3D scanners

[Evil Eye]

One thing I've been interested in to bolster my hobby is a decent 3D scanner. Aside from it just being a really cool gadget to have for creative endeavours, for our hobby in particular as someone who likes 3D printing I've got two main uses in mind- using it to scan existing models so I can design add-ons for them without having too much guesswork (especially for organic/irregularly shaped models) and also for a slightly crazy idea I had for sculpting models traditionally from putty, then scanning them and making printable STLs of them.

 

I've looked on Amazon and there's a wide array of scanners available, but I really have no idea which ones are best- or indeed if Amazon is the best bet to source one. Customer reviews are hard to go by these days as not only do you have the newfound problem of AI-generated fake reviews, but also the longstanding problem of negative reviews by people just using the damn things wrong. Prices seem to hover in an average of about £500- some are less, some are double that(!), and I haven't a clue what's a good price for one.

 

Does anyone have a good recommendation for one? What sort of price-point is the "sweet spot" for a good one for our hobby (not too cheap but not expensive due to features of no practical use to us)? And where's a good place to get one?

Thanks and Merry Christmas/Sanguinalia/Slaaneshmas or whatever you celebrate!

[Madao]

Have you taken a look at photo->STL options? The technology is quite good and you don't need a separate device (assuming you have a decent camera and light source). I have been using Autodesk ReCap at college and it was good (I bet there are free/cheaper alternatives)

Edited 4 hours ago by Madao

[Evil Eye]

9 minutes ago, Madao said:

Have you taken a look at photo->STL options? The technology is quite good and you don't need a separate device (assuming you have a decent camera and light source). I have been using Autodesk ReCap at college and it was good (I bet there are free/cheaper alternatives)

I haven't, but thanks for letting me know about that; I have a pretty good lightbox and a decent digital camera (despite its age it continues to serve incredibly well) so I will take a look there.

[Madao]

With quick search: there is a free trial for ReCap, so you can check if it works for you. I have found https://alicevision.org/view/meshroom.html as a free alternative