doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

Years ago I bought a slide conversion unit that only gave me “meh” results. I want to try again for my many
slides. Any suggestions? Thx

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

If the scanner/software has an "enlarge" function, try it and see if there is any difference in quality.
Scan as dense as you can (highest dpi). It may make large files, but if you print larger later, they'll look better.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The two popular standards are an Epson V600 or using your camera with a macro lens and light source. You can make a slide holder if you use a camera and lens. Nikon makes one to go with a Nikon macro lens.

doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

Thx for the tip. The old unit I had was pre windows 7 and wouldn’t work on windows 10. I have a scanner/ printer but never thought to use it. I’ll give it a try.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Transparencies have to be back-lit to be able to scan them. A scanner that does not support that will not scan transparencies correctly. My primary scanners do not provide any back lighting.

doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

Thx, the Epson 600 was back ordered on Amazon with a vague guess as to when it would be available. I’ll check out Nikon, have you ever used the smaller versions that have a Holder for 3 slides at a time and plug into the USB. That the type I tried before, it was less than 100 dollars but this was back before windows 7 or earlier.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

There is this:
https://www.amazon.com/Magnasonic-Resolution-Converts-Negatives-Impressive/dp/B0185Z8HME
Or:
https://www.amazon.com/KODAK-Mobile-Film-Scanner-Built/dp/B07MTKNTPK

Or the Epson V600, which has film holders for 35mm film and slides as well as for 6x6 film.

Stan

repleo Loc: Boston

If you have a lot of slides, you can rent a high speed slide scanner from EZ Photo scan. Up to 900 slides per hour at 3000 dpi.

https://services.ezphotoscan.com/home/

doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

I didn’t know such a rental service existed, thx

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Great topic, where I had much the same experience of not being so happy with the initial results. See if any of my experiences will help on your next round of scanning.

Background: equipment - Epson V600

I scanned about 1200 35mm negatives covering roughly 1984 to 2005. It was mostly just a mass-scanning operation and I did next to nothing to any of the resulting JPEGs until a few weeks ago when I started working on images from the late 80s college years as my university approached an NCAA bid.

The Good

Refer to the parameters below and whether any are helpful to your operation. My scanning settings were based on analysis of the pixel size of the EOS XTi I was shooting at the time. I scanned to JPEGs at 3888x2592 for a file I just grabbed to check the details, a 10MP resolution. The pixel resolution is the key item. The example file I grabbed also stored as 6.7MB.

I imported the images into Lightroom where I can add keywords and work on the JPEGs with modern & powerful digital editing tools to the same level of detail as an image that would have come from a circa 2006 DSLR.

The Bad

The single most annoying issue in the scanned files is the funky sharpening / image correction that is applied to images. As mentioned above, it's been 8-years between the mass-scan and now editing the results. I must have made an initial evaluation of the scanned files and wasn't very happy and deferred the problem. Although I made notes of my scanning settings, I don't have a specific memory of why I didn't edit the images.

I believe the 'funky' corrections is a result of using EPSON's Digital ICE that also made the scan 4-minutes per negative. With this ICE technology turned off, the scans averaged about 1-minute per negative and I was using the 4- to 6-negative scanning guide for 35mm negatives.

Another complaint is the JPEG files receive date-stamps from the scanning date. I've used two approaches to addressing the dates. In LR I can update the file's shooting date to an approximate date of the original image. It's not important to me to know the exact date, but I do want them to sort within the catalog to something representative of the actual shooting date rather than the 2012 (or 2020) scanning date. I also have a commercial tool 'EXIF Date Changer' that lets me batch-change the JPEG files in a more sophisticated manner than within LR.

The Process

I'm not sure that I was using Lightroom back in 2012. Today, editing these scanned JPEGs in LR is quick process with a number of automations performed via LR Develop presets. I used the 'color restoration' = low and use LR to correct the color saturation and WB, much the same as I'd edit DSLR images.

For dust, use a Giotto Rocket Air and microfiber cloths to clean the negatives as best as possible before scanning. Also, pay close attention to the scanning guide and the alignment marks on the negatives so you get them facing the correct direction. Upside down is easy to fix later, but reversed images (lettering) is a bigger problem.

Check your scanner manual / software manual for the application of the settings below, including if there is 'professional mode' and / or a profile set-up you can use to default the settings rather than having to recreate for every scan.

Professional settings

film type - color negative
image type = 48-bit color
expand for fast scanning
resolution - 2400 dpi
doc size - 36 w 24 h mm
target - custom T50_35mm (w 3888 x h 2592 pixels) <- I picked this name for the Canon T50 that created nearly all the 35mm negatives
unsharp mask = y (1st suggestion below references setting this to N as the pictures will be grainy otherwise - need to test)
grain reduction = y
color restoration = y (low)
backligh correction = n
Dust removal = y / high

average scan processing 1 - minute / negative

when DIGITAL ICE = Y instead of dust removal = scan is 4 mins per negative

For each image preview - click exposure correction for each negative to be converted

SCANNING tips (apologies if any of these links are out of date, these are my notes from 2012)

http://www.reidmorrison.com/home-users/digitizing-film (tips on Epson v600)
http://x-equals.com/blog/film-to-digital-scanning-essentials-101-part-1-of-2/ (step by step for Epson on professional, recommends still other settings include an ICE option/)
http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/scanning.php (pretty technical)
http://www.imaging-resource.com/SCAN/V600/V600.HTM (good write-up)

doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

Thx, a lot of good information. Others recommended the Epson V600 also.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

My Plustek unit gives much better results than my Epson unit did.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

B&H has it in stock.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/647187-REG/Epson_B11B198011_Perfection_V600_Photo_Scanner.html?sts=pi&pim=Y

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I believe this is the scanner I have
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/883631-REG/Plustek_783064365338_OpticFilm_8200i_Ai_Film.html

My Nikon LS-2000 works even better, but Nikon no longer makes scanners {I believe the 'rush' is over}, and it requires that I maintain my Dad's old WinXP computer.

doublebogey7 Loc: Cleveland,Ohio

Appreciate the advice, thx