Violameister Loc: michigan

There are many slide scanner threads, but none that I can find discusses in depth the speed of scanning. Like many others here, I have thousands of 35mm slides, of family, trips ancestors, etc. I would like to digitize them. Quality is of lesser importance since they will not be published, ease of use is not important, as I am generally mechanically skilled; price is a consideration, but getting the slides professionally done will be expensive also. So, the question is, what is the fastest scanner of slides out there? And how fast is it? If a scanner scans a batch of 24 slides into one image and expects you to manually separate them into individual images, that time spent must be included, of course.

thanks for suggestions.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

"Fast" slide scanners can be had in the commercial realm, but at several thousand dollars, and even then it will still take 1 1/2-2 minutes per scan at decent resolution AFTER you do all the setup and load the machine.
The Epson V500, V550 and V600 scanners do a wonderful job, quite fast at under 1 minute per slide at 1200 dpi, almost 2 1/2 minutes per slide at 4800dpi, and limited to 5 at a time, but the quality is wonderful. Prices range from $150-$200 per scanner so the price is quite reasonable. The process makes for a great way to pass those rainy, or snowy days.

Violameister Loc: michigan

Thanks. When you say under a minute per slide, I assume that means 6 minutes per pass when you are scanning 6 slides at a time (I think those scanners will do 6 at a time. Perhaps just 4). I was thinking about the v700 which will do 12 at a time I think. But is much more expensive, so I am glad to hear about something cheaper.

Mercer Loc: Houston, TX, USA

Are you the charming couple from a Gadabout tour last Fall? They and I swapped cameras and took each other's photos at the Da Vinci Horse. If so, all the best to you. If not, it's still a small world, isn't it? Mercer

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Where was that DaVinci horse?

Violameister Loc: michigan

There are two modern full size examples of the Da Vinci horse by the same sculptor; one is here at the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids Michigan (this is the one in my avatar). The other one in Milan, Italy. We are, unfortunately not the charming couple. And, yes, it is a small world.

Violameister Loc: michigan

I might add that Da Vinci never got around to making his own horse. All he left behind is a series of drawings.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The owner of a local art gallery was somehow involved with the reproduction/publicity for the one in Italy.

hfb Loc: Northwestern Louisiana

I got a v700 refurb from Epson for a good bit less money than new.

Violameister Loc: michigan

Have you copied slides with it? How many at a time, and how long is the cycle? I assume it produces individual files. How are they named?

thanks

b.dehautdessert

Epson V700 takes about 12 seconds at 800 dpi resolution with the unsharp mask, dust reduction, and color restore tabs checked to do one slide. It does 12 at a time. That is only the scanning, not putting in and taking out the slides. V600 is somewhat faster but you can only do 4 slides at a time so you spend more time putting in and taking out, so nothing gained using it. Probably takes much longer, overall. I personally don't think 1200 dpi is necessary since I get great enlargements (8x10 up to 13x19) at 800 dpi scans, but of course I resize everything in CS5 or CC before printing. If you're just going to view them on a monitor or large screen Tv you might prefer going with the higher dpi settings while scanning. I saw an article in PopPhoto once that said 4800 dpi but that seems wacky to me. I used to use 1200 or slightly above when I got my V600 (have three scanners) but quickly found out for printing it simply wasn't necessary. You enter a name for the slides on the scan page, set the beginning number, and let it fly. It sends files to the directory you assign, and saves in TIF, JPG, BITMAP and PNG, whichever you want it to.

DrPhrogg Loc: NJ

I use a Canon 8800F flatbed scanner. The rate is 4 slides/5 min. The 9000F is out at $249. PC Mag has done a review on several scanners that can be found at this link.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367877,00.asp

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

I have regretted NOT scanning at high enough resolution, many times, even for personal images. The Epson 750 is a pretty good machine, which benefits from obsession level tweaking if you want ballpark pro level scans (compared to a dedicated drum scan, for example.)

I have decided to de-mothball my Flextight Precision scanner, which cost like a car when new and belts out gigabyte plus scans when needed, and bought an old SCSI Mac to run it. Being an old film pro, I have a huge task ahead of me, and others I can convince to scan for me.

Violameister Loc: michigan

Thanks to all for the excellent advice. I have also spoken to others elsewhere who have done lots of scanning and I have developed a plan I thought I'd share.

1. Time is my main issue; the biggest user of time seems to be removing, cleaning, orienting, and replacing the slides in the carousels.
2. Most of these slides are between 20 and 60 years old; some are newer. The likelihood of wanting more than 2 slides per carousel restored to best possible condition is slim.
3. To prevent further deterioration, I want to digitize all of them.

Here is my plan, which I have already begun to implement and it seems to work:

Using my existing projector, I project the slides on a proper screen and using camera and tripod photograph the projected image in a completely dark room after blowing dust out of the carousel. This goes very fast, and makes an image essentially like what I would have gotten had I just projected the carousel without having ever bought a digital camera.

I will probably purchase a refurbished or used Epson 750 to scan those few slides per carousel I plan to do more with, such as restoring and printing them and giving the prints to family members and friends.