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edge
Nov 20, 2003, 6:08 PM
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Can anyone recommend a good scanner for 35mm slides? I have around 1500 slides in carousel wheels from years of climbing, and would like to burn the best of them onto a cd without breaking the bank. There are a bunch on E-bay ranging from $35-200, but I have no idea if these are any good. Does anyone have any experience with scanning slides? Thanks.
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tecais
Nov 20, 2003, 6:35 PM
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Yep - check out Ken Rockwell's professional advice at:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/scanrex.htm
One of the best is the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
The "ICE" feature is very useful to automatically remove dust and scratches but unfortunately this won't work with Kodachrome that is opaque to infrared.
I personally use the Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III. For a review see:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/scanners.html
It's a good bargain and works fairly well.
Be warned, this is a SLOOOOOW process (5 hours+ for one carousel, not to mention any retouching you may want to do in Photoshop or the like).
I still have only 3,000 slides to go - a great retirement hobby. But don't leave it too long - my 35-year old chromes are fading and deteriorating from dust and mold. I wonder if digital media will have this long archival quality?
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the_pirate
Nov 20, 2003, 6:44 PM
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In reply to: my 35-year old chromes are fading and deteriorating from dust and mold. I wonder if digital media will have this long archival quality?
I wonder this too and am nervous about trusting digital archiving media. Hard drives die.... It happens and the proportionality of that happening increases with the value of the media stored on it. Burned CDs are not permanent. You'll be lucky if one is still readable 10 years from now. I'm still looking for a personal scanner so I can't really recommend any here, still paying my lab to do my scans. Just be careful about your storage and back everything up two or three times. I had one hard disc die that contained nearly 300 photoshop corrected images. Still have the original slides, but all those hours of touching up and editing went straight down the drain. Good luck.
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davidji
Nov 20, 2003, 6:49 PM
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In reply to: But don't leave it too long - my 35-year old chromes are fading and deteriorating from dust and mold. I wonder if digital media will have this long archival quality? |
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sandbag
Nov 20, 2003, 6:50 PM
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Just depends on how much you really want to spend. Burn the images to a CD or a DVD and then the occasional Hard drive deaths wont be so pervasive. B&H photo video have professional level scanner and the like. I use a Canon 5000f has the dual light sources and works well. Good luck
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edge
Nov 20, 2003, 7:07 PM
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In the review link that tecais provided, the Epson 1640 got a good review. I found this Epson 1660 for $50, does that sound like a good deal on a worthwhile machine?
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ksugden
Nov 20, 2003, 7:36 PM
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Hi I have a Nikon Coolscan 4 film handling is better than the minolta scanners as it does not use film holders you just push the silde into the front of the unit and off it goes, strips of negertives are fed in the same way. the results print upto A3 with only a slight loss of quality. scans at full resolution with digital ice and level corrections take about 16 mins it may go a bit faster with an upto date computer driving it. If you have a broadband connection i could e-mail you a sample scan.
hope this helps Keith
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ricardol
Nov 20, 2003, 7:42 PM
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i have the cannon 4000 ..
good scanner -- great resolution -- piss poor slow (in USB) .. (probably ok if you use SCSI) .. you can batch up to 4 slides ..
.. if i was to buy a new slide scanner -- i'd get a nikon one -- they are firewire (fast!) .. (get at least 4000dpi)
-- ricardo
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hangdoggypound
Nov 20, 2003, 8:05 PM
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In reply to: In the review link that tecais provided, the Epson 1640 got a good review. I found this Epson 1660 for $50, does that sound like a good deal on a worthwhile machine?
Scans of my slides were great - sharp, and the color was fine. I'll re-emphasize that scans from 35mm negatives were unsatisfactory. I can post some examples if you like...tonight after work when I get home.
Because of this, I've been wanting a slide scanner as well. I know that my scanner is not the same as the 1660 you listed above, but I'd beware if I were you. I hope that helps.
Mark
Edit: After reading your initial post, I see that you are probably just looking to scan slides only. Forgive me for going on about negatives. the epson 1640 that I have will do 4 slides at a time and relatively quickly to boot. I am happy with the results of my scanned slides.
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tendertendons
Nov 20, 2003, 8:27 PM
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I have a Nikon Coolscan IV and for the most part it is really good. The color correction software is easy to use but the bundled software from Nikon is a nightmare. Still, the LEDs that the Nikon uses is a lot better than using a Xenon lamp like in the Canon.
I would recommend a Nikon 4000 (used) and get aftermarket software from Silverfast to control the scanner. If you can get your hands on a roll carrier (36 exp) accessory for the 4000 that really save you some time because you can then process roll film and scan the whole roll in one shot... a feature that is sorely missed on my lower end scanner.
J.
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bliew
Nov 21, 2003, 5:27 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: In the review link that tecais provided, the Epson 1640 got a good review. I found this Epson 1660 for $50, does that sound like a good deal on a worthwhile machine? Edge - I own the Epson 1640, I can't remember exactly but it's called the 1640 Perfection or 1640 Photo. Anyway, I've been pleased with scans of my slides.
The right slide scanner for you is highly dependent on what you want to do with the final scans. If you just want to put pics on a website, one of the Epsons would probably be quite cost-effective. If your final goal is to make a 11x14 for your wall, then you probably should consider something like a Coolscan or Dimage.
Personally, I own the Epson 2450, and have been very pleased with the scans from slide (Velvia), however the main reason I scan is so I can put pics on a website (http://Brandon_Liew.tripod.com). I have noticed a slight magenta cast to the scans after the light source warms up, but otherwise I recommend it as a relatively inexpensive slide scanner.
Here's a sample of a shot I scanned from Velvia using the Epson 2450:
http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos.php?Action=Show&PhotoID=19907
Brandon
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hangdoggypound
Nov 21, 2003, 4:28 PM
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In reply to: The right slide scanner for you is highly dependent on what you want to do with the final scans. If you just want to put pics on a website, one of the Epsons would probably be quite cost-effective. If your final goal is to make a 11x14 for your wall, then you probably should consider something like a Coolscan or Dimage. Personally, I own the Epson 2450, and have been very pleased with the scans from slide (Velvia), however the main reason I scan is so I can put pics on a website (http://Brandon_Liew.tripod.com). I have noticed a slight magenta cast to the scans after the light source warms up, but otherwise I recommend it as a relatively inexpensive slide scanner. Here's a sample of a shot I scanned from Velvia using the Epson 2450: http://www.rockclimbing.com/photos.php?Action=Show&PhotoID=19907 Brandon
That's a good point that I didn't consider -- have you ever tried to make any prints from your scans? If so, what did you think? I hate to open another can-o-worms as I understand that there's the issue the printer, paper, etc. I've gotten acceptable 'small' (5x7 or so) prints from scans with the epson 1640 and printing on an Epson 60 (I think. I'm at work away from my stuff).
Perhaps some of our comments about the output for print and web will help out Edge.
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edge
Nov 21, 2003, 4:41 PM
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Yeah, I mostly wanted to scan them for use on the web. If I want prints from some of them, I would just take them to the local camera store. Also, couldn't I get prints made by scanning them in and e-mailing those into Ofoto?
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tenn_dawg
Nov 21, 2003, 5:36 PM
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You can get high quality prints by buying a $200 inkjet photo printer, and some photo paper. If you like printing up shots, you will save alot in the long run. Getting prints made from digital media if you send the files off is expensive. About 8$ a print if I recall. That adds up VERY fast.
Travis
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hangdoggypound
Nov 21, 2003, 6:25 PM
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In reply to: You can get high quality prints by buying a $200 inkjet photo printer, and some photo paper. If you like printing up shots, you will save alot in the long run. Getting prints made from digital media if you send the files off is expensive. About 8$ a print if I recall. That adds up VERY fast. Travis |
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drkayak
Nov 21, 2003, 7:26 PM
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Registered: Nov 22, 2002
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I have the Poloroid SprintScan 4000. If you can tolerate SCSI you can get one on E-bay for $500 or so, about 1/3 of the original price. You can get great 11x14 prints from 35mm with this scanner.
For larger film I use the Epson 2450. It will do fine for 35mm up to 8x10 prints. I recommend a refurbished one from Epson.com. You can get one there for less that some used ones go for on E-bay.
IMO scanning all your 35mm collection for archiving digitally is a bad idea. Best to properly store the original slide. Scanning is an art and technology changes rapidly. I can produce much better scans that I could a year ago.
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seddy
Nov 22, 2003, 6:41 PM
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Registered: Nov 22, 2003
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One of my scanners is the Epson 1650 and with a price tag of 50$ I say this is an EXCELLENT deal. I am SUPER picky and am happy with this model. I scan slides into Photoshop and print on a Cannon, the final prints are great for digital....NOTHING beats a wet print but I accept the quality for the convinience and archiving.
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mnanao
Nov 22, 2003, 6:46 PM
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anyone know any good/not super expensive scanners that will
do 120 film? (and 4x5?!).
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