Slides to digital

I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

--
-
The e-mail address obviously doesn't exist. If it's essential
that you contact me then try peterATpfjamesDOTcoDOTuk

In article ,
says...

I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

For 300? A set of extension tubes if you don't have a macro lens.
You'll also need to cobble up some kind of holder and a backlight but
that can be done with some foamcore board and a glue gun.

On 01/31/2014 05:40 AM, Peter James wrote:
I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter




I have an Epson Perfection 4490 Photo
and was shocked at how good a quality the slide/negative scanner is.
It is honestly better the dedicated slide scanner I had been using.

The Epson can scan four slides at a time and autocrop.

It has a professional mode with extreme quality.

Not only that, the scanner was relatively inexpensive.


Though the model I have is no longer made, I am sure that whatever Epson
now makes that replaced it...will be good


The V370 looks like an equivalent unit it's 100 USD (or 60£ I think)

In article , Peter James
wrote:

I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

use vuescan.

http://www.hamrick.com/

In article , J. Clarke
wrote:

For 300? A set of extension tubes if you don't have a macro lens.
You'll also need to cobble up some kind of holder and a backlight but
that can be done with some foamcore board and a glue gun.

ugh, that is not worth the hassle and the results aren't that good
anyway.

been there done that.

On 31/01/2014 11:40, Peter James wrote:
I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

Do them a few at a time when you can afford it then. The hardware and
media cost to do decent archive quality slide scans is more than £150
and then you have your time to consider.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

As others have said you can get contraptions that allow slide copying
for not that much (~ £40 maybe less secondhand) and one of those will
allow you to digitise your slides pretty quickly if you have a DSLR.

I used this method once when a badly damaged unscannable slide (someone
had stubbed a cigarette out on it) that had to be digitised instantly.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 1/31/2014 4:24 PM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 31/01/2014 11:40, Peter James wrote:
I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

Do them a few at a time when you can afford it then. The hardware and
media cost to do decent archive quality slide scans is more than £150
and then you have your time to consider.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

As others have said you can get contraptions that allow slide copying
for not that much (~ £40 maybe less secondhand) and one of those will
allow you to digitise your slides pretty quickly if you have a DSLR.

I used this method once when a badly damaged unscannable slide (someone
had stubbed a cigarette out on it) that had to be digitised instantly.


You might want to investigate what overseas scanning agencies
(particularly in India) charge. My son recently had the whole family
negative collection scanned and put on a CD. I think it cost about $700
overall and I was glad to pay it.

Fortunately, we had most of the negatives tho' some are currently only
DSLR camera copies of the prints in the picture albums but it would have
been sad to lose the gradually fading prints and, in any case, there are
three different places where we might wish to have copies.

You can make quite a good restoration of prints if there is even a
little left of the three primary colors. I did quite a good job of
restoring my wife's graduation picture from 1956 with Photoshop Elements.

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

On 01/02/2014 00:21, James Silverton wrote:
On 1/31/2014 4:24 PM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 31/01/2014 11:40, Peter James wrote:
I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

Do them a few at a time when you can afford it then. The hardware and
media cost to do decent archive quality slide scans is more than £150
and then you have your time to consider.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

As others have said you can get contraptions that allow slide copying
for not that much (~ £40 maybe less secondhand) and one of those will
allow you to digitise your slides pretty quickly if you have a DSLR.

I used this method once when a badly damaged unscannable slide (someone
had stubbed a cigarette out on it) that had to be digitised instantly.


You might want to investigate what overseas scanning agencies
(particularly in India) charge. My son recently had the whole family
negative collection scanned and put on a CD. I think it cost about $700
overall and I was glad to pay it.

But would you want to ever part with your precious negatives sending
them to a distant land and uncertain standards of handling?
50p isn't an outrageous price for image scanning in the UK.

Fortunately, we had most of the negatives tho' some are currently only
DSLR camera copies of the prints in the picture albums but it would have
been sad to lose the gradually fading prints and, in any case, there are
three different places where we might wish to have copies.

You can make quite a good restoration of prints if there is even a
little left of the three primary colors. I did quite a good job of
restoring my wife's graduation picture from 1956 with Photoshop Elements.



--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 2/2/2014 6:13 AM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 01/02/2014 00:21, James Silverton wrote:
On 1/31/2014 4:24 PM, Martin Brown wrote:
On 31/01/2014 11:40, Peter James wrote:
I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the total
cost would be £150, and I can't afford it.

Do them a few at a time when you can afford it then. The hardware and
media cost to do decent archive quality slide scans is more than £150
and then you have your time to consider.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without
spending a
fortune on it.

Peter

As others have said you can get contraptions that allow slide copying
for not that much (~ £40 maybe less secondhand) and one of those will
allow you to digitise your slides pretty quickly if you have a DSLR.

I used this method once when a badly damaged unscannable slide (someone
had stubbed a cigarette out on it) that had to be digitised instantly.


You might want to investigate what overseas scanning agencies
(particularly in India) charge. My son recently had the whole family
negative collection scanned and put on a CD. I think it cost about $700
overall and I was glad to pay it.

But would you want to ever part with your precious negatives sending
them to a distant land and uncertain standards of handling?
50p isn't an outrageous price for image scanning in the UK.

Fortunately, we had most of the negatives tho' some are currently only
DSLR camera copies of the prints in the picture albums but it would have
been sad to lose the gradually fading prints and, in any case, there are
three different places where we might wish to have copies.

You can make quite a good restoration of prints if there is even a
little left of the three primary colors. I did quite a good job of
restoring my wife's graduation picture from 1956 with Photoshop Elements.


My son investigated the reputation of the Indian company and received
several reassuring recommendations. The results were highly
satisfactory. If the negatives had been lost it would have been possible
to do a reasonable job of copying the prints with a DSLR tho' perfection
is not absolutely necessary for family records.


--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

In article , Peter James wrote:

I have about 300 slides I want to scan and store on the Mac.

I've tried two slide scanners both of which used MediaImpressions
software, and the results were disappointing.

I can get them done professionally, but at .50 pence a slide the
total cost would be $150, and I can't afford it.

My Canon scanner doesn't have a slide scanner attachment, so I'm
stymied.

Can anyone on this NG suggest a way of doing the task without
spending a fortune on it.

What is the Canon scanner? Maybe you can get a slides holder for it?

I have the Epson Perfection V750, and it came with a slides holder that
scans 15 slides at a time in very high quality.


--
Sandman[.net]