Having grown up with film, I thought it was about time I dusted off all my old 35mm negatives, APS carts and 6x4 prints and digitised them for posterity.

I'm using an Epson v330 which has an optical resolution of 4800dpi, but scans take a while at this resolution.

Any thoughts on the best resolution to scan prints and negatives? I'll only ever use the images to view on a PC or print to 8x6 size, so I'm thinking I can accept a lower resolution scan.

I'd say 2400 for negs and 600 for prints - in my experience 3200 is about the practical limit for film with a flatbed, and even then to make it really worthwhile you've got to faff around getting the film as flat as possible and shimming the neg carrier to find where the actual plane of focus is (usually anywhere between 0-5mm above the glass). If you've got a fairly decent printer than printing at 240ppi gives good results - certainly no need for anything more than 300/360ppi (for 1200/1440dpi printers respectively), so those resolutions should leave enough scope for enlargement whilst avoiding needlessly huge files and long waits.

I seem to remember using an Advanix scanner for the APS film and that produced stunning results. Easy to use as well.

Thanks for the info - 2400/600 seems sensible - I'll try a few scans at this level and see how it compares with higher resolution scans.

Advantix scanner? Yes, occasionally see APS scanners on ebay, but they're frequently SCSI driven.

Advantix scanner? Yes, occasionally see APS scanners on ebay, but they're frequently SCSI driven.

I've just had a look and mine (which I've not used for ages) would attach to the parallel port.

Now where did I put the power supply with the odd shaped plug as I've got lots of film that could do with moving to digital!

If anyone knows of a USB APS scanner that's widely available and not too pricey, I'd certainly be interested. I've got loads of APS films kicking around.

Phil