35mm slide scanning service

"Nicholas O. Lindan" wrote in message
link.net...
"Phil Schuman" wrote

I have a million 35mm slides in shoeboxes
and [want to get them scanned. Advice?]

Has anyone tried using a slide duplicator and DSLR for
getting digital copies of slides rather than scanning?

A DSLR can generate a 10MPix image in a second, a scanner
in a minute. Image degradation may be worse but slides
[non-professional slides] are scanned so they can be
viewed on the computer or printed to 7x9" on the inkjet:
neither of these require much in fidelity.

I was going to do this, but if you crop out parts of your slide, you really
need the additional pixels per inch capability of a decent scanner, so I
decided to go that route. I do admit that for sheer volume, its a good
idea......A lot depends on your attitude about the whole thing....I consider
it fun to go over all my old pictures, so I don't mind the additional time
spent and all the cropping and other Photoshop work. But if all that sort of
thing turns you off, and all you want is to get them all digitized as quick
and dirty as possible........

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 05:19:59 GMT, "Phil Schuman"
wrote:

I have a million 35mm slides in shoeboxes
and was thinking of sending them off
to a scanning service to put them on CD
and then I would have them to make prints.
Any suggestions for services ?

1. Where are you, in the world? Are you in North America? If so, where
in Canada, Mexico or the US [or France :-)] That will make a
difference to the response. There are services in each country, but
making a recommendation depends on which country, or province, or
state, etc.

2. I suspect you will NOT be happy if you simply send boxes of slides
off to be scanned to CD by 99.9% of the services that 'advertise' that
they do this.

If you have that many slides, they go back years. If they go back
years, some likely will be mouldy, others will be faded, a number will
also be warped in their cardboard holders, and so on, so it is not
only that you need them scanned, but you also probably need them
worked on/restored in the process.

I have a Nikon film Scanner with the APS option and have scanned 30+
year old slides. Each one needed some work, and some needed a lot of
work, even using software that restores faded photos and slides, etc.
They were that bad... [I can point you to examples if you email me.]

Unless you are prepared to PAY for that sort of work, all you really
should want is a scan at 2700 ppi or so, and then YOU will need to go
through those scans and do the repair work yourself. Be prepared to
spend up to an hour on ONE slide if you really want it and it is in
bad condition to start with. [Most will take several minutes, but
adjusting colour to your personal satisfaction for badly faded images
can take TIME...]

While some scanners will do 4000 ppi I would NOT bother using that
resolution with older slides... all that will happen is the impact of
grain in the older slide films will show up more, and you will not get
a better print, just more grain showing up in the print.

Note that even just having them scanned at the 2700 ppi resolution and
cut to CD is a lot of time and effort, AND that most services that
'advertise' cutting slides to CD do it via automated machinery that
does NOT look at the slide, nor at the results, so some of the scans
will be virtually impossible to work with. Manual scanning will be
needed with those slides.

Anyway, simply shipping off a shoebox full of slides to be scanned to
CD likely will NOT provide you with anything you would want to use,
from any service I am aware of, as they look as returned, particularly
if they are really old slides... The staff at most of those services
have never seen a real darkroom, and are NOT trained in restoration
work... they are production line workers. If you find someone who is
retired and has nothing else to do, willing to do it at about $1 per
slide, you likely should jump at the offer, for those slides that you
want to keep and that need that sort of attention to the scanning. The
30¢ per slide scan to CD will NOT leave you at all happy, in my
experience.

If you have other questions, feel free to email me directly... I've
been doing slide and old negative scanning for myself for years, and
have had a darkroom since the 1950s.

FWIW

RsH

Phil Schuman wrote:
I have a million 35mm slides in shoeboxes
and was thinking of sending them off
to a scanning service to put them on CD
and then I would have them to make prints.
Any suggestions for services ?


A million? Even Tony Polson doesn't have a million slides.

In any case, pare that down to:
-the best shots
-the also rans
-any others with sentimental or other important matter.

For most people that would reduce the pile by at least 1:10.

Then either buy a good scanner (Canon, Minolta, Nikon), which carries a
work burden (learning curve then the long hours of scanning and editing)
or compute the cost to use a service.

http://www.pixmonix.com/pricing.php?s=home is one example of a scanning
service where 4000 dpi slides cost $1 each. They have "package" deals
of 500 slides for $349. So it's a balance of your time and cost of the
scanner and the cost of having it done and allowing quality control to
be in the hands of others.

If you do use such a service, send a small test lot of slides to them
first and include really well exposed and saturated slides and some that
will present difficulty (heavy dark areas; slides that are over exposed;
mixes of saturation and 'pale' areas) and see how well they do with that
before comitting to a larger order.

I've scanned approx. 7,500 slides and negs over the past 6 years... it's
a lot of work.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

William Graham wrote:

Yes. - I just finished building a light box for that very purpose.....It is
an 18 inch by 18 inch by 5 inch deep box with a crinkly plastic front that
contains about 500 watts of 5000 K lights......I can put it upright on the
table in front of me, and view my slides toward it just as if I was outside
looking at the daytime sky. (except I can work after dark, and without
getting a crick in my neck)

500W? Sheesh! My light table is 2 x 20W (although only 10 x 14").

By the way William, I was in WA (Spokane and Seattle) last week but
didn't have time to call you. Next time perhaps.

Cheers,
Alan.

--
-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm
-- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin
-- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch.

Unless you are prepared to PAY for that sort of work, all you really
should want is a scan at 2700 ppi or so, and then YOU will need to go
through those scans and do the repair work yourself.


Kodak's discontinued Photo CD scanned at 2048 x 3072, if memory serves me
correctly. And they were somehow able to keep file size at about 18 meg
(I'm not including the Pro scans). How I wish I could find a way to scan at
that resolution and keep the file size that small!

I know that the Image Pac format was lossy, but there must have been other
factors that kept file size small (perhaps the scans were 8-bit rather than
16-bit?)

Have you any suggestions on how to fit a roll of shots onto a single CD,
without reducing resolution? This has been my biggest problem with film
scanning. What aspects can I compromise without adversely affecting the
quality of my archival scans?

Phil Schuman wrote:
I have a million 35mm slides in shoeboxes
and was thinking of sending them off
to a scanning service to put them on CD
and then I would have them to make prints.
Any suggestions for services ?

I finally decided to get a scanner to digitize all my dad's old slides.
I narrowed my choices down to the Canoscan 8400F and the Epson
Perfection 3590 and 4490 (all flatbeds), and was able to get the Canon
from J&R for $100.

It's done fine for what I need. It will scan at up to 3200dpi (I have
mostly been using 2400, and it has been more than adequate.) It scans
4 slides at a time, but it still takes quite a while to go through
hundreds of stockpiled slides. It's worth it, though, to save all
those old family pictures, and put them on CD to make copies available
to the whole clan.

Plus, the reselling value on ebay is right around what I paid for the
scanner, if I decide to get rid of it when I'm out of slides!

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
Phil Schuman wrote:
I have a million 35mm slides in shoeboxes
and was thinking of sending them off
to a scanning service to put them on CD
and then I would have them to make prints.
Any suggestions for services ?


A million? Even Tony Polson doesn't have a million slides.

In any case, pare that down to:
-the best shots
-the also rans
-any others with sentimental or other important matter.

For most people that would reduce the pile by at least 1:10.

Then either buy a good scanner (Canon, Minolta, Nikon), which carries
a
work burden (learning curve then the long hours of scanning and
editing)
or compute the cost to use a service.

http://www.pixmonix.com/pricing.php?s=home is one example of a
scanning
service where 4000 dpi slides cost $1 each. They have "package" deals
of 500 slides for $349. So it's a balance of your time and cost of
the
scanner and the cost of having it done and allowing quality control to
be in the hands of others.

If you do use such a service, send a small test lot of slides to them
first and include really well exposed and saturated slides and some
that
will present difficulty (heavy dark areas; slides that are over
exposed;
mixes of saturation and 'pale' areas) and see how well they do with
that
before comitting to a larger order.

I've scanned approx. 7,500 slides and negs over the past 6 years...
it's
a lot of work.

Cheers,
Alan


yeah - I've been thinking about going thru the boxes,
and picking some samples out - like you suggested -
and then trying a service to see what happens.
I suspect a LOT of the slides are from the 1970's days
of when I used to shoot the US Grand Prix @ Watkins Glen.
Lots of really good closeup shots in the pits,
but a lot of just cars going by on the track...
Just have to open them up, lay them out on the lighted slide sorter,
and start going thru them...

Alan Browne wrote:


By the way William, I was in WA (Spokane and Seattle) last week but
didn't have time to call you. Next time perhaps.


Forelocktugger: I passed your house yesterday, Dr Johnson!
Dr Johnson: Thank you.

Cheers,

No offense ...

--
Frank ess

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
...
William Graham wrote:

Yes. - I just finished building a light box for that very purpose.....It
is an 18 inch by 18 inch by 5 inch deep box with a crinkly plastic front
that contains about 500 watts of 5000 K lights......I can put it upright
on the table in front of me, and view my slides toward it just as if I
was outside looking at the daytime sky. (except I can work after dark,
and without getting a crick in my neck)

500W? Sheesh! My light table is 2 x 20W (although only 10 x 14").

By the way William, I was in WA (Spokane and Seattle) last week but didn't
have time to call you. Next time perhaps.

Cheers,
Alan.

Too bad, Alan....I'd love to show you around Salem, and introduce you to our
four cats......My vision isn't too hot anymore, so I needed a lot of
light. - You wouldn't believe this box. When I turn it on, people leave the
room, it's so bright. It's great for viewing slides, but in between slides,
when I am reloading the viewer, it's so bright that I can't hardly see what
I am doing. Also, I've got it loaded right now with 2800 K lights, so it's a
little too red.....I am going to order some 5000K bulbs.....I hope the
neighbors don't call the police when I turn it on....