UK slide scanning service?

[davidedric]

Hi everyone,

I've not been around in a while, basically not taking photographs.

However, I have many hundreds of 35mm slides I'd like to see again, so I'm looking for recommendations for UK based scanning services. Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave

[stuck]

Hi everyone,

I've not been around in a while, basically not taking photographs.

However, I have many hundreds of 35mm slides I'd like to see again, so I'm looking for recommendations for UK based scanning services. Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave

I can't offer any recommendations on a UK based slide scanning service.

However, before you spend money on scanning all your slides, have you considered investing in a Photolux A3 LED Ultra Slim Light Panel (or equivalent) and using that to sift out only those images of any merit?

Using such a panel and over the course of about six weeks I was able to sift through the circa 10,000 slides I inherited from my father. I laid out about 40 slides at a time on the panel and that allowed me to divide them into broad categories, one of which was 'chuck' (but I've yet to actually dispose of anything), another was 'family'. Next winter I intend to resift each category with the aim of adding more to the 'chuck' category and retaining only those images where you can actually see the faces of family members. With a bit of luck I'll get the number of slides actually worth keeping down to the low hundreds. At that point I will either scan them myself (I have a Nikon CoolScan V ED) or I'll ask local professional photographers if they know of anyone locally who can scan slides.

Meanwhile, near the top of a Google search on 'cheshire uk slide scanning', there is this bricks and mortar / real world shop in Cheshire:

https://www.btphotographic.co.uk/scanning-services

Perhaps a visit to their store will help you??

[davidedric]

Hi, and many thanks for the reply.

I think I'm in a slightly different position because they are all my slides, mostly travel based, and they were all culled after the trip. That's not to say the ones left all have photographic excellence, but they do contain memories (I did have a light box for viewing slides, but I got rid once I stopped using film).

By coincidence, I have exactly the same scanner which I have used for a fair number of slides. I keep looking at it on the shelf and thinking I ought to do more, but the fact I haven't tells its own story, I think.

So, a service it is for me. I'll check out the link you found - many thanks for that.

[stuck]

...they were all culled after the trip. That's not to say the ones left all have photographic excellence, but they do contain memories...

Ah, OK, sounds a lot like my own slide collection, which I've yet to tackle.

...By coincidence, I have exactly the same scanner which I have used for a fair number of slides. I keep looking at it on the shelf and thinking I ought to do more, but the fact I haven't tells its own story, I think...

In case one of the reasons for not using your CoolScan scanner is that there is no official support for the Nikon Scan software on any 64 bit version of Windows, I can point you at an unofficial, but safe, fix for that problem.

However, your comment:

...So, a service it is for me...

suggests the main reason you're not using it is that scanning slides is slooow, nor is it a very exciting task. I can relate to that and so I may yet be looking for a scanning service myself. I don't expect such a service it to be cheap, not if I want high quality scans.

Good luck with your search for a scanning service!

[rmd]

No experience with them,but https://www.vintagephotolab.com/product/100-slides offers a service for £120 for 100 slides (minimum)

[Chataignier]

A friend of mine has recently revived his slides by simply putting them on a light box and re-photographing them with a macro lens. I've seen the results and, printed at 30/45cm you would not know that they were re-photographed.

[pschlute]

Hi everyone,

I've not been around in a while, basically not taking photographs.

However, I have many hundreds of 35mm slides I'd like to see again, so I'm looking for recommendations for UK based scanning services. Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave

I use these people for all my printing. Not used them for slides but they offer the service.......

https://dscolourlabs.co.uk/category/...deo-to-digital

[billtils]

I have used this company to develop and scan B&W film with good results https://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/produc...ry/film-scans/ .

Here are some examples: https://www.flickr.com/gp/billtils/4i782871Ep

[DanK]

Despite a few false starts, I've never managed to start digitizing my slides. However, when I was looking into it, I found that a lot of people posted about using this service: https://www.scancafe.com/services/slide-scanning. They actually do the work in India, I think, but I may be remembering incorrectly. Might be worth checking out reviews if you are game to take the risk of shipping that distance.

[davidedric]

Thanks for all the replies. In the event I am going with http://www.theslideconverter.co.uk

Their reviews are good, and their prices intermediate (I tend not to trust the cheapest!). I also like that they send you the packaging material with inserts specifically for slides.

I've got the packaging - I'll let you know how it turns out . Dave