anything cheaper? I just need it for a few coins..thanks

 

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I got mine on sale at Walmart for $25. HP Deskjet F2430 all in one printer scanner copier. I've been happy with it, but the sale was a special thing though.

 

The results of scanning coins is usually very poor and one usually gets what one pays for in electing to go with cheap gear.

Just a thought: For the same amount of money, you could buy a digital camera selecting one with a macro (close up) feature, probably with 10+ megapixels and get MUCH better results. A small table top tripod or copy stand to mount the camera would be a good addition as well as a couple of small lamps you could use to direct lighting.

 

Agreed, sage advice.

 

I'll second this. The scanned images of coins that I've seen is great for showing scratches and 'topographical' details on a coin, but with a camera, you'll be getting images of what the coin should look like in-hand - not to mention that scanners can completely blow out a coin's toning to an unattractive state.

 

You can find top name all in ones(Copy, Scan, Fax, Printer) for less than that.

Cannon, HP, Lexmark.

Sell the gift card to someone, and go to Bestbuy to get a decent one. They have an HP Photo Smart wireless, printer, copier, flatbed scanner for $99.99 right now.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Ph...nner/9364163.p?id=1218091520646&skuId=9364163

 

Another thing for the OP to consider why not to buy a scanner for coins, TPG slabbed coins are very problematic with reflections and the coin not laying directly on the scan bed for imaging. I'd say it's 99.9999% inadvisable to waste your time scanning slabbed coins. However, if you do a lot of other scanning in general or collect paper currency, stock certificates, souvenir cards, stamps, and other flat articles, then a scanner is the way to go for those items.

 

Scan or photo - the age old question. It depends - you can't beat a scanner - for creating overlays for variety attribution. You scan a standard size area at a standard size resolution enlarging to a standard image size maintaining aspect ratio.

 

One can do the same thing with a digital camera mounted to a copy stand, locked in position and set up with exposure, focus and lighting. Open the digital image files in a graphics editing software application like Photoshop and you can work with multiple files in layers, with transparency settings, scale, contrast and a host of other image adjustments. A scanner cannot do these things although it may come bundled with a basic graphics editing application. For that matter, many cameras do too or one can use online editing tools available free with Photobucket.com accounts. The lighting one typically gets from a scanner is quite difficult to work with and limiting in results, thus not worth it for most users. The cost of a better scanner, something that's going to do 800-1600 DPI will cost you more as well, may even go over the OPs stated budget. Simply put, the benefits of a camera with features useful to coin photography stated earlier far outweighs the reasons to avoid the problems inherent with scanning coins. Plus with a camera you can take photos of friends, family, pets, take it on travels and shoot anything else you like -- it may even fit in your pocket! Try that with a scanner.

 

Yes you can do the same thing with a digital camera but every time you setup for a new session - you have to insure the camera is set at the same distance and at the same angle with the photo surface as the last set-up. Also a camera tripod set can move during a session. With a scanner your set-up is static.

 

Serious photographers don't move their copy stand set up, and may even have a dedicated camera for such work. It's not that hard to set up a 'session' with a camera mounting it to a steady copy stand which works better than a tripod, which could move, but that is really a mute point to your idea about using layered image files, whether you scan them or shoot images with a camera, you still need to work with the files in a graphics editing application like Photoshop to align the layers and adjust transparency, contrast settings, etc. Add to all this, the multiple reasons listed above about why a scanner is difficult to work with due to dpi limitations based on the OPs budget, lighting limitations and problems with reflection(s), banding, screening... The OP with the stated budget is better off with a camera to image coins.

 

Im getting a scanner...not a camera. Im aware that many of you like cameras better. I like collecting coins. Thats my hobby. I am not a fan of photography. I know nothing about photography except that good cameras are expensive. I do not want to buy a tripod,lights,and a macro camera.

 

not really i just bought a very expensive camera and sent it back because it couldnt take a pic to save its life




sony powershot is what i am comfortable with and works best for ME

 

i know you are set on a scanner, i can't be much help with that because every scanner i tried to use with coins has been worse then my camera with macro off and no tripod. i have an expensive scanner/printer, so that aint the problem.

really there aint much to learn. turn the macro on set it a foot or two away and snap the picture. if you don't want to mess around with lights, take your pictures outside. there is a write up for editing your photos on this site. its a few easy steps on free software.

but i know you want a scanner so my suggestion would be to find an HP. although i have not been able to get good scans HP has been the best. i have tried a cannon(second best), poloriod, and epson.

let us know what you get..

 

Actually you have entirely missed the point about camera vs. scanner if that's all you have taken from the help provided to your inquiry.

It's not about liking a camera better than a scanner. Both have their merits. It's about picking and using the right tool for the job as well the camera will serve you in this need better as well as be practical for other things and fit very neatly into your budget.

The thing that 'scans' is actually a lens and is very much related to photography, so no matter what you are a "fan" of you are entering an aspect of digital photography and imaging. Scanners are meant for flat media, like things printed on paper and coins are not flat.

Before you buy anything and just throw your money away you should learn the difference in both tools to know why one would be serving you much better than the other so you can avoid a costly mistake. In every post I made I never said anything about buying a Macro camera, on the stated budget you gave in the OP, that would be impossible. All you need is a digital point and shoot with a macro setting. Tripod and lights can be added on later or figured out and jerry-rigged. Even though you think you know 'nothing about photography except that good cameras are expensive' applies also to scanners. Your budget is going to get you something very cheap and inferior in imaging the wrong media, coins.

Go back, re-read the posts and rethink your approach. Or buy a scanner, try it, return it, get a camera, try it, and decide which one you should keep.

 

Get the scanner then when you see that it really is bad for making images of coins, come back and talk about what camera you need. By the way, a 100$ scanner today is 5 times better than the most expensive ones of 10 years ago, been using scanners since they became semi-affordable twenty years ago.

 

And you can't do something like this with a scanner:

 

From experience I recommend either Epson or Canon flatbed scanners. Both brands have models at prices around $100, and both cater to the photo/ imaging users. As others have noted cameras and scanners have generally different uses, but a flatbed can be used to scan coins (my avatar was done with an Epson V300), particularly if you're interested in a reference image.

Light coins (silver) seem to scan better than dark coins (copper), and because the scanning is directional (the light comes from one direction) rotating the coin 45 or 90 degrees can sometimes give a better image.

 

Krisp, thank you for the intelligent, obviously knowledgeable, and well-thought-out elucidation of the situation. I certainly learned more than I can immediatley assimilate.
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To the OPA, thanks for raising the issue. I didn't know what was meant by a scanner B4 but I think I now do. If you are conviced that you need a scanner rather than a camera, goodness knows that is certainly your perogative. Krispy, if I understand him correctly, is simply attempting to share some valuable experience and insight to help you to achieve your goal, as he understands it. He makes clear what he thinks, and politely suggests to you that a different perspective will as well, or actually better, achieve what he perceives from what you have written, to be your goal. Good stuff.
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From what I have read in this thread, I would have to say that it Krispy's points have a great deal of merit. I think it may possible be that you might want to re-consider them.
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Of course, this opinion is from a man who would rather eat no ice cream than vanilla ice cream. Beacause some things are simply beyond the pale, yaknowit? If it's gotta be a scanner, then gol' dang it, let's help this person find the best and most economical one and camera be damned!

 

I can't do that with my camera either, but someday...