newbie slide scanner advice

Hi,

In addition to my own collection of slides, I've just inherited 20+
carousels of slides from my late father. I need to scan them, both to
keep as digital images and for making prints (up to 8x10) and would
like to do it myself rather than send them out. I'm looking for good
info on possible scanners to purchase, and of course am balancing the
quality vs. cost concern for the equipment. Can anyone recommend a
website with info and reviews (I'd love an overview of what's out
there, and price ranges), and/or a particular slide scanner to
purchase?

Many thanks for advice!

Sally

Im no pro at this but looking for the same for old Kodachromes. From
what ive read a dedicated slide- film scanner is the way to go. If 8x10
or larger and quality is what you will want then the better Nikon
scanners are a minimum starting point and should do well.

In article .com,
wrote:

Hi,

In addition to my own collection of slides, I've just inherited 20+
carousels of slides from my late father. I need to scan them, both to
keep as digital images and for making prints (up to 8x10) and would
like to do it myself rather than send them out. I'm looking for good
info on possible scanners to purchase, and of course am balancing the
quality vs. cost concern for the equipment. Can anyone recommend a
website with info and reviews (I'd love an overview of what's out
there, and price ranges), and/or a particular slide scanner to
purchase?

Many thanks for advice!

Sally

I used a Nikon CoolScan V for both slides and film strips. Slow,
particularly when scanning at high resolution and using the built in
filters, but I thought excellent results when comparing the end product
with the slides projected. I would use it with the Digital ICE turned
on unless your slides are completely free of dust. Cost about 600.00
new, but many should be available used as most folks scan all their
slides and then have no use for the scanner after that.

Don't know if Minolta is still selling the 5400 slide scanner. It was a
good fairly priced product. Otherwise Nikon scanners are excellent.
I'll get crap for this, but Epson is bringing out a new set of flatbeds
that are supposed to be as good as a slide scanner. They are the V-700
and V-750-pro, The V-700 is listing at $599 , generally no discounts on
Epson scanners. Their current consumer top of the line, which doesn't
quite meet film scanner quality, though may be OK for 8x10s is being
heavily discounted.

Tom

tomm42 wrote:
Don't know if Minolta is still selling the 5400 slide scanner. It
was
a good fairly priced product. Otherwise Nikon scanners are
excellent.
I'll get crap for this, but Epson is bringing out a new set of
flatbeds that are supposed to be as good as a slide scanner. They
are
the V-700 and V-750-pro, The V-700 is listing at $599 , generally no
discounts on Epson scanners. Their current consumer top of the line,
which doesn't quite meet film scanner quality, though may be OK for
8x10s is being heavily discounted.

Tom

Let me reprise my post, now 45 days old, in response to a similar
question:

====


There are several threads in this and other rec.photo.* groups about
slide scanning. Most of what they contain is good fact- and
experience-based advice. The bottom line is always: you are going to
pay, either through money, or money and time.

Good slide digitizing costs money, and unless you walk the subject
matter into a shop where it is done on the premises, there is a chance
the slides will be lost and gone forever.

Good slide digitizers cost money. The higher-end ones keep their value
pretty well, so you can do what you have to do and get out by
reselling. More likely, you'll become attached to the machine and its
skills, and keep it around.

On the subject of skills, slide digitizing requires some. Few if you
aren't too critical, with auto-modes reasonably well-tuned by now;
much more if you have subject slides that are of real worth, and you
want the best from them. Even basic life-to-life scanning takes
learning time.

Some of the grunt labor is removed from the equation by Digital ICE
and its associates, without which scanning-at-home is wasteful and may
be of a nature to extinguish itself due to the excessive time and
attention required to eliminate spots and scratches.

There does remain some grunt labor: you do have to read the manual,
learn which of myriad options suit your project, and feed the monster
(scanner). Good scanning programs allow for modifications to be
applied across batches, and the (expensive) batch-feeders will help.
The one I know about will do fifty without attention. I have no
experience with the length of time it takes to do such a batch, but
I'd reckon it depends on the detail in the photo and the number of
optional features called into play: multiple scans to draw out detail,
ICE, etc., are boons, but they cost, too.

Then, of course, there is storage of the images. BIG files. Scanned at
4000ppi, an ordinary 35mm scan will take up about 60 MB of your space.
Way too few of those fit on a CD-ROM, so get your DVD burner ready.
That stuff is relatively inexpensive in dollars, but it takes time to
write and verify.

You can see the underlying point: Unless you intend adopting Scanner
Operator as a lifestyle, at least temporarily, you may be better off
researching the pay-for-it providers in your area and becoming a Good
Customer, paying in dollar installments rather than
slice-out-of-your-life payments.

You pays you money/time and you makes you choice.

Now in a perfect world I'd be in a position to select, teach, and
supervise an intelligent, intense intern who would do the work and
take the blame for booboos, while I contemplate the philosophy of
capturing an preserving moments of time for all time. (What's it good
for, anyway? Some day it will all be dust.)

Me, I'm working on my fifth or sixth scanner. Of course I'm one of
those who enjoys the process as much as the product. Usually.

--
Frank ess

It seems that we all have different priorities. Some people
value time above money, some the other way around. Some
want the highest quality images, some just want decent,
serviceable images that will produce the kinds of photos
they used to get from the drug store.

If you're on the cheap side, and if you don't have a scanner
now, and you want to spend only a small amount to get
a very general purpose scanner, I can say that I have had
pretty good luck with the Epson 2480 flatbed scanner. It
has a light diffuser in the cover (which the atrocious
documentation didn't really explain was there) and a plastic
frame plus software that makes it possible to get way better
than drugstore quality from negatives, slides, and prints, all
for about $85.

However the quality and convenience will not equal the
dedicated slide scanners.

Alan