What kind of scanner should I buy?
It depends on what you plan on doing with the scanner.
If you’re scanning many photos, we recommend getting a Epson FF-680W, Epson FF-640, or Fujitsu iX500. We’ve tested these, and have scanned 2500 photos per day with them. You can often get the iX500 for a good price on amazon.com or ebay.com, and can resell them on ebay when you’re done. You can read our photo scanning guide here
If you’re scanning 35mm film, we recommend getting a used Nikon film scanner on eBay. These are the best film scanners ever made. They keep going up in value, so you can probably resell them on eBay for more than you paid. Another good choice is a used Plustek OpticFilm scanner on eBay, since these are quite fast when using VueScan.
If you’re scanning film larger than 35mm, we recommend a used Epson Perfection V600/4870/4990/V700/V800 on eBay. You can read our film scanner guide here
If you’re scanning many documents, we recommend getting a Fujitsu document scanner, especially the iX500. These are fast, reliable and work very well with VueScan.
If you need a small, light, portable scanner, we recommend getting a used Canon LiDE scanner on eBay. Some of the best models are the LiDE 100, LiDE 110, LiDE 120, LiDE 200, Lide 210 and LiDE 220.