Topics keep popping up about low priced scanners, building cheap scanners, etc. I don't own a scanner, but I send my work off to be scanned for a reason - cost. I shoot film and collect film, and while it would be nice to have a scanner for my projects and small archive, it just doesn't make sense. The return on investment really wouldn't make sense when I can pay $25 per 100 feet of 16mm for a 4K scan from someone else with professional equipment. If I were to buy a machine to start a business, I'd invest in a quality unit to produce quality work for clients. Sure, if one isn't trained in conversion, maybe a "low-end" device would be good for self-training, but not for business. You want to produce a quality product.
I shot 600 feet of 16mm for a project yesterday and just sent it out for processing.
Rough estimate: Film stock = $264, Processing = $180, Scanning = $150...Just under $600 for maybe 15 minutes of footage? Throw in shipping and taxes and it adds up rather fast. Too fast for an independent artist, but I'd rather have a competent operator using a quality machine with quality parts.
I am not a scanning expert, but someone that depends on excellent scans for my money. Like others have stated, you are paying for research, development, continuous improvements. Someone else's time to save you time.