Slide Scanners

You may want to have a look at this then (when/if they get any back in stock). I have not used one, but the spec does not look too bad if it is just keeping copies of your slides/negatives.

http://www.7dayshop.com/7dayshop-portable-high-resolution-35mm-film-slide-scanner-with-2-4in-lcd-screen?backUrl=L3Bob3RvLXZpZGVvLXN1cHBsaWVzP2NhdD01NzEmcHJpY2U9NSUyQzEw

RMR

Sorry to disagree but do look up reviews of this type of product (and there are quite a few variations) before buying, it is a camera rather than scanner and the reviews say it cant cope with Kodachrome and quality is poor with a blue cast a common problem.

I refer to my original advice, invest in a dedicated scanner for your 400+ slides, sell it after to regain most of your outlay.

Be aware however that scanning 400 plus slides will be a time consuming task, best done in batches over a period of time.

I’m not looking at publishing type quality, more to simply digitize the slides before they decay.

You may want to have a look at this then (when/if they get any back in stock). I have not used one, but the spec does not look too bad if it is just keeping copies of your slides/negatives.

http://www.7dayshop.com/7dayshop-portable-high-resolution-35mm-film-slide-scanner-with-2-4in-lcd-screen?backUrl=L3Bob3RvLXZpZGVvLXN1cHBsaWVzP2NhdD01NzEmcHJpY2U9NSUyQzEw

RMR

I’ll have to second the recommendation for the Plustek range. I’ve got a Plustek 7400 and it produces very nice results, especially when I consider that it was a relatively cheap buy.

I don’t use the multiscan features a lot (prefer to use photoshop for the shots which I do want to improve) but did invest in a newer version of the Silverfast software which eliminated a weird effect I got in some scans where reddish areas appeared in shots with a lot of blue in them.

This was scanned from a 14 year old negative:

Many thanks for all the feedback and advice. When I got my flat scanner some years ago the added facility of slide and negative copying was a bonus and made me go for what was reviewed at the time as being very good. However I have never really got a good image out of it and am wanting something that is going to do a potentially arduous task with the minimum of agro. As well as family slides I have about 400 of early DX, Biggin Hill in the ’70’s, West Malling and a shed load from my days in the RAF. I’m not looking at publishing type quality, more to simply digitize the slides before they decay.

I scanned a lot of old B&W and Colour negatives into the computer using a simple scanner from Maplin.

Amongst the photos from early 1960’s Cornwall was this one of an RAF Launch.

Roobarb

I have a whole load of old slides needing scanning

Depending how many slides you have it may be worthwhile considering getting them scanned to DVD professionally.

I was faced with a similar task of wanting to get my collection of over 1,400 35mm transparencies dating back to 1954 into digital format, and have over the years used a variety of scanners it is clear the main problem when using a home, perhaps semi-professional scanner, with many slides to scan is the element of time. What with blowing dust off the originals, positioning them on the platen or in the transparency holder and then using the scanner’s software to do the processing and then perhaps afterwards having to use a photo digital editing program to remove blemishes, improve brightness, correct faded colours etc. etc. It can take an age to just do maybe a dozen slides, added to which if one scans in at a reasonably high resolution, the scan and process time can go through the roof.

Anyhow I had my 1,400-plus Kodachrome 35mm slides scanned in by a local photographic dealer who claimed that his Fuji slide scanner cost over £15,000. When done I was more than happy my scans which were on three DVDs.
My other transparencies, several hundred Ektachrome large format 2½ x 2½ inch slides I had to do myself with my current scanner, an Epson V700 Photo which does a superb job. It comes with colour correction / colour restoration software and “Digital Ice” software which automatically removes scratches, dust flecks etc., but using these features adds a considerably increased processing time penalty. It does 35mm slides too, but the professionally scanned versions are equal in quality IMHO, but without me having to do the hard work.

I also have a Plustek 7500 AI scanner with Silverfast processing software, but it doesn’t have an automatic slide feeder and needs time to get the best results – the Silverfast software is good and has a particularly long learning curve.

To show you how well my slides dating from 1958 have survived, have a look at pages two and three in the link below (posts # 13 to 24).

http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?3639-MALDIVES-Gan/page2

My very first colour transparency I took whilst I was stationed at Biggin Hill in 1954 and shows this 41 Sqn Meteor F8 – not too bad for a nearly sixty-years old slide!

I used to use a Nikon Coolscan V. Recommended.

I had a nikon coolscan v before the plustek 7400, plustek same or maybe marginaly better quality because of its multiscan features and half the price! silverfast software bundled with it good to once you have got used to it!

I used to use a Nikon Coolscan V. Recommended.

I bought a Plustek 7200 a couple of years ago and I am verry happy with the quality of the images I get from it.

RMR

What sort of quality are you after? and how many slides need scanning? plenty of cheap options on ebay (Sub £100) for better quality check out dedicated slide / neg scanner like Plustek 7200 onwards, used from £100 to £150 ebay, new around £200ish, remember if you invest in one of these with a finite number of slides/negs to do, you can sell it again later and more or less get your money back, potentially a no cost option!

Scanned with Plustek 7400

Blackhawk UH-60 by BMrider2012, on Flickr

Image digitization – a subject often discussed over coffee in the café at DX …… It would be well worth a chat with DCW and Duxman – you might even be able to have DCW add you to the list of people who want stuff scanned by him :diablo:

A couple of years ago my oldest brother began to scan our father’s slides (going back to the 1950s).

He ran into the same issues with scanners, and ended with him setting up the projector & screen in the basement and taking photos of the slides as shown on the screen, using his digital camera.

They turned out really well, and took only a couple minutes per photo.

Negatives are another issue, and I have no suggestions there.

unless you want to spend big money, the Epson flatbeds are good value for money, I’m using theV700 and it produces very good results.

I would also suggest buying Vuescan professional as the scanning software, and the book from Rocky Nook about using Vuescan.

Vuescan professional can produce ‘raw’ image output, very similar to the raw output from cameras.

Also get a iT8 target, slide and print so you can colour manage the scanner. You can’t colour mange negative film so don’t try.

Come back if you have queries.

Have to agree with Richard, I managed to find a ‘used only once’ V500 for £100. I was so impressed with the slide scans that I’m now in the process of scanning my prints but from the original negatives, this has been an absolute revelation for me and has shown up the shoddy effort (in colour & subject framing) of the various high street photo printers that I used at the time, my fault as I spent more on film than processing.

I find the results with the Epson are spot on with just some minor tweaking using standard free editing programmes.
The one downside is the time it takes to scan lots of pics, something I’m guessing that your struggling with now.

Can it be focussed? I have a Canon 3200F flatbed and it produces way out of focus results as does a stand alone slide scanner I bought.
Jim

Try an Epson Perfection V600 Photo flatbed. It’s not expensive (under US$250), and has transparency and negative adaptors. It also has digital ICE for dust removal, and a color correction feature for bringing back faded colors. I have had one for a few months now, and like it quite a bit. There probably isn’t anything significantly better for less than three times that price.

Cheers,
Richard

PS. If you’re looking for color accuracy, I strongly recommend getting a monitor calibration kit like a Spyder, or ColorMunki as well.

Updating from an old thread

I have a friend with a budget of up to about £300 who is after a good scanner capable of taking 35mil slides.

What are the current market options? I’ve looked at the Epson V500 – any good?

Fantastic – thanks for the replies:D I’ve now got some ideas – looks like I might need to be quick, but I’ll have a surf around and see what comes up – thanks again plus the examples posted.
Additional options/advice greatfully received.
Cheers, PFR:)

Like several posters here, I agree that the Nikon Coolscan V-ED is superb and I am extremely pleased with it. However, you need to be quick as the manufacturers reckon that any slide shooters still left will have already got a scanner to transfer their years of shooting to digital and the market for these has been saturated. Consequently, they have stopped production, with no replacement forecast for dedicated slide scanners. I got mine here and it looks like they still have them in stock, so go for it:

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?photo/scanners/nikon.html#PC312517

I’ve been using an Epson 2480 with a slide adapter, which produces results easily good enough for posting on the net. Cost me £60-ish about two years ago: I don’t know it it’s still a current model.
Canon, I notice, no longer make a dedicated film scanner, and claim that the gap can be filled by their their top of the range 9950F (£250 or so). It’s certainly had good reviews, but I’ve never used one myself.
The attached scans were done by the Epson. The Swordfish is from a slide (Biggin Hill, 1968) and the A310 from a negative (Toulouse 1980).

William