Scan your own Films - Valoi Easy35 Review

The VALOI easy35 is an excellent choice for scanning 35mm film, especially if you have access to a reasonable Digital Camera and Macro Lens. Whether you are thinking of this for archiving work, your own personal use, or for teaching. It is very easy to use and fast. It also provides you with more creative control over how the light and colour of each image are going to look, and depending on the quality of the camera lens, you can get a much higher resolution than what a lab may provide.

What you need in addition to the VALOI easy35:

• A digital camera with a macro lens
• A cable to connect your camera to your computer or a memory card reader so that you can transfer the images to your computer
• If you need to transfer the negatives into positive images, many different software options exist, for my own use I have purchased Negative Lab Pro which cost me around £100 for a lifetime license

Key Features:

• Professional-grade film holders for speed and quality
• Built-in professional-grade light source for convenience and consistent quality
• Replaceable light source for a long lifespan
• Compatible with most macro lenses, including ones with filter threads from 39mm to 67mm
• Small: fits into a small camera bag
• Scans up to 10x faster than with a flatbed scanner
• High-quality materials for a durable product
• Modular holders for formats smaller than 35mm
• No copy stand or tripod needed, saving space and money

All you’ll need is a digital camera of your choice and a macro lens. I used a Fujifilm X-T1 which originally came out in 2014 (which you can purchase second hand around £400). I also used a 30-year-old Nikon 55mm macro lens to scan my photos below, you could probably extract a tiny bit extra detail from 35mm with a higher spec camera. Any digital camera over 16MP is probably more than enough for a good scan.

I have tried many ways to scan over the years, from dedicated flatbed scanners – which are expensive to other camera scanning options which were not as easy to use as the VALOI, to even using labs to scan my film. Retailing at £199 for the VALOI easy 35, it has quickly paid for itself compared to the time I send a film off to a lab (£2.99 postage, £10 for medium quality scan and £2 return postage).

One of the main additional benefits to you is to be able to rescan your older films at high quality whenever you want.

All the images are shot on my trusty analog film camera, the Nikon F3 with a 50mm lens. The black & white film is developed at home in Ilford chemicals.

This first shot was on Harman Phoenix film 11168 which is an experimental film with the unusual characteristics of being punchy, very warm in tone, with easily over exposed highlights. Being in control of the scanning process, means you can get a little more out of the image.

The following images were all shot on CineStill 400D 25182.

Lab Scan

VALOI Scan

As you can see, the lab scan has less detail and dynamic range than the VALOI image. The latter scan hasn’t been edited beyond converting the images from a negative using the Negative Lab Pro app in lightroom (the best tool for conversions).

There are a lot more adjustments you can make to the image as you have more information to play with but for the sake of this review, I have kept it as neutral as possible.

I also want to point out there is also an (another) issue with the lab scans, a bit of fluff in the top left corner. They did offer to rescan, but I decided against this as I didn’t want to send them back to do so. 

Lab Scan

VALOI Scan

In the image above it’s easy to see there is a lot more detail in the sky and in the shadow areas, with a more natural colour look.

Lab Scan

VALOI Scan

The image above was a little under exposed so the lab scan struggles to draw out the detail and gets a little muddy compared to the VALOI scan straight from camera.

Lab Scan

VALOI Scan

This scan gives you more neutral colour and detail in the foilage. 

Lab Scan

VALOI Scan

The VALOI scan holds better colour in the highlights and has more of a 3D pop, you can see the depth of the image better with a clearer scan. 

A quick bonus black & white image shot on a very old out of date roll of Ilford HP5 developed at home on Ilford chemicals. Scanning with the VALOI allowed me to get any information out of the negatives as they were really dark to look at after developing.

Summary

Scan qualities and the ‘look’ you wanted or ended up with can be subjective, and everyone's personal tastes are different. You might have found the ‘perfect’ lab for you that produces the scans exactly how you like them. However using the VALOI does make it easier to get the look you had in mind, or even experiment with different looks, as you are in control of the scanning process yourself. It would make a perfect add on to the enthusiast who wants to keep costs as low as possible over a short period of time whilst maximising flexibility and gaining satisfaction over the end results.