Slide Scanner???

[Guy]

So every winter I say that I'm going to set to on scanning 20 years worth of slides but it never happens. This year I think that If I spend a bit of money before hand I may be more motivated!

Anyone here have any tips on scanners or other options I could use. Tom I know you have been working on this for a few years. I'd like to keep any investment in a needed scanner to not much more that a couple of hundred bucks. I don't have to have perfect quality either, speed and easy of use are important.

Thanks for any ideas folks.

[Bosterson]

I haven't used a film scanner in a few years, but the last one I had was one of the Epson flatbed scanners, and they do a decent job. You might check out the V550 Photo - it should come with holders for 35mm negative, 35mm transparency, and 120 sized film. (It can also scan prints, your taxes, whatever.)

There seem to be a lot of new little standalone ones like this guy, not sure how good they are.

If you don't really care about the quality, you can probably buy a cheaper flatbed scanner, though it seems like most of the really cheap ones won't do transparency film.

[markesc]

Did this a few years ago - be prepared with lots of coffee, beer, beef jerky, podcasts/music, etc!!

Easily the most time consuming process!!!

[Steve20050]

I haven't used a film scanner in a few years, but the last one I had was one of the Epson flatbed scanners, and they do a decent job. You might check out the V550 Photo - it should come with holders for 35mm negative, 35mm transparency, and 120 sized film. (It can also scan prints, your taxes, whatever.)

There seem to be a lot of new little standalone ones like this guy, not sure how good they are.

If you don't really care about the quality, you can probably buy a cheaper flatbed scanner, though it seems like most of the really cheap ones won't do transparency film.

Same as above. I still use my Epson for scanning everything from documents to transparencies. It did come with 35mm slide holder for 8 slides at a shot, 120/ 220 & 4 x5 holder, also the flat pad for documents. Mine is the Epson 4990 photo flatbed scanner. I think it ran about 500 USD when I bought it new. A bit more than what you wanted to spend, but I would expect someone, someplace has this used at this point in time. I use a couple of Epson printers as well and I couldn't be happier with the quality and service life I've gotten out of Epson products.

[Bosterson]

Mine is the Epson 4990 photo flatbed scanner. I think it ran about 500 USD when I bought it new.

I think that's approximately what I had (or possibly the 4950 or something? it was cheaper).

The V550 appears to be <$200 new, should do the trick.

[Steve20050]

Mine is the Epson 4990 photo flatbed scanner. I think it ran about 500 USD when I bought it new.

I think that's approximately what I had (or possibly the 4950 or something? it was cheaper).

The V550 appears to be <$200 new, should do the trick.

Thanks. I must admit I was in a hurry and didn't view the link. The V550 says that it has ICE. I found this really helpful trying to get rid of dust without doing a lot of cleaning, though they don't recommend it for Kodachrome if I recall correctly? It also takes more time for the scan. Not sure what "photo fix" does, obviously you also need a Photoshop type program to edit the slides once they are scanned.

[Aridd]

I do photo finishing for a living and scan 1,000s of slides a year. There's lots of scanners out there but I use a combination of a canoscan 9000f which runs for about $170 online and can do 4 at a time and the other piece of equipment I use is called a SlideSnap and does whole carousels at a time given they are all facing forward and in good shape. The price we charge for this service is .65 per slide, so it can get spendy depending on the amount of slides scanned. I have also heard of people using an old slide projector and taking photos of the projected image with their own personal camera.

[Guy]

Thanks every one for all your input & help, some good options to looks at.

[drm]

I spent six months scanning in 30 years of slides some years ago. I then spent another six months building a website with them (building websites is my day job, which has both pros and cons for spending your evenings doing it). It was too long ago for my technology choices to be relevant now. All I can add is find a machine that can scan as many slides in one go as possible and use one of those cans of pressurized air to blow the dust off.

[kepPNW]

I have a PrimeFilm 7250u. Pretty nice. Also has ICE, which I love. (Except ICE totally fries Kodachrome scans, so you need to remember to turn it off.) Slow process!!! Good winter project.