Scan old pic's & slides

[cliveanne]

I have an Epson BX305 series scanner. I have been asked to scan some old images for my Father-in-Law which I have done. I am very pleased with the results. I am now looking to scan a lot of my past, back in the good old days of being single. I went through a period when I would take nothing but slides, & I would like to recapture some of these. Is there a gizmo I can use, or will I have to buy a separate slide scanner?
Out of interest, has anybody scanned negatives from a 'Disc camera' used in the 70's/80's I think.

[gcowan]

Hi Peter,

I have an Epson BX305 series scanner. I have been asked to scan some old images for my Father-in-Law which I have done. I am very pleased with the results. I am now looking to scan a lot of my past, back in the good old days of being single. I went through a period when I would take nothing but slides, & I would like to recapture some of these. Is there a gizmo I can use, or will I have to buy a separate slide scanner?
Out of interest, has anybody scanned negatives from a 'Disc camera' used in the 70's/80's I think.

I don't know the BX305 scanner, but I use an epson V700 flat bed scanner to scan slides. The V700 comes with a flimsy plastic slide holder and you can scan quite a few at a time. Lately I just send my slide film in for processing without frames and cut into 4 frame strips and I can use the film holder. There is a website in the USA which sells more robust scanning frames and anti-newton ring glass holders to make medium format slide scans with more reliable focus. I have been thinking of buying the frame for my XPAN slides with glass. This is the link...
http://www.betterscanning.com/
they may have some holders for your scanner or be able to advise on an alternative.

[cliveanne]

Hi Peter,



I don't know the BX305 scanner, but I use an epson V700 flat bed scanner to scan slides. The V700 comes with a flimsy plastic slide holder and you can scan quite a few at a time. Lately I just send my slide film in for processing without frames and cut into 4 frame strips and I can use the film holder. There is a website in the USA which sells more robust scanning frames and anti-newton ring glass holders to make medium format slide scans with more reliable focus. I have been thinking of buying the frame for my XPAN slides with glass. This is the link...
http://www.betterscanning.com/
they may have some holders for your scanner or be able to advise on an alternative.

Thanks Graham. The BX 305 is an all singing bells & whistles scanner/fax, although wireless, it still can't talk to my laptop. My son gave it to me as a Christmas present. He set up the wireless connection a few days ago. Looks like he will have to have another go Thanks for the link, my model was not listed, but I will be looking further.

[stuck]

The BX 305 is an all singing bells & whistles scanner/fax.

According to this page at Epson, the BX 305 cannot scan slides:
http://www.epson.co.uk/Store/Printer...articleId=1045
This means you have three choices:
1) buy a new flatbed scanner that can scan slides
2) buy a dedicated slide scanner
3) use a scanning service

Which route is best for you will depend on your budget, where 'budget' isn't just the size of your wallet but also takes account of the fact that getting a good scan of a slide can be time consuming.

None of the options are 'cheap'. Well, you can get cheap scanner but I guess you took slides in the first place because of the quality they offered so it's unlikely you'd be satisfied by the output from a cheap scanner.

Ken

[cliveanne]

According to this page at Epson, the BX 305 cannot scan slides:
http://www.epson.co.uk/Store/Printer...articleId=1045
This means you have three choices:
1) buy a new flatbed scanner that can scan slides
2) buy a dedicated slide scanner
3) use a scanning service

Which route is best for you will depend on your budget, where 'budget' isn't just the size of your wallet but also takes account of the fact that getting a good scan of a slide can be time consuming.

None of the options are 'cheap'. Well, you can get cheap scanner but I guess you took slides in the first place because of the quality they offered so it's unlikely you'd be satisfied by the output from a cheap scanner.

Ken

Thanks for that Ken, not quite the all dancing thing then I have followed the link & found it to be interesting. I guess I followed some other path & could not find the info'. The slides I took were back in my teen/early 20's days. Judging by some of the prints I took back then I guess the slides are not worth the expense. I'll do a workaround one day, find a cheap, or borrow a projector & screen perhaps, then take it from there. My present camera Finepix 2800HD will not accept any lens converter so using a macro technique is out of the question. At least, I will have something to occupy my mind when there is nothing else to ponder.
PS: I have managed to get the 'puter & scanner communicating now

[stuck]

Judging by some of the prints I took back then I guess the slides are not worth the expense. I'll do a workaround one day, find a cheap, or borrow a projector & screen perhaps, then take it from there.

You might be surprised by the quality of your slides, as in the technical quality not their artistic merit

I have slides that go back the early 1970s taken with a Kodak Instamatic which only have sentimental value but I've got decent scans from them. However I am fortunate, I have easy access to a Nikon Coolscan V ED, which generates 65 Mb (8 bit) TIFF files, plenty of resolution to work with there.

Projecting and then re-photographing the slides would be cheap and would give you a digital copy but you'll have to take care that you get the set up right, with the camera square on to the screen, getting the projected image to fill the frame on the camera, etc.

From what you say, it sounds like you're best first step is probably to pick out a small selection of you slides and get them scanned professionally. I can't suggest/recommend such a service though as I've not had need to use one. Alternatively, perhaps you could contact a local photographic club? Someone there is likely to have a slide scanner.

Ken

[JonathanC]

Try this, its not very expensive.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/5mp-compact-...scanner-503038

HTH
Jonathan

[cliveanne]

Cheers Ken, I will have a second look at what I have. I do not know of anyone with a scanner, but the Photo Group 1 might have knowledge of one (Burton U3A, I run Photo Group 2, three months old ).

I think that there might be a better chance of borrowing, or otherwise obtaining a projector. I have become quite adept at shooting information boards from various parks & the like with no tripod, so with a tripod I should find the task somewhat easier, it's the exposure that I will need to get correct

[stuck]

Try this, its not very expensive.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/5mp-compact-...scanner-503038

My knowledge of such devices is that you'd be better advised spending the same amount of money on a trial batch of scans from a scanning service, i.e. you get what you pay for.

Ken

[cliveanne]

My knowledge of such devices is that you'd be better advised spending the same amount of money on a trial batch of scans from a scanning service, i.e. you get what you pay for.

Ken

Duly noted I shall be making inquiries. Thanks

[stuck]

I suppose it comes down to why do you want to scan your slides?
- To be able to see them for the first time in ages
in which case just buy a projector, there must be cheap second hand ones available (I've got a spare one sitting in my garage!)

- To have simple digital version for casual viewing / cataloguing
in which case a really cheap scanner like the £30 device mentioned above might be OK after all

- To get a top notch digital master for further processing
in which case it will cost you. just money if you use a scanning service. Time & money if you do it yourself as you really need to invest in top flight scanner because no amount of post-processing will improve a poor scan, if the detail is not in the image captured you'll never refine it (rubbish = rubbish out).

Ken

[cliveanne]

" why do you want to scan your slides?" because I have them and would like to see them again
Seriously though, I doubt there is much worth saving other than to expand my personal history. The fact I do have slides was enough to get the cogs revolving in my head. There is no urgency, I have plenty on my plate as it is. The £30 device seems to be quite reasonable. I live near to Derby where there is a Maplin store, I might pay them a visit soon.
Thanks again

[SRH]

Why by a scanner if you have a digital camera? Nikon has a slide adaptor (ES-1) that fits onto your lens and you can photograph your old slides. There are similar devices from other manufacturers. OK, it's not the best, but it works well if you have a good light source, and it allows you to experiment.

[stuck]

...it's not the best...

You said it!

Ken

[jcuknz]

There is the No.8 Fencing wire attitude in New Zealand and elsewhere and depending on the number of slides to be copied I have held them cellotaped to a window with a 'north light' behind, or a sheet of facial tissue and NL. It is easier with digital with AWB to correct for the light source though I use tungsten setting when that is appropriate becuase none of my cameras seems to properly adjust for tungstem in AWB. If I had a lot of slides I would make myself a cardboard sleeve to hold them and facilitate quick change. I have made myself a wooden tunnel hold a camera and quarter-plate negatives and an un successful camera mount, negative holder for 120 and 35mm negatives but that wasn't succesful becuase there was no 'tunnel' to stop the negatives reflecting the camera and/or stray sunlight shining on the negative [ a silly mistake I realise in hindsight, and corrected for with the quarter-plate copier ]
I now have a cheap neg/pos slide/neg reader but none of these methods have corrections for problems [dust] such as a proper, and expensive, scanner copier would have. Your choice :-)
I have normally used a x12 zoom bridge camera which with a 2 dioptre Close-up lens enabling most of the sensor to be used to copy the 3:2 slide/negative. With a 10Mp sensor I'm copying at about 2400ppi which gives good results, if I used the 3:2 format it would be about the same because of the smaller sensor area used but no wasted pixels. If I used my latest camera that would be 3000ppi [16Mp].
The point is that if your camera is capable the rest is easy, good bridge cameras are very versatile. For the slide copy I was using my original Nikon 5700 with its x8 zoom.[280mm Angle of View]

[cliveanne]

Why by a scanner if you have a digital camera? Nikon has a slide adaptor (ES-1) that fits onto your lens and you can photograph your old slides. There are similar devices from other manufacturers. OK, it's not the best, but it works well if you have a good light source, and it allows you to experiment.

My Fujifilm Finepix S 2800HD does not accept lens converters. However I have had thoughts on using a plastic pipe or tube. Putting it crudely, shove the camera lens in one end & mount a slide on the other. Perhaps not quite so basic, but you get the idea. There will be slight problems in the focal length perhaps, but as a wet weather project, it could be fun.

jcuknz: I like your way of thinking I'll see what I have in the shed