scanning 8mm home movies

[dvdinfinity]

Anyone wanting their 8mm or 16mm film scanned to either DV (frame for frame) or to DVD should speak to DVD Infinity @ www.dvdinfinity.com.au. Highest quality. Richer colour, much more detail and definition, zero flicker whatsoever, no hot spots, no blur, no streaks.

[TimS]

It's been 3 years since the last posts in this thread, but time to dig out of the archives (not only this thread but the film as well).

What are the latest experiences scanning 8mm film?

Is there any information in an 8mm or Super-8 movie film frame that a digital scanner can extract that a transfer to video might miss? That is, if you can get right down into the grain, can you capture any more detail, even 5%, using a film scanner (than a video transferring system will capture)?

What flatbed scanner can best scan 8mm movie frames? I'm thinking just a few strips here and there, extracting still frames. (Scanning the whole film to re-create motion would be another discussion and ordeal.)

Can the Epson 4990 accomplish the task of scanning 8mm film, or 16mm film frames?

I also have other odd formats of film to scan, including 110 and other odd negatives, plus 3D negatives made from Nimslo/Nissei/Nishika cameras.

I have the Epson 3170, but unfortunately the trays and scanning software that comes with this is designed to accept only 35mm negatives & slides, and medium format. It refuses to handle anything different, which is frustrating. I 've wasted numerous hours in experiments trying to force it to scan the odd positive and negative transparent film formats (3D, movie, etc), with varying results. Forget 8mm films with the 3170 - I actually got it to scan a few frames once but it changed all the colors (with psychedelic effects). I've also wound up scanning larger-format negatives from the 1930s-40s in 4 passes per picture , and use PhotoMerge to piece it back together, with varying results and massive hours of time wasted.

I have at least as much of the odd format films that need scanning as I do the cookie-cutter variety (35mm negatives & slides and MF). Also, the 3170 doesn't do a good job with old medium format anyway. [Needless to say, I am not a happy camper with the 3170 - wrong scanner for me.]

So, does the Epson 4990 perform with better results with all the above formats?