Slide scanning questions

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:54 -0500, Jer wrote:

David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

[....]

I dunno about the trays, but for your purposes Kodak PhotoCD scans
would be just fine. Taking the slides from the trays and putting them
back would only take a few minutes.

If I had this job, I'm pretty sure I'd get a second slide carrier, and
be loading that while the first carrier is being scanned. Cut the time
in half for the cost of a second carrier.

[....]

And if you're seriously concerned about the order of your
collection, you might want to line up the contents of each carrier or
carousel and run a light, diagonal felt pen mark on eash set before
putting them in (different color for each set). If one or more end up
on the floor, you'll at least be able to reorder them.

Michael A. Covington wrote:
I have a substantial number (240) of slides from 30 years ago that I need to
scan.

I have a Coolscan III, which produces beautiful scans but takes 1 minute per
slide. I figure I can average 40 slides per hour scanned, processed, and
saved with meaningful names. That means it's a 6-hour project.

I also have the slide copying adapter for my Coolpix 990, but have not been
satisfied with the quality.

My questions:

(1) Can someone recommend a commercial slide scanning service that can
accept slides in Carousel trays and return them to me in the same trays (in
the same positions)?

(2) Are newer slide scanners faster? Something equal to the Coolscan III in
quality but 3 times faster would be very welcome.

BTW, these are relatively casual snapshots and 900 dpi scans are sufficient.
I'm more concerned about exposure metering and automatic dust and spot
removal. Automatic compensation for fading cyan dyes (E-4) would be very
welcome.

Many thanks!


What did you NOT like about the dupes made with the Nikon 990 and Slide
Copier?
I have used this technique with great success. Regardless of WHO or HOW
the slides or digitized, you are still going to have to do at least one
minute of post processing in your photo editor. So there is actually
precious little time to be saved by going outside for scanning.
Bob Williams
Bob Williams

Sounds like a job for the work experience kid! Scouts? Neighbours kids!??!


Cheers, Jason (remove ... to reply)
Video & Gaming: http://gadgetaus.com

Seems to me 6 hours isn't all too bad after all!


If your setup is convenient, I can think of no better use for
the ten or fifteen minutes of commercials per hour on TV.

I don't watch TV. If I had time to watch TV, I wouldn't begrudge the 6
hours that this project will take.

"Bob Williams" wrote in message
...

What did you NOT like about the dupes made with the Nikon 990 and Slide
Copier?

Some lack of edge and corner sharpness, even at f/8.

Also, the exposure meter isn't as smart as the Coolscan.

I have used this technique with great success. Regardless of WHO or HOW
the slides or digitized, you are still going to have to do at least one
minute of post processing in your photo editor. So there is actually
precious little time to be saved by going outside for scanning.

Good point.

"Michael A. Covington" wrote in message
...
I have a substantial number (240) of slides from 30 years ago that I need
to ... I also have the slide copying adapter for my Coolpix 990, but have
not been satisfied with the quality.
... (1) Can someone recommend a commercial slide scanning service that can
accept slides in Carousel trays and return them to me in the same trays
(in the same positions)?

I got really good results for a good price at this place:
http://www.digitalley.com/ .
You can see some of the results he
http://www.mindspring.com/~dreamflie...s-Coolpix.html

I don't know if you'll be able to send them carousels and have them returned
as-sent, though. However, they took great care to keep my slides, which I
sent to them in slide pages, organized as I sent them, and they used
filenames that distinguished them clearly (so I could tell which were from
Kodachrome, which were from Velvia, etc.).

What's wrong with the Nikon slide adapter? My dad has one. He hasn't used
it, but I copied a few slides with it using my Coolpix 5000. The results
look pretty good to me. That would be the cheapest, fastest, easiest way to
do it.

"Tony Whitaker" wrote in message
nk.net...
What's wrong with the Nikon slide adapter? My dad has one. He hasn't used
it, but I copied a few slides with it using my Coolpix 5000. The results
look pretty good to me.

Yep. Just did some negatives with it. I'm impressed with the results,
actually.

Now, they don't come out great right from the camera. But, I can pop them
into Photoshop Elements, hit "Auto Levels", "Auto Contrast", and "Auto Color
Correction", and what comes out looks pretty damn good IMHO.

BTW, I'm using as a light source a cheap light table I have that uses
fluorescent bulbs.

One option would be to rent a Nikon Scanner (their 4000 or 5000 series) with
an slide autofeeder. The autofeeder takes up to 50 slides and scans them in
a batch. The 4000 and 5000 are also considerably faster.

If you go this route, you'll want to try and find someone with a SF-210
rather than the older SF-200. The SF-210 has an adjustable gate that
significantly reduces the number of slide jams.

James

"Michael A. Covington" wrote in message
...

Seems to me 6 hours isn't all too bad after all!


If your setup is convenient, I can think of no better use for
the ten or fifteen minutes of commercials per hour on TV.

I don't watch TV. If I had time to watch TV, I wouldn't begrudge the 6
hours that this project will take.