Slides to Digital?

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Hi All,

Does anyone know of a place where I can get 35mm slides digitized? I have a number
of 35mm slides that I would love to get digitized.

Thanks,
Jack

[FrankMi]

Hi Jack, when I faced this issue some years ago and based on the number of slides I wanted to digitize, it was less expensive to just get a decent slide copier. Here are some current typical slide scanning prices. http://www.fotobridge.com/pricing_slides.php
Hope this helps!

[Nate]

I've used ScanCafe.com for digitizing negatives. Originally I planned to scan them in myself but after they sat in the "to do" pile for a couple years, I decided to outsource it instead. Overall i was happy with image quality and the negatives were returned in same condition as I sent them. Only considerations I'd offer up was that it did take a while (understandable as they scan by hand and do some minor touch up work like scratch and dust removal) and it was a little disconcerting shipping them but luckily I had the prints as back up.

[stuck]

I have a number of 35mm slides that I would love to get digitized.

It has already been said already, it depends on how many you wish to scan.

Scanning slides is time consuming. My experience is that it takes about 3 mins from inserting a slide into a Nikon CoolScan V ED to being able to insert the next one. Perhaps if I had a bulk loader I could stack up a whole film and leave it to churn away over night but I don't.

Then there is the disk space required. At full resolution and 8bit depth I find a single slide produces a 65Mb TIFF file.

Finally, a decent dedicated slide scanner is not cheap.

You have to do your own cost benefit analysis.

stuck

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Nate,
Where you happy with the end results? More importantly, would you use them again?

[flashback]

Frank and Stuck,
Thanks, not really looking to purchase anything as this would really be a one-off thing, to
get the slides I have digitized. Unless I go back to my 35mm but realistically I would be
moving forward and upward, digitally speaking.

[Donald]

On the back of Jack's thread, can I ask a sub-question? Do any UK members have any suggestions for a good company to digitise slides?

[Hansm]

If you want to digitize only by occasion why not just take a picture of the slide.
Place it on a light-table mask it with black cardboard and make a picture. Depending on the quality of your camera and lens the results can be very good. You have to tweak in PP of-course to get things correct.
I do this sometimes with colour negatives and the results can be very surprising.
See the picture below taken from a negative and roughly tweaked in Photoshop.

[krispix]

I use a cheap Epson flatbed scanner. It will do 6 negatives or 4 slides in one pass and the results are as good as you could hope for from such media. OK, it takes a while, but I've scanned hundreds of slides and negs this way and they now reside on a big hdd, 'cos I'm never going to the bother of erecting a screen and slide projector again.

[epmi314]

I bought a $400 (US) Epson scanner specifically to digitize 35mm slides. It does a nice job of converting one to another but is exceedingly time consuming even 3 at a time.

IMHO, have a few hundred you wish to convert then send them out. If you have a few thousand and time then it is worth researching an equipment purchase even if it is a one time thing, it may well save you in the long run. If money is no object then outsource... outsource... outsource.

[ddp4me]

To All,

I wanted to do the same thing recently. After some research my husband decided that sending them out was too cost prohibitive. So we started to research photo scanners.

The link below it to the scanner we finally bought, used on EBAY. Not Nikon's top of the line but all we could afford. It still cost a lot, even used! But I think it was worth it. (see comparison of my Grandmother's photo from both).

We also bought a new Epson Perfection V6000 Photo flat bed to scan film and negatives faster. For the photos we liked to have but weren't that important to have high quality.

If you compare the quality of the output of the two, personal experience and on the site below (they give actual dpi of output for both) you will find that the Nikon is superior. But more expensive.

What you do depends on what you want to do with the photos as well. If you want to enlarge them you may want to go for the best quality scan or scanner. If you want to put them on the net, quickly, then go for the fastest. You know what I mean.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/LS4K/L40A.HTM

Hope this helps!

The photos posted were not edited except to reduce the size to 700px/in width. The first was saved (after scanning) as a .nef file which is Nikon's version of raw and the second was saved as a .tiff. Not sure if it makes a difference, but didn't have the option of raw scans with the Epson.

Maybe this is not a fare comparison because the Nikon offers 14 bit and multiple pass (up to 16x) scanning not available with the Epson. Help experts!

[shreds]

Problem with the high end Nikon scanners is they seem to have disappeared from the market (Nikon deny they have been deleted from the catalogue but rumours abound) except on ebay. And of course supply and demand for some of the best slide scanners around has pushed prices on ebay up! However there are other brands and flatbeds which do a great job.

[bishopsmead]

Are there any forum members out there who own scanners and would be prepared to scan a small batch of slides (say up to 10) for evaluation at minimal cost (i.e. just for cost of return postage for example)? It might help people to decide which way to go . . the problem with commercial scanning is that they will deliver a good service for bulk (scanned on rotary scanners), but it is pricey, and not practical for smaller quantities . . . outfits that offer budget prices (e.g. on Ebay) may or may not provide a quality service? Buying your own quality slide scanner is quite an investment even on Ebay . . .

What does everyone think?

[shreds]

Just bear in mind how expensive drum or virtual drum scanners are compared to flatbeds. Generally most commercial organisations offering such services will use a drum or virtual drum to cater for their high end customers too, but they cost!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...5_Scanner.html

Would many of my old slides be worthwhile scanning, well the MF ones maybe but of the 35mm ones, probably only about 1%!

[flashback]

So........there's no one using a commercial service to digitize their slides?
NOT looking to purchase a scanner, photographing a slide (or negative) is not the quality I was looking for.

I did do some research and have found a couple of sites (that seemed the best) that offer slides digitized for anywhere from US $0.39 to ~$3.00 per slide.

I thought maybe there were a few people in here that may have used the same/similar service(s).

[ddp4me]

Jack,

Sorry to not have answered your question and taken the thread off subject.

I have not used a commercial service. I do remember professionals at Outdoor Photographer site mentioning some they used, but not specifics on them. They but were on west coast.

My slides were not of the quality that I wanted to sell them as prints, as others have mentioned. So even the cost you mentioned seemed too much for me.

My purpose was for archival of family photos and just to be able to share beauty with others. I figured that at least I would have a good quality scanner after scanning my own work and could offer help to others in the future. I'm no where close to being able to offer it to others as it is quite time consuming to scan at the highest quality.

The only advice I can offer is to be picky about the slides you do scan (by you or someone else), because after putting out the money for the Nikon and the Epson, I have found that my techniques were lacking on many shots and no matter how good the scans, you can't fix it.

Sorry again for not answering your question in a more direct manner.

Have a great night,
Darlene

[flashback]

Darlene,

No worries, I appreciate all that everyone has offered and understand the personal motivation(s) for each. For me, I'm must looking
for someplace (recommended) where I can get some slides digitized. As I pointed out earlier I've found some places on the web that certainly seem promising, was hoping for a/some ringing endorsement(s). Failing this, I'll take a leap of faith, pick one service and try it out. Should I, I'll post my thoughts here.

Jack

[Nate]

Nate,
Where you happy with the end results? More importantly, would you use them again?

Yes. I was happy with the quality, would use them again and have recommended them to friends/family/others.

[Grant151]

I too have used ScanCafe and am pleased with the results. Kodachrome slides done at .18 cents per plus shipping of about $40.
Thats 500 slides for about $130. This includes the dust and scratch removal. Wait for the sale to get that price.

[Clactonian]

Are there any forum members out there who own scanners and would be prepared to scan a small batch of slides (say up to 10) for evaluation at minimal cost (i.e. just for cost of return postage for example)? It might help people to decide which way to go . . the problem with commercial scanning is that they will deliver a good service for bulk (scanned on rotary scanners), but it is pricey, and not practical for smaller quantities . . . outfits that offer budget prices (e.g. on Ebay) may or may not provide a quality service? Buying your own quality slide scanner is quite an investment even on Ebay . . .

I have a Konica Minolta Scan Dual IV (about £230 new) which lay dormant after I changed to a Mac (no driver). The recent discovery of Vuescan software has me back in business so yes I will happily provide a sample or two if you are UK based, but don't all rush, as my time is limited!! PM me.