Converting 35mm Transparencies to digital

[Tronhard]

Doubtless others have asked this question before, nevertheless here I go anyway...

I have found about 130, 35mm slides that have been stored for about 30 years. They are in excellent condition with no signs of deterioration of any kind. I am considering having them digitally converted but having looked into the issue I am seeking advice on the best resolution and file format to choose. There is obviously a play-off between pixel count and noise. I am trying to strike a balance to get the best combination I can. I may one day have a couple printed up to A2 size if they look good enough.

I am at this point NOT considering buying a di-it-yourself converter, rather going to a bureau to have them done professionally, but having asked around I have got conflicting advice from several candidates.

So if you have valid experience in this area I would be interested to get your opinion.

Thanks in anticipation.

Trev

[Shadowman]

If the slides are in good condition and they are handled carefully there shouldn't be any loss of quality converting. Just look for a reputable company to do the work, be specific in what you want, and read the fine print.

[Tronhard]

OK, maybe I wasn't clear in this. I have asked for quotes from 3-4 specialist service providers. They offer to print in a range of 200-4000 DPI, each saying their's is the best solution. I am trying to find out what DPI range is reasonable. The slides are, in themselves, pin sharp, and they have no scratches etc. All providers offer to clean the slides and the post conversion image.

So I am trying to decide what DPI setting to settle for...

[Mike Buckley]

Check out ScanCafe.com. They scanned about 2000 of my slides and did an excellent job. I used them over a period of a year several years ago. At that time, they were offering services at two resolutions but I don't remember what they were. They charged more for the higher resolution.

They also offer JPEG and TIFF file formats. I opted for JPEGs knowing that if I ever want to make a really effective print, I can have the slide scanned again to a TIFF. Because I opted for JPEGs, I instructed them to never do any post-processing (because I wanted to do that myself and not be stuck with being unable to undo anything they did such as sharpening).

[Tronhard]

Thank you Mike. That sounds encouraging! I will certainly have a look at their offerings, and with your recommendation will check out the lesser one in particular.

[Mike Buckley]

I forgot to mention that if ScanCafe seems to be a good fit and if you don't need the scans right away, sign up to receive their email promotions and wait for a sale. I always ordered scans priced at least 20% less than the normal price.

[Tronhard]

Wow, I just looked at Scansafe's sit and they seem to be a great outfit, and I liked their briefing materials. Luckily they accept orders from Canada, so when I get back there I shall try them out. Thank you Mike for great advice, and yes I am in no hurry so I shall sign up and await a sale - especially helpful with a low Looney!

[Mike Buckley]

Sometimes their sales are flash sales. So, it's best to have your slides gathered up, put in a box and ready to go. If you're busy at the time the sale is announced, you only need to place the order online and send your slides on their way.

By the way, if anything does go wrong, their customer service was terrific when I did business with them. Out of the 2000 or so electronic files they sent to me, two of them would not open and they were in orders that were placed months apart. Within hours of letting them know about the issues, they sent me copies of the files they still had on their system with no need to rescan the slides.

[jcuknz]

I copied a couple with my old Nikon 5Mp 5700 which was able to scan at 2560 pixels [across] which if my maths is right from tight framing on a 36mm or 1.5 inch slide is around 1600dpi and the projected resuklts matched each other so Iam sure a more modern camea which we use today would give a greater margin for the A2 print subsquently.

To me the key question is if your gear is capable of filling the sensor with the whole 36x24mm slide image.

The 5700 has that ability and the copying set-up was laughably simple....
[note flash was used to take set-up photo not the copy.]



In earlier days I copied slides with color-neg by simply taping them to a suitable window using my Pentax and extension tubes
Subsequently I purchased a 5Mp machine for the job but rarely have used it It does slides, col neg and B&W it cost about NZ$120.

[jcuknz]

A subsequent thought to consider before you let those valuable slides out of your presence is "how about copying and the making a "crop' print off part of the image at A2 size to see if it is acceptable "?