John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Mrs. N. has finally decided to we have to do something about our old slides. With an 8k TV on the horizon it hardly makes sense setting up the old screen and getting the projector out any more, in fact I can't remember when we last did such an exercise.

I'm looking for advice on the best way to go about this. Commercial copier, quality scanner, or slide copier. And to what standard. Recommendations for equipment would also be welcomed. It looks like I just missed a bargain with an offer for sale from a hogger just the other day ( http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-409345-1.html ), but to be honest I'd baulk at a private buy across the pond. So advice on equipment and standards from any member please, and from U.K. hoggers recommendations on commercial copiers. I have contacted one commercial copier here who copies at 600dpi. How does that equate in lpm or pixel count?

The slides, probably several 1000's in total, will have been taken on a variety of filmstock from Agfa professional to Ektachrome and on equipment ranging from a Halina 35mm to Fujica and Olympus SLR's. All were commercially processed and mounted in card or plastic mounts.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

You can use your camera and a slide adapter - here is the Nikon version: http://www.scantips.com/es-1.html

Hope this helps...

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I use a Plustek 8100; actually, I use a Nikon LS-2000 more than the Plustek, because it does a better job, but Nikon no longer produces them. Both do better than any other method I've tried {I edit mine at 200% after scanning, so I'm aware of every scratch, fungus spot, etc that gets copied}.

FAPhoto

Hi,

I have used Scan Cafe with very good results with 80 yr old prints, 35 mm slides, & large slides. They clean carefully and color balance each one. You have the choice of media on how to get results. Each group of pictures came in its own folder. I tried a couple of small samples first and being satisfied with that, wound up doing several thousand.

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

Could one use a blank white computer screen for the background light?

Leitz Loc: Solms

Should work, as long as you can set the correct colour balance.

Linthicum

I used the Epson V500 scanner with excellent results. However, it is no longer available. I would opt for the Epson V550 or V600. You can scan 4 slides at one time and it creates a separate jpeg image for each. It's a somewhat tedious project for 1000 slides but if you have the time versus the money, it is the way to go. Go to Amazon and read the reviews on these scanners. You can always resell the scanner when you are finished if you so desire.

wotsmith Loc: Nashville TN

I use or have used a Nikon coolscan slide scanner. Bummer is that it is no longer made, but maybe you can find a used one. It is crazy good when used with the automatic feeder (Nikon SF-210) I have scanned about 15,000 slides with about 6 - 8k more to go. Does about 50 at a time at something like 2500 dpi. Good luck

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

There was a post here a few weeks ago with an article about this, and using a DSLR showed excellent results. I've used ScanCafe, and was very pleased with the results.

Here are some references for using a DSLR.
https://www.google.com/search?q=using+a+DSLR+to+copy+pictures&oq=using+a+DSLR+to+copy+pictures&aqs=chrome..69i57.6343j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

[quote=John N]Mrs. N. has finally decided to we have to do something about our old slides. With an 8k TV on the horizon it hardly makes sense setting up the old screen and getting the projector out any more, in fact I can't remember when we last did such an exercise.

I'm looking for advice on the best way to go about this. Commercial copier, quality scanner, or slide copier. And to what standard. Recommendations for equipment would also be welcomed. It looks like I just missed a bargain with an offer for sale from a hogger just the other day ( http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-409345-1.html ), but to be honest I'd baulk at a private buy across the pond. So advice on equipment and standards from any member please, and from U.K. hoggers recommendations on commercial copiers. I have contacted one commercial copier here who copies at 600dpi. How does that equate in lpm or pixel count?

The slides, probably several 1000's in total, will have been taken on a variety of filmstock from Agfa professional to Ektachrome and on equipment ranging from a Halina 35mm to Fujica and Olympus SLR's. All were commercially processed and mounted in card or plastic mounts.[/quote


I would go for the good old screen ( no TV can stand up to it, be it 8K or 16K) And you can go as big as you like, heck, I went 40feet wide with some of my movies (and still sharp, crisp and beautiful colored image)!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I had my old family stereo slides professionally scanned and sent to me on a disc. You can have them sent any way you choose. But I did it this way because it only cost me a little over $100 for about 100 slides and I didn't want to buy a $200 or more scanner, do it all myself (time consuming) and then have a $200 scanner sitting around doing nothing but taking up real estate in my house. If you have more time than money, buy an Epson V600 scanner, especially if you plan to scan a lot of slides. You must decide for yourself what is best. I used this company for my slides: http://m.slidescanning.com/index.html

louparker Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

This question has been answered many, many times before in previous postings to this forum -- you should have checked those before asking the question again -- same answers.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Depending upon the quality you need, as determined by what you want to do with the images, there are different ways you can scan your slides yourself or have them done.

A cheap dedicated film scanner (around $100 US or less) or widely available and inexpensive commercial, low resolution scanning (1-hour film processor quality) might make good enough scans for 4x6 and 5x7 prints, at most.

A quality flatbed scanner is more generally versatile and some of the better ones such as Epson V600 or Canon 9000F are capable of making high enough resolution scans for 6x9, 8x10 or maybe even 11x14 prints. Figure about $200 to $500 US for one of the higher quality that are best able to scan slides (or negs). Other advantages to a flatbed include that you can do batch scans of a sort, a number of images all in one (later separating them with post-processing). Also a flatbed can be used to scan prints other other sheet goods if needed.

Depending upon the quality of the macro lens used and the DSLR it's on, a slide copier rig can be roughly equal to a high-end flatbed scanner at about the best. This also is largely a one-at-a-time process, though each capture can be pretty darned quick.

Better quality is done with a high-end dedicated film scanner.... such as a 5400 pixel per inch Minolta or 4000 ppi Nikon (or more current Plustek, Pacific Image, . These can easily make an 11x14 and possibly bit larger print from a good quality slide or neg. Figure on spending around $500-1000 US to buy one of these scanners (or equivalent, both the Nikon and Minolta are no longer made, but there are other manufacturers making similar now: Plustek, Pacific Imaging and a few others). One problem, these are only for film and with slides many of them can only handle one at a time (with negs many can handle a film strip where 5 images will be scanned in sequence, or perhaps even an uncut roll of up to 36 images). This takes longer, too, at the highest quality levels. One I use takes 10 or 15 minutes per scan at it's highest setting (producing a 130MB 16 bit TIFF file). There are some services offering this level of scanning, but they're a lot more expensive than what you pay at the local 1-hour film processor, so might be something you'd reserve for your better slides.

There are a few high-end dedicated film scanners that can work with batches of mounted slides... that have some form of feeder to automatically process a number of slides. I use an accessory feeder with my Nikon 4000, that can handle up to 40 slides at a time (I set it up and let it run overnight, since each individual scan is still a time-consuming process... I also have to be sure there's plenty of disk space, since every 8 or 9 scans fill up a gigabyte worth of HD storage). This adapter cost over $400 US when new (no longer in production, so can only be bought used now). Some other high-end, dedicated film scanners (Braun and Pacific Images, for example) have means of handling up to 50 mounted slides, but may not be able to handle unmounted slide or neg strips and cost around $1000-1800 US.

I'm sort of assuming your slides are 35mm film... But be aware there are also dedicated film scanners that can handle medium format film in various formats, if needed. (Note: Thanks to their much larger image sizes, medium and large format film also makes for a lot more successful flatbed scanning or copying somehow with a DSLR and macro lens.)

High-end flatbed and dedicated film scanners use a specialty software such as Silverfast Ai, which may or may not be included. If not included it can add $250 US or more to the cost of setting up to do the scans. The best software not only automates the scanning process, but also gives good positive previews of color negatives (removing the orange mask that's common with those), has built-in capability to correct for color shifts that might have occurred with some types of slide film (i.e. Kodachrome, for one), reduces the appearance of film grain, remove scratches and dust automatically, and more.

The very best digital slide conversions are done with drum scanners. Those can do as much as 9000 or 10,000 ppi scans and produce quite large 16 bit TIFF files. You need to have a pretty powerful computer system with a lot of storage space to work with these. The price of purchasing a drum scanner is out of reach of most consumers (the entry-level 6200 ppi Hasselblad costs $13,000 US), but there are services that do this quality of scan for around $20-25 US per image. So you might reserve this level of work for your very best images, that you want to be able to print 16x20 or possibly even larger (I've seen as big as 30x45" prints done from 35mm negs and slides, utilizing medium format internegatives).

So, how big do you want to be able to display your images? How much time do you want to devote to doing the project yourself?

One thing to consider... If you buy a high-end dedicated film scanner, you might consider a used one. My Nikon 4000 cost around $1700 new around 2001, but they now sometimes sell used for under $300 (just check the condition, they do occasionally need cleaning and adjustment... and compatibility with computer since it uses Firewire 400 connectivity... figure on around $100 US for basic Vuescan or $250 for more advanced Silverfast Ai software, too, in order to use it with today's computers... the original software and Twain driver provided with the 4000 ED scanner are not compatible with operating systems after Windows XT).

Then, once you've scanned and saved all your slide images, completed your project, you'd probably be able to turn around and sell off that scanner to recoup some or even much of what you spent initially (after all, this is where a lot of those used scanners come from). You may not be able to resell licensed software, though. Or you might want to keep the scanner if you're still shooting some film occasionally and need to be able to do more scans in the future. The cheapie film scanners tend to be pretty much worthless at resale... while the better, higher-end ones tend to hold their value pretty well.

More info about film scanning can be found on the B&H Photo website (among other places): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/buying-guide/film-scanners

Oh, and whatever you do, don't throw away your slides! Store them away carefully after they've been scanned. They are still a more reliable archive, than the scan files stored on hard drives or other digital media.