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Slide scanning services
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May 25, 2023 15:23:25   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
I would like to have a few dozen film slides scanned to digital. I don’t need high quality drum scans. I’m expecting to mail my slides to the service. Would appreciate recommendations from anyone who’s recently used one of these services. Thanks.

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May 25, 2023 18:07:45   #
Dave327 Loc: Duluth, GA. USA
 
Legacy box.com - I had over 1000 slides done. Very pleased with results. Had them results returned on a CD. Cost was very reasonable.

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May 25, 2023 21:00:18   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
Dave327 wrote:
Legacy box.com - I had over 1000 slides done. Very pleased with results. Had them results returned on a CD. Cost was very reasonable.


Dave—
Thanks for your recommendation. May I ask approximately what the charge was for the services provided?

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May 26, 2023 06:53:01   #
Archboo3 Loc: Central Florida
 
Do they do old negatives?

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May 26, 2023 08:22:50   #
jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana
 
ScanCafe

They do slides, negatives, photos, videos, etc. Reasonable.

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May 26, 2023 09:40:56   #
bnsf
 
There are slide scanners available that you can scan the slides yourself and they are stored on a SD card. Then from the SD card you can download each slide on to a computer. The slide scanners are as low as $60.00 on Amazon.com or you can look on eBay for a slide scanner. I have done over 1,000 slides and it does work good.

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May 26, 2023 10:04:24   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Settlit wrote:
I would like to have a few dozen film slides scanned to digital. I don’t need high quality drum scans. I’m expecting to mail my slides to the service. Would appreciate recommendations from anyone who’s recently used one of these services. Thanks.


ScanCafe in Fishers, IN, is a decent option if you want a commercial service to do it. https://www.scancafe.com

Current Pixel in Atlanta, GA, is another one: https://currentpixel.com

A lot of the resulting quality depends on the following:

Film stock — Kodachrome slides are always the least resistant to dye fading, probably followed by Anscochrome and certain Ektachromes. However, most Ektachrome slides lose their yellow dye layer first, then the magenta layer goes. Fujichrome slides from the 1970s fade to pink. 3M slides and Agfachrome slides tend to go red.

Storage conditions — Slides stored in plastic or metal storage boxes, BOXED metal projector cartridges, or BOXED Carousel projector trays tend to be cleanest. Slides in archival polypropylene album pages are usually in as good a condition. Slides stored in PVC pages may have severe damage from the outgassing of vinyl chloride from that harmful substance. Slides stored in high humidity may have mold damage. Slides stored with dust and grit on them may have it embedded into the base (glossy) side of the film, due to humidity shifts over the years. Scratches on the emulsion side of the film may show up as colored lines or even clear lines. Scratches on the base side of the film show up as black or gray lines.

Exposure and processing — Slide processes were/are all standardized and — in most labs — rigidly controlled. So exposure at the camera determines the density of the slide (how light or dark it is). Don't expect any improvement in digital images made from over- or under-exposed slides. Most commercial services will try to reproduce what is there, rather than adjust for light or dark images (How do they know what the scene looked like, or what the photographer intended?).

Some duplication services will use Digital ICE hardware and software to try to remove dust and scratches. The infrared sensor in an ICE scanner reveals surface imperfections that the software then removes. Unfortunately, that does not work on Kodachrome emulsions, because those are ridged, layered surfaces. It doesn't work on silver emulsion black-and-white negatives, either. It does work on Ektachrome, color negative films, and chromogenic black-and-white films.

Remember that when viewing old film images converted to digital, our perceptions of quality have changed! It is possible to create much better digital images (sharper, cleaner, clearer, more color accurate...) than it ever was with film.

The difference between a $.50 scan and a $5.00 scan is usually custom finishing — Clean the film, crop for the main subject, straighten the horizon, adjust color, recover highlight and shadow details, set exposure and brightness, remove dust spots, sharpen, etc. There is a lot of dynamic range in film. It can contain information that might be revealed with a careful operator at the controls.

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May 26, 2023 10:54:04   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
jaymatt wrote:
ScanCafe

They do slides, negatives, photos, videos, etc. Reasonable.


Thanks for the recommendation.

Reply
May 26, 2023 10:55:30   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
bnsf wrote:
There are slide scanners available that you can scan the slides yourself and they are stored on a SD card. Then from the SD card you can download each slide on to a computer. The slide scanners are as low as $60.00 on Amazon.com or you can look on eBay for a slide scanner. I have done over 1,000 slides and it does work good.


Thanks for the suggestion.

Reply
May 26, 2023 10:56:44   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
burkphoto wrote:
ScanCafe in Fishers, IN, is a decent option if you want a commercial service to do it. https://www.scancafe.com

Current Pixel in Atlanta, GA, is another one: https://currentpixel.com

A lot of the resulting quality depends on the following:

Film stock — Kodachrome slides are always the least resistant to dye fading, probably followed by Anscochrome and certain Ektachromes. However, most Ektachrome slides lose their yellow dye layer first, then the magenta layer goes. Fujichrome slides from the 1970s fade to pink. 3M slides and Agfachrome slides tend to go red.

Storage conditions — Slides stored in plastic or metal storage boxes, BOXED metal projector cartridges, or BOXED Carousel projector trays tend to be cleanest. Slides in archival polypropylene album pages are usually in as good a condition. Slides stored in PVC pages may have severe damage from the outgassing of vinyl chloride from that harmful substance. Slides stored in high humidity may have mold damage. Slides stored with dust and grit on them may have it embedded into the base (glossy) side of the film, due to humidity shifts over the years. Scratches on the emulsion side of the film may show up as colored lines or even clear lines. Scratches on the base side of the film show up as black or gray lines.

Exposure and processing — Slide processes were/are all standardized and — in most labs — rigidly controlled. So exposure at the camera determines the density of the slide (how light or dark it is). Don't expect any improvement in digital images made from over- or under-exposed slides. Most commercial services will try to reproduce what is there, rather than adjust for light or dark images (How do they know what the scene looked like, or what the photographer intended?).

Some duplication services will use Digital ICE hardware and software to try to remove dust and scratches. The infrared sensor in an ICE scanner reveals surface imperfections that the software then removes. Unfortunately, that does not work on Kodachrome emulsions, because those are ridged, layered surfaces. It doesn't work on silver emulsion black-and-white negatives, either. It does work on Ektachrome, color negative films, and chromogenic black-and-white films.

Remember that when viewing old film images converted to digital, our perceptions of quality have changed! It is possible to create much better digital images (sharper, cleaner, clearer, more color accurate...) than it ever was with film.

The difference between a $.50 scan and a $5.00 scan is usually custom finishing — Clean the film, crop for the main subject, straighten the horizon, adjust color, recover highlight and shadow details, set exposure and brightness, remove dust spots, sharpen, etc. There is a lot of dynamic range in film. It can contain information that might be revealed with a careful operator at the controls.
ScanCafe in Fishers, IN, is a decent option if you... (show quote)


Thanks for the comprehensive information, Burk.

Reply
May 26, 2023 12:55:14   #
KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia
 
Settlit wrote:
I would like to have a few dozen film slides scanned to digital. I don’t need high quality drum scans. I’m expecting to mail my slides to the service. Would appreciate recommendations from anyone who’s recently used one of these services. Thanks.


I have used LegacyBox for 3 batches. Each time I went thru Groupon to get a discount on price.

Pleased with results and the Groupon price

I also previously offered someone on UHH a slide scanner… to reimburse me the shipping… they never replied. If you might be interested, PM me for details. If I ship, you can receive, check, and send me shipping cost… only if you are happy with it.

Reply
 
 
May 26, 2023 17:33:34   #
Settlit Loc: Baton Rouge LA
 
KillroyII wrote:
I have used LegacyBox for 3 batches. Each time I went thru Groupon to get a discount on price.

Pleased with results and the Groupon price

I also previously offered someone on UHH a slide scanner… to reimburse me the shipping… they never replied. If you might be interested, PM me for details. If I ship, you can receive, check, and send me shipping cost… only if you are happy with it.


I just PM’d you. Thanks.

Reply
May 26, 2023 22:07:02   #
Sidwalkastronomy Loc: New Jersey Shore
 
I have ectachrome 400 Asa slides tungsten pushed to 800 of a David Bowie concert at I believe Radio City from diamond dog tour possible early 1970's. This was state if art in those days. They were grainy but I got them. Love to gave them scanned the next time I find them. Last I looked at I was disappointed, not sure if the years did them in

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May 27, 2023 07:01:46   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
jaymatt wrote:
ScanCafe

They do slides, negatives, photos, videos, etc. Reasonable.


Yes! Slides from 120 film cost more to scan, though.

Reply
May 27, 2023 09:52:33   #
Tote1940 Loc: Dallas
 
burkphoto wrote:
ScanCafe in Fishers, IN, is a decent option if you want a commercial service to do it. https://www.scancafe.com

Current Pixel in Atlanta, GA, is another one: https://currentpixel.com

A lot of the resulting quality depends on the following:

Film stock — Kodachrome slides are always the least resistant to dye fading, probably followed by Anscochrome and certain Ektachromes. However, most Ektachrome slides lose their yellow dye layer first, then the magenta layer goes. Fujichrome slides from the 1970s fade to pink. 3M slides and Agfachrome slides tend to go red.

Storage conditions — Slides stored in plastic or metal storage boxes, BOXED metal projector cartridges, or BOXED Carousel projector trays tend to be cleanest. Slides in archival polypropylene album pages are usually in as good a condition. Slides stored in PVC pages may have severe damage from the outgassing of vinyl chloride from that harmful substance. Slides stored in high humidity may have mold damage. Slides stored with dust and grit on them may have it embedded into the base (glossy) side of the film, due to humidity shifts over the years. Scratches on the emulsion side of the film may show up as colored lines or even clear lines. Scratches on the base side of the film show up as black or gray lines.

Exposure and processing — Slide processes were/are all standardized and — in most labs — rigidly controlled. So exposure at the camera determines the density of the slide (how light or dark it is). Don't expect any improvement in digital images made from over- or under-exposed slides. Most commercial services will try to reproduce what is there, rather than adjust for light or dark images (How do they know what the scene looked like, or what the photographer intended?).

Some duplication services will use Digital ICE hardware and software to try to remove dust and scratches. The infrared sensor in an ICE scanner reveals surface imperfections that the software then removes. Unfortunately, that does not work on Kodachrome emulsions, because those are ridged, layered surfaces. It doesn't work on silver emulsion black-and-white negatives, either. It does work on Ektachrome, color negative films, and chromogenic black-and-white films.

Remember that when viewing old film images converted to digital, our perceptions of quality have changed! It is possible to create much better digital images (sharper, cleaner, clearer, more color accurate...) than it ever was with film.

The difference between a $.50 scan and a $5.00 scan is usually custom finishing — Clean the film, crop for the main subject, straighten the horizon, adjust color, recover highlight and shadow details, set exposure and brightness, remove dust spots, sharpen, etc. There is a lot of dynamic range in film. It can contain information that might be revealed with a careful operator at the controls.
ScanCafe in Fishers, IN, is a decent option if you... (show quote)


Sorry to disagree re Kodachromes mine are best prereserved from
1950’s only some fungus
Worse Ferrania AKA Focal 3M

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