Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

I have literally thousands of photo slides and negatives from "back in the day", going back to the late '60's. And, I know that most of them, maybe 95%, are pure crap. But, they are interesting to me because of the memories they bring back.

So, I started sorting through the slides. My portable light table is toast. So, I tried the slide projector. It needed parts to advance the slides. I got the parts and fixed it! Joy! Then, I started sorting. My goal was to see how many "keepers" there were and that would help me decided on using an outside scanning service or to buy my own scanner gizmo.

I opted to purchase the Wolverine F2D Titan scanner. And, I am now concerned that the scanner isn't quite up to the task. The early results are somewhat blurry images that I have imported into Lightroom. And, LR can only do so much. So far, I've only scanned 20 slides or so. And, these were from the time of all-manual cameras. The problem is determining which is not performing... was the original slide crap? Or, did the scanner just not get the focus good enough? Maybe both? That is my next task, trying to decide if the scanner is operating properly. And, it is entirely possible that I am expecting too much from my slides!

The reason for this post is to see if any of my fellow UHH members have any experience with the F2D Titan. Or, any other slide/negative scanner. If so, I'd like to hear from you in regards to scan-accuracy and overall image quality.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

I have the Epson 4490 scanner; I too have thousands of slides; I find the scanner is excellent, if a little slow, but the image quality is as good as one might expect. The larger Epson scanners are faster, and have a very good reputation.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I used ScanCafe and got excellent results. When you just want to digitize the slides, there are alternatives.

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/slide-copy-adapters/es-1-slide-copying-adapter-for-52mm-thread.html
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-448681-1.html#7548235
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-457230-1.html#7687881
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos.scanner&hl=en
http://opteka.com/slidecopier.aspx
https://smile.amazon.com/Wolverine-Super-20MP-Digital-Converter/dp/B00GIDADP0/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g2609328962?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8
http://www.scancafe.com/services/slide-scanning
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/08/30/copy-slides-and-old-prints-a-really-easy-way-to-digitize-your-archive/?hootPostID=62f2fdd01fc0980aa97cd08f86b5d4e3

Larryshuman

I scanned 3,517 rolls of B+W, color neg and slides with a Epson Perfection V-700 Photo scanner and a Nikon Coolscan 5000.
The Epson can scan 24 negs at a time or 12 slides. The Epson can recover color. I used the Nikon for perfect slides and negs.

FotoPhreak Loc: Whittier, CA

I feel your pain. I have struggled with scanning my slide collection for many years.

I checked out the Wolverine F2D Titan on the B&H web site and my first reaction is that it is junk. Simply put, you cannot expect to get decent scans from a $139 scanner. Years ago, I purchased a CanoScan 9000F flatbed scanner and it produced some decent scans. I could print them up to 8x10 or even 11x14, but I was not happy when printing anything larger. Last year I purchased a Plustek 120 scanner since most of my old slides are medium format slides and I am very happy with the scans. My daughter asked for a print of one of them and I had a 3'x4' print made commercially from one of the scans and it turned out great.

From your post, I gather that you are not planning to make large prints of your slides. If this is correct, I would suggest purchasing a flatbed film scanner. I believe that Canon still makes a version of the 9000F and it costs under $200. A lot of UHH-ers are fond of the Epson flatbed scanners and I suspect they would produce even better scans but they cost a bit more. The largest benefit of a flatbed scanner is that it will scan pretty much any film format and will also scan documents. If all of your slides are 35mm, you should at least look into the Plustek line of 35mm scanners. They cost in the range of $300-$400. One of the things I like about my Plustek is it is excels in capturing a high dynamic range, something that I now realize was lacking in my CanoScan scans.

You mentioned that your are not sure if the problem was with you slides or your Wolverine F2D Titan. You should be able to determine if the slide is sharply focused when you project the slide. Either that or take a lens from your old SLR or (newer) DLSR and view the slide to see if it is properly focused. I suspect that you will find that it is and the problem is likely with your scanner.

Hope this provides a little insight.

hj Loc: Florida

I used a Wolverine digital converter on many slides, as well as having ScanCafe do around 800. I was satisfied with both efforts and the wolverine was much less expensive. One poster said he looked at the Wolverine F2D on B&H and his "....first reaction is that it is junk". Interesting that on Amazon that converter got 4 out of 5 stars from 1,010 customer reviews. Read some of the reviews. I doubt over one-thousand are fake reviews. If you don't plan to print big enlargements and will just display on the computer or the internet, I would say the wolverine would be fine. You said your slides (you did about 20) are old made with an old all-manual camera and you also said you suspect 95% are crap. I suspect many are out of focus. I'd hate to spend hundreds of dollars on a digital conversion service or a much more expensive scanner only to find the slides are at fault.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Besides a flat bed scanner there is a Nikon attachment for the 60 mm f/2.8 lens that will just cover the slide area in focus. Nikon ES-2 Film Digitizing Adapter Set. Check it out at B&H.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Thanks for your input... I scanned some more slides last night. I found some that I would consider as being the best in terms of color and clarity. I will be importing them into LR today. In the meantime, I contacted Wolverine to see if they might be able to help with adjustment of the focus, as that seems to be the key problem. (Well, dynamic range, too, but I can live with that.) So, I am sending a couple of samples to Wolverine today, as they were willing to look into whether the problem was with their device or my slides. I just don't know what "normal" might be. Finally, if needed, I can return the unit to B&H and get something else.

And, I appreciate everyone's comments. I probably should've asked the question before purchasing.😳

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Thanks! I used to have a Canon printer that also functioned as a film/negative scanner. It did a decent job, I was happy with the results. Then the whole thing died and was replaced by a new Canon printer that, unfortunately, does not have that feature. So, I looked for another way.

I will look at some of the slides using the projector. The screen is a bit messed-up from years of storage, but it would at least let me see the image a bit bigger.

Most of my slides are just memories. There are very few that I would do anything more with than viewing on a screen. I haven't been through most of them yet, but I suspect most are bad/poor.

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Thanks, Jerry... I thought you might have some input and/or some related links. In hindsight, I probably should have asked before I leaped. Oh, well...

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Interesting... I hadn't seen that gizmo before. Unfortunately, I don't have that lens, nor the D850 that would take full advantage of it. Thanks for your input, though!

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Gitchigumi, top of the morning, I have the same problem, lots & lots of slides and prints from the 60's-70's and my old light table is also toast. Reviewed a lot of these conversion options and then purchased a Canon 9000F Color Scanner on eBay(new, great price) for converting my slides and old photos. Have a lot of Vietnam slides and the majority were taken in haste, if you get my drift. I guess maybe I also was expecting a little too much. Seems to me the output will be only as good as the original photos or slides on whatever equipment you took them with and as you say, PS or any other PP software can only do so much, 'Silk Purse, Sow's Ear'..... I should have learned to be a better photographer then. However I do like the Canon scanner, a little slow but does a pretty decent job of copying my slides/prints, can't say anything negative against it....Good Luck

Gitchigumi Loc: Wake Forest, NC

Thanks, Blaster34... First, thank you for your service. My earlier slides are of my time in the service. However, I was fortunate to have served in non-combat assignments during Vietnam. Long story, but, I lucked-out. Had to serve 4 years, though.

I agree that "garbage in = garbage out"... I am just not sure which is which yet. I about to import some images into LR that should be very good quality. I'll report back when I can work with them and see if I can determine the cause of my frustration.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

Thanks for your service, I got caught in the draft (no lottery), wound up with 25 years. Seems photography and golf are similar....frustration 90% of the time...its those good shots that keep bringing you back and back plus practice, practice, practice...Good luck on your transfers 😉😉😉

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I use the Epson V750 Pro (Now replaced by the 850) and it works wonders on negatives, slides and prints. I have scanned many old odd sized negatives that are over 100 years old and they come out great. It has ICE that eliminates dust etc that if anyone is honest will admit is very difficult to remove before scanning. Get the neg/slise reasonably clean and ICE does wonders and it also restores color beautifully with most slides etc. except for those that are nearly clear and even then you at least get a good scan that is recognizable and fair color.