Slide away

[undyingking]

Can anyone recommend a good place to get a load of 35mm slides converted to digital? Is it going to be hideously expensive whatever? Should I just get a transparency scanner and a slave to operate it?

Comments

[dr-bob.livejournal.com]

I got a scanner with a slide adapter, and having tried a few slides, the quality was rather poor. There was one I used at work, and once I worked out how to (mis)align the lid so the transparancy and scanning bars were both aligned, it gave OK results. I reckon that if you want a good quality scan, you may need to try a few scanners before you find one that works for you.

The alternative is to use a proper slide scanner. We have one at work here, which is unused, and unlikely to be used in the near future as its owner has now left. You and it could perhaps be brought together, but I'd have to check if there's still a computer that'll drive it....

As for cost of professional scanning, I remember when I got this done 7 years ago, it cost a lot of cash - a few pounds per slide. No idea of current costs 'though.

You and it could perhaps be brought together

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

That's a kind thought, but I have upwards of a thousand of these to do, so I think I'd better get something that I can use here...

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

My father's interested in the same kind of operation, he's got hundreds of old transparencies he'd like to digitise. So far his research has indicated (as dr_bob suggests) that many scanners give poor quality results.

I'd be interested, on his behalf, in hearing if you find a satisfatory and affordable solution. Likewise, if he comes up with one I'll pass on any details he gives me.

[davefish.livejournal.com]

When I was doing this I had use of a film scanner, which was a nice solution. Took ages though, and getting the film clean was the main problem. The time issue wasn't so bad, as I was able to do other things whilst the thing was scanning, and then pop back to start the next one going.

I think that they go for a reasonable amount of cash on ebay, so you could always get one, use it for a month, and then sell it on.

If you can get once with ICE, then go for that, manually retouching the dust on the images gets rather boring after a while. Oh, and good luck!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods*
I've been looking for one to do my old negatives at one point and getting one off ebay and then reselling it seems to be the best option.
Scanners like this one seem to be going for around 50 quid.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Hmm, OK, that doesn't sound too bad! -- I'll get watching.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

I have an Epson Perfection 3170 photo which gives acceptable results (to me) with film; I haven't actually tried it with slides yet but it has a transparency holder.

Professional scanning will cost you a lot, simply because of the time it takes; it's not the scanning itself that takes the time, it's the setup. Not so much of an issue if you're doing it yourself (as davefish says, you can start it going and then do something else) but gets pricy if someone else is doing it for you.

Epson Perfection 3170

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

That looks pretty good, and there seem to be quite a few 2h ones about.

Re: Epson Perfection 3170

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Depending how long you need it for and when you need it, we could probably work something out as far as your borrowing this one went...

Re: Epson Perfection 3170

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Thanks -- I suspect though that unless I want to take a week off and dedicate it to this rather dull task, I'm going to spread it out over quite a long time, so I'll probably be better to get my own I think.

[smallbeasts.livejournal.com]

I've done a bit of this, using an Epson 2480 scanner. Here's a few tips:

1) Scanners are bad at extracting shadow detail from slides. The density range is too high.
2) Colour balance is tricky, but easier than with negatives.
3) There may be better drivers than the ones that shipped with the scanner. I use Vuescan.


-- from NotInventedHere - (?)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Aha, thanks!