Slide Scanner

[scottermac]

I got all my fathers Vietnam slides and I would like to digitize them. Any recommendations for a good, affordable scanner?

[oldfireguy]

I use an Epson V500 flat bed scanner. I've been very pleased with Epson products and have used them for a long time. The negative side of a FB scanner is the time it takes to load and unload the trays. If you don't have a ton to do then it won't matter.

 

There are some very affordable stand alone dedicated slide scanners on the market but I have not researched them.

[scottermac]

I do have a cheap stand alone scanner and the scans are okay. I posted a link in the photos thread. I have several hundred (600+) slides to go through.

[oldfireguy]

Nikon used to make some excellent stand alones but I don't think they do any longer. I'm not sure if anyone is making a really good pro slide scanner anymore. I think a good Epson top of the line FB goes in the $300 and up price range. One consideration is to have a pro lab do them but you risk the slides being lost, stolen, or damaged.

 

If time is not important a FB will work just fine.

[67Rally]

Nikon used to make some excellent stand alones but I don't think they do any longer.

 

 

The Nikon CoolScan V-ED is the state of the art in film/slide scanning. Still made, still a workhorse.

[Dave]

I'm very surprised no one has yet made a high speed scanner...or maybe they have and they're simply out of my price range. :pinch:

 

My father in law has about 50,000 slides from his dad that we'd like to scan and then dispose of. But, trying to scan all of those would probably take the rest of his life and mine...it's just not worth it.

 

Dave

[67Rally]

I'm very surprised no one has yet made a high speed scanner...or maybe they have and they're simply out of my price range. :pinch:

 

My father in law has about 50,000 slides from his dad that we'd like to scan and then dispose of. But, trying to scan all of those would probably take the rest of his life and mine...it's just not worth it.

 

Dave

 

 

Buy me that coolscan and a auto-loader and I'll get started, Dave.

[67Rally]

The Nikon CoolScan V-ED is the state of the art in film/slide scanning. Still made, still a workhorse.

 

 

Nevermind...I overlooked the "Archived" emblazoned on the pages. Plustek makes a decent one.

[bunkerhillburning]

Nikon used to make some excellent stand alones but I don't think they do any longer. I'm not sure if anyone is making a really good pro slide scanner anymore. I think a good Epson top of the line FB goes in the $300 and up price range. One consideration is to have a pro lab do them but you risk the slides being lost, stolen, or damaged.

 

If time is not important a FB will work just fine.

 

 

I use a Canon Canoscan 8800F which came with three different attachments for slides, film and negatives. So far so good as far as quality goes. Its an older model I bought a few years back but I just checked and it looks like its going for 265.00 or so these days.

 

I had a pro lab destroy some very rare C. 1930 negatives of New York City a few years back. Somehow they managed to burn a few of them. There was nothing I could do about it either, they were gone as was the potential to see these rare views. My advice? Learn how to use the scanner and do the work yourself. Once you get the hang of it its pretty easy.

[bunkerhillburning]

I'm very surprised no one has yet made a high speed scanner...or maybe they have and they're simply out of my price range. :pinch:

 

My father in law has about 50,000 slides from his dad that we'd like to scan and then dispose of. But, trying to scan all of those would probably take the rest of his life and mine...it's just not worth it.

 

Dave

 

Brother, I'd settle for a scanner than had a larger flatbed than 8 x 10 that didn't cost over a grand.

 

I know there are 11 x 17 scanners out there but they run 1,500.00 to 3,000.00

[Bob Hudson]

I use and recommend the Wolverine F2D slide scanner: you can scan direct to computer or scan to an SD card that you can upload to the computer later on:

 

 

You can get a Wolverine for as low as $55 on ebay. The also make a newer, that is higher resolution: it's about 100.

 

I have scanned slides on my Epsom flatbed, but it's a whole easier with the Wolverine.

[bunkerhillburning]

I use and recommend the Wolverine F2D slide scanner: you can scan direct to computer or scan to an SD card that you can upload to the computer later on:

 

 

You can get a Wolverine for as low as $55 on ebay. The also make a newer, that is higher resolution: it's about 100.

 

I have scanned slides on my Epsom flatbed, but it's a whole easier with the Wolverine.

 

 

Whats the highest resolution you can get using your wolverine?

[Steve B.]

Several years ago I bought a flatbed scanner that will do regular documents & photos, plus slides & negatives. The bed is about 8-1/2 x 12-3/4".

 

It is a Hewlett Packard HP Scanjet 4890 and cost me about $250.00. I do not know if it is still made.

 

The drawback is that it will only do slides a few at a time - four or six - I don't recall exactly and would have to dig out the adapter to know for sure.

 

It took a while, but I got my Dad's slides (several thousand) and mine (several hundred) done over one Christmas vacation when i wasn't feeling well.

[scottermac]

Thanks for everyones suggestions.