What's a good 35mm Slide Scanner

[Night201]

I have about 400 slides that I want to scan and give to my family. They are pictures from 1969 - 1975. I currently have an HP PhotoSmart S20, but the focus seems a bit off and it loses communication with the computer after every scan or 2.

Any recommendations?

 

[bendixG15]

That's a tough one.
I am in the same boat and I get conflicting stories about slide scanners.
The pro's say flat panels scanners are junk for slides
and recommend expensive ($400-$500) slide scanners.

Maybe somebody has something new..
Anyways, here's the bump.....

 

[Anubis]

i can recomend you one that costs 5x what others hae recomended you bendixG15, it has a tray that auto feeds the slids in and such

byt thats not needed, both canon and nikon make ones in the 400-800$ range that are fine for 90% of the people out there, and you are gonna be hard pressed getting a slide scanner for less then 400$

 

[Zepper]

My ordinary Epson 1260 Photo (comes with slide/negative attachments) does a surprisingly good job and you can probably get one for under $50 on eBay, etc.
.bh.

:moon:

 

[heartsurgeon]

i use a nikon 5000 coolscan...4000 dpi

it is superb.

the key to slide scanning is both the scannier dpi..and the software (called digital ice)

the software removes scratches and more importantly dust spots, as well as restores the colors of faded slide dyes.

if you really want to have good digital reproductions of your slides, your goning to have to get a digital ice capable scanner ...

you could check out this minolta product
linky

google it and see if what its dust removal capabilities are.

the dust removal is the key..it's impossible to do by hand, and you'll go nuts trying to it yourself in photoshop...

 

[Zebo]

Why not take it to local photo shop and let them do it? Not sure of the price but it may be a viable option as you'll have no need for a specialized scanner like this once all are digitized....

 

[bendixG15]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Why not take it to local photo shop and let them do it? Not sure of the price but it may be a viable option as you'll have no need for a specialized scanner like this once all are digitized....

I did try that once...
Went to 3 or 4 places...

Asked them
1 - Do you scan here or send it out ?
2 - What scanner are you using ?
I got bad responses, didn't want to trust my slides with them..

I know there are good shops out there, but its not easy to find them.

 

[gsellis]

I have an older HP Photosmart scanner that is SCSI. Don't think they make it anymore, but it is designed for 4x6 prints, color positive (slides), and color negatives. I think it does 2400dpi for negatives. I cannot remember what the slide resolution is, but I was working on some old ones and it did well. That would be an e-Bay thing too.

 

[bluemax]

Originally posted by: Zepper
My ordinary Epson 1260 Photo (comes with slide/negative attachments) does a surprisingly good job and you can probably get one for under $50 on eBay, etc.
.bh.

:moon:

If you don't have hundreds/thousands to do, I heartily agree with the Epson suggestion.

Their printers may stink, but they make GREAT scanners!! 😀

 

[Night201]

Originally posted by: bluemax

Originally posted by: Zepper
My ordinary Epson 1260 Photo (comes with slide/negative attachments) does a surprisingly good job and you can probably get one for under $50 on eBay, etc.
.bh.

:moon:

If you don't have hundreds/thousands to do, I heartily agree with the Epson suggestion.

Their printers may stink, but they make GREAT scanners!! 😀

I have an Epson Perfection Scanner at work and it works great as well. I was thinking of trying out the Epson Perfection 4150 or something like that. I'll report back how it is.

 

[RanDum72]

I think the best 35mm film scanner now for the price is the Konica Minolta Dimage Elite 5400.
Link.

In short:
5400dpi (the highest so far)
digital ICE
USB 2.0 and Firewire
and at $616, basically the best bang for the buck.

 

[iamtrout]

And you can always sell it afterwards. In fact, just buy a used one from ebay if you're just going to be digitizing those slides and never using the scanner again.