A drum scanner is the best scanner for capturing the dynamic range, tonal quality, detail, and sharpness of negative and transparency film. These professional machines, like our Heidelberg Tango drum scanner, have the ability to make exact reproductions. Our Tango drum scanner weighs 550 pounds and stands five feet tall, while our Aztek (the smaller scanner) weighs 140 pounds.   Your film is fluid-mounted to an acrylic cylinder (the drum) and sandwiched between optically clear Mylar. The fluid mounting increases highlight and shadow detail in your scans. It improves fine detail while removing much of the dust & scratches, emulsion blemishes, etc) in your film, and reduces film grain. There’s no way to simulate the improvements fluid mounting your film offers – you can only fluid mount film with drum scanners and some flatbeds, not with an Imacon or Noritsu scanner. The end result is drum scans that are cleaner and sharper, without feeling like the scans have been sharpened with a filter. This process is especially beneficial for areas of the film that require enhanced detail.   After mounting, the drum is loaded into the scanner, where it spins at high RPM as the scan head (also called the “periscope”) travels up and down in a series of extremely precise micro-steps, slowly yet faithfully recording the film’s details line by line. A medium format negative may take up to 2 hours of scanning time.