I have not had a lot of experience with a number of different slide scanners. But over the years I had a couple of different Nikon Coolscan devices and a couple of Epson. I just finished scanning a group of 800 or so slides that I took in Europe in 1969. These slides were of Agfa and Kodachrome and some color fading had occurred as well as some dust on the slides. I had tried a Nikon Coolscan with a bulk loader, but just was unable to get it to work satisfactorily. Nikon no longer supported the drivers for the loader. A friend suggested an Epson Perfection V550 Photo Scanner. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/985630-REG/epson_b11b210201_perfection_v550_photo_scanner.html This worked very well and I will say I was surprised at how well given the price. Its a rather large flatbed type scanner with a transparency component in the lid. There is a plastic framework that is laid upon the flatbed and holds the slides in place. It will scan 4 slides at a time and produce the scans into 4 separate files, one for each slide. The software included with the scanner I think is very nice and gives a couple of levels of complexity based upon your needs. In the professional mode. Digital ICE processing is included. This was included in the later Nikon units and is very good at removing dust spots. Epson also has a color restoring mode included and the default settings do a very acceptable job of renewing faded colors. The down side, if there is one is having to load the slides 4 at a time by hand. Also, you will have to scan each individually if you want to set different parameters to each individual slide. For me I did most in groups of four with the default settings in professional mode and turned out a very good result. I suggest reading the manual before you start as the software gives you a lot of control on the outcome. You can chose fast and easy or get as involved as you would like. There is an amazing range of control if you choose to use it. Higher resolutions and more processing will increase the scan time but I think the result was well worth the effort. I hope you find this to be some help. I still have a few thousand more slides to scan myself but I won't be looking for another scanner. I'm happy with this one.

I would like to put a plug in for TAMRAC I have several of their cases and my favorite is now over twenty years old. I went everywhere with a Nikon FM2 and a couple of lenses in this case including international travel. A couple of years ago (Long out of reasonable warranty) the zipper failed. I called Tamrac to ask the cost of repair. They said to send it to them which I did and a week later it was returned with the zipper replaced at no charge. That is good service.

Hi There, I want to put in a plug for the pelican case. I have used one many times on rivers and creeks and have had some mishaps on the river with my D800. I keep the case well tied to the boat and only take the camera out in calmer water. The camera goes back in the case and seals very quickly and securely. I did lose a case once when the canoe overturned and the orange case was quite visible floating down the river. It was recovered soon and nothing was damaged even though it had gone over a small rapid and hit a few rocks. Use your best judgement here and common sense helps. The smaller cases with the clear plastic lids are great for the little Lumix point and shoot I also use at times.