scanning slides

[Fogey]

Can somebody give me some tips on the best way to scan slides to digital film with no loss of quality?

Which would be the best scanner to use? Pros and cons would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance..........

[JamesT]

Hi Fogey,

The challenge is that flatbed scanners are not really designed for handling things on the scale of 35mm film. Epson's V800 and V700 do a passable job, as does the HP9000. However a dedicated film scanner (I have a Nikon Coolscan V) will generally be significantly better — but they can't do anything else.

The Nikon scans at 4000dpi and that is actually meaningful resolution, and gives about a 20Mp scan. Most flatbeds claim higher resolution, but the results don't have that much information. When scanning medium & large formats I scan at the max physical resolution and then bin by a factor 2 (which gives better actual resolution than scanning at half res from the start). I use VueScan, partly because it's the only really usable solution for Linux (Xsane is very hard to use for negatives), but also it's a good deal cheaper and has a better upgrade policy than most others.

Definitely to be avoided are those little 10Mp cheap photo scanners that scan to an SD card rather than connecting to a PC.

I've not tried it but scanning with a DSLR (or mirrorless camera) and a holder such as the Pixl-Latr is also an option.

Hope this is useful,

James

[JamesT]

I should also add that if you only have a few to do and don't expect any more to come along then it might be most economical to get a photo lab to scan them for you.

Edited January 8, 2023 by JamesT

[Ryewolf]

I was going to say the same as James, if you have a limited amount then a Photo Lab is the way to go...

[Clicker]

Sorry Fogy ... I have not got much experience  with slides ...  

[Fogey]

This isn't for me, but a friend of my brother.

Apparently he has a decades worth of slides to convert to photographs.

I fully accept that a flatbed scanner is not the way to go.  I have one and scanning any film is merely OK ...ish.  (Needs a lot of PP ing).

I have been looking at a dedicated scanner for slides, within the mid-range.  https://www.magnasonic.com/review/product/list/id/1693/category/63/.  The research I have done tells me that this kind of scanner is much of a much-ness across the range, both in design and quality.

However, digging deeper, I have found that, although rated high, Kodak is producing the worst reproductions.  I can only go by customer reviews and the reviews on you tube - the one posted above gives the best reviews to date.

Mind, that said, I get the feeling this guy wants this work done for him on the cheap, (read free), from some cross eyed numpty like me.

Like that's going to happen!!!

Thanks for your input people;  I'll just email him the info and put this enquiry to bed.

 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Fogey

[Clicker]

Sometimes folks have little knowledge of the work required to reproduce good images  for printing from slides and the sheer amount of work involved and consequently are often shocked when getting a professional quote for the job …     I think I would be doing the same as you … getting some info for them and just passing it on ….

[JamesT]

1 hour ago, Clicker said:

Sometimes folks have little knowledge of the work required to reproduce good images  for printing from slides and the sheer amount of work involved

And even the most basic scans on a home scanner are monumentally tedious for any significant number as the slide have to be loaded individually.

[Clicker]

Exactly James ... and if there are hundreds,  it is  both expensive and time consuming and certainly not something I would volunteer to do ...