Pete Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 My family has 1000's of photos in slide format and I would like to convert them to digital- and give everyone in my family copys of the discs. What is the best way to go about this? Is there a particular scanner you recommend? I heard to get a new one with the ICE feature. What should I get to clean the slides? Any advice is much appreciated! Merry Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 You can use a flat bed scanner... But, I think you have to have the slide attachment. I have and older scanner that does just that... The slide adapter is lit, I think in reverse? Never really used it. It is a Microtek (SCSI) scanner. Merry Christmas... Too bad I have to work till 4 and it is colder than a witches tit outside... Should be warming up in the 40's this weekend though... The one time I hoped the children would get up early, they slept in until after I was at work (late night on Christmas Eve)... Go figure! Oh well, I will see them soon enough and the wife can handle any Christmas morning "drama" that should arise... I learn to take the good with the bad... Three days of holiday pay this pay period... Work those 3 days (25th, 26th, Jan. 1st) 8 hours each and get paid for 24 hours more!! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 This one keeps coming up when I did a quick search... Ion 35mm Photo Negative and Slide Converter to PC Reviews put it in the 'ok' range, decent, but not the best out there. Of course, since you have 1000's, there's always this option... Braun Multimag Slide Scanner 4000 for 35mm Transparencies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Frankly, you might be better off just hiring the job out. Scanning slides (and negatives) isn't as simple as simply running them through the scanner like a Xerox machine - you have to worry about color/contrast levels, size, scratches, etc, etc. Plus, to do it right, you need expensive equpiment and a LOT of time. If you enjoy it as a hobby, that's one thing, but otherwise you'll find it tedius and dull I think. Plus, slides and negatives contain a lot of information - so the raw filesizes will be huge. Don't skimp on that in order to fit them on a DVD for family -- keep the huge images and scale them down for the relatives. I have this device and it works great -- I actually paid LESS than this about 2-3 years ago, so the thing holds its value extremely well apparently: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Super-CoolScan...6998&sr=8-1 You'd need to buy a slide adapter too. I'd definitely recommend ICE, especially if the slides are old and scratched. It will remove the scratches from the slide automatically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted December 26, 2008 Author Share Posted December 26, 2008 Frankly, you might be better off just hiring the job out. Scanning slides (and negatives) isn't as simple as simply running them through the scanner like a Xerox machine - you have to worry about color/contrast levels, size, scratches, etc, etc. Plus, to do it right, you need expensive equpiment and a LOT of time. If you enjoy it as a hobby, that's one thing, but otherwise you'll find it tedius and dull I think. Plus, slides and negatives contain a lot of information - so the raw filesizes will be huge. Don't skimp on that in order to fit them on a DVD for family -- keep the huge images and scale them down for the relatives. I have this device and it works great -- I actually paid LESS than this about 2-3 years ago, so the thing holds its value extremely well apparently: http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Super-CoolScan...6998&sr=8-1 You'd need to buy a slide adapter too. I'd definitely recommend ICE, especially if the slides are old and scratched. It will remove the scratches from the slide automatically. good advice Fez, thank you. You know your stuff. That Cool Scan is what I have my eye on. I have time- and will get the money to pay out. The pictures I will give to my family are priceless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 The question I like to ask is do people even make slides anymore? With the high megapixel cameras coming out and fast approaching what a film camera (even high-end) can give you... Have slides become obsolete except to those vinyl record junkies that we all know and love? Remember when slideswere all the rage? Now I guess you just plug in the patch cables and view them on the big screen TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffaloboyinATL Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 My family has 1000's of photos in slide format and I would like to convert them to digital- and give everyone in my family copys of the discs. What is the best way to go about this? Is there a particular scanner you recommend? I heard to get a new one with the ICE feature. What should I get to clean the slides? Any advice is much appreciated! Merry Christmas! Pete, I just bought an HP Photosmart C8180 at Office Depot a couple of days before Christmas and converted a few hundred slides that my wife had which were pictures of her as a baby and toddler. I got the printer on sale for $199. I had to scan the slides 4 at a time through the scanner (you can also scan film negatives) and even though it was a pretty manual process, it turned out great. The printer has it's own CD/DVD burner so I was able to make and lable a disc for her and put it under the tree. The printer alows some basic editing but I will ultimately upload the pictures to my computer and photoshop them for further enhancement. My project wasn't quite as large as yours but it if you want a slow approach, I definitely recommend this device. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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