OT: 35mm Slide Scanners??

[climbgdh]

Anyone here have tackled the project of scanning their 35mm slides? I’ve got several thousand that I’d really like to digitize and currently researching just pulling the trigger and buying a scanner but wanted to see if anyone here has any recommendations? I have a lot of really important (to me) photos from late 80’s and early / mid 90s of climbing expeditions to South America, Alaska and the Himalaya’s that I really need to digitize. There is also the option of sending the slides out but I’d rather tackle it myself as a potential winter project. Any thoughts from PL would be greatly appreciated. I have made sure all my slides have been stored in archival slide box / sleeves so that they don’t deteriorate. TIA for any recommendations.

[slowpoke]

It's going to be a trade off between time vs image quality vs sanity.

Some folks find scanning film "meditative", others like me hate it and would prefer to pay a shop and be okay with a halfway-decent quality scans instead of obsessing over every dust speck.

If you're DIY'ing, a dedicated film scanner will give better scans than a flatbed with trays, but takes longer and the film scanners usually require software that may not be compatible with recent versions of Windows. If you go the flatbed route, it's worth looking into some ANR glass trays (http://scan-tech.net/) to flatten the film.

Another option is calling up some boutique photo processors in your area and asking them how much they'd charge for a scan. Usually they'll just feed it through their Noritsu processor, which won't be as good as the film scanner or flatbed, but it saves you a lot of afternoons.

The final output you want should be at least ~3000 x 2000 pixels (some throw megapixels out there, others use vague terms like "HQ scans"). Places will upcharge for higher resolution even though it really just means changing a setting on the machine. If you have uncut rolls, they're much cheaper than scanning strips. I think $10 /uncut roll, or $2/image is a fair price if you go this route.

PS When all this is done, I would absolutely love to see these photos!

[Neves]

climbgdh,

What do you have on hand now as far as digital camera equipment? I think for ease of use, a Epson scanner would be the way to go. It is very slow, but you just walk away and let it do it's thing.

I currently have the V600 but was having issues with it and moved on to using my digital camera, a macro lens and a couple of dedicated film holders. I'm still new to using the camera, but really enjoy how much faster the process is. At this point I don't know if the image quality is any better though.

I use https://www.negativelabpro.com/ with Lightroom to do the conversions.

[Ken Robb]

He is asking how to convert slides, right?

[Neves]

Might be worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcL_TrOATR0

[blakcloud]

If you have an iPhone they have an app for scanning slides.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/slidescan-slide-scanner-app/id1485358131

Can't comment on quality but I am sure it will be less expensive than a flatbed slide scanner.

[gavingould]

currently i use a light table, a negative holder from an enlarger, and DSLR with macro lens.
before that, i had a Minolta film/slide scanner - but they've gotten out of that game about a decade ago, and looks like Nikon also no longer does their film scanners either
Plustek 8100 seems to be well-reviewed among the current options... but if you have thousands, i'd probably recommend having a service take care of it like slowpoke said.
i shoot very little film anymore so it's not too time-consuming to rattle off DSLR scans of a couple rolls of 120 film myself. i worked with a pro photographer about 15 years ago converting his 35mm archives to digital, most of a summer shooting a several dozen rolls a day on his copy stand and Nikon DSLR...

[climbgdh]

climbgdh,

What do you have on hand now as far as digital camera equipment? I think for ease of use, a Epson scanner would be the way to go. It is very slow, but you just walk away and let it do it's thing.

I currently have the V600 but was having issues with it and moved on to using my digital camera, a macro lens and a couple of dedicated film holders. I'm still new to using the camera, but really enjoy how much faster the process is. At this point I don't know if the image quality is any better though.

I use https://www.negativelabpro.com/ with Lightroom to do the conversions.

Thanks for responses so far. I have a Nikon D810 DLSR. I’m going to research the option of the macro lens with slide holder. I know whatever option I choose if its DIY it’s going to be labour intensive.....which I’m fine with since these photos mean a lot to me. Will also do a bit more research on the flat bed scanners.

[Marburg]

I recently inherited a Minolta film scanner from my father to enable my 35mm film habit. The scan quality is quite good, though after 20 years on the shelf it needs a good cleaning.

I highly recommend shelling out for Vuescan (https://www.hamrick.com). I've run this scanner on both Windows 10 and Mac with no issues even though the hardware itself is from the Windows 97 era.

Having done a little ebay window shopping, I know the desirable models are, uh, desirable (Minolta Dimage 5400 II are $500+) while the just-off-peak models (like my Dimage Scan Dual IV) can be had for a song.

As others have said, scanning can be exceptionally slow, esp at high resolutions. I think my model will do 6 frames in a strip of 35mm film, and that takes ~2min /pc to scan, plus cleaning the film before scan, general clicking about. Doing a couple of 24 exposure rolls can take an hour plus.

[mhespenheide]

Consider ScanCafe. They've done good work for me.

[Llewellyn]

I've never scanned slides but I reckon this is one of those jobs that, considering how many slides you want scanned, would be worth paying a good quality lab to do.

[Tz779]

He is asking how to convert slides, right?

yes!

[cinema]

try the plustek. it's alright. it's a little better than an epson flatbed. epson cannot focus for ****. but if you just need something to post online, not print from, an epson flatbed is good. the results will be soft. the only way to get pro sharp scans is from a noritsu or higher level lab scanner. a DSLR will be slightly better than the epson, the challenge is getting the film perfectly flat.

Pixlatr is a good negative holder if you are going to DIY DSLR route. get a 1:1 macro lens. any decent light table with a stable color temp you can match on the DSLR. the pixlatr has a diffuser that will even out the light behind it. a tripod and you're good to go. a copy stand makes it a nice process but it's not needed. the next challenge is getting the negative/slide clean, free of debris, perfectly framed and centered. use an air rocket and one of those brushes to dust off negatives

I prefer to make contact sheets with a flat bed and pay someone at the lab to do individual scans. the noritsu at any passport photo lab will blow these options away. Thousands of slides will probably take you weeks to months with a flatbed or a DSLR.

TLDR: an epson flatbed is fine for internet sharing. it will be a bit soft and unable to extract fine grain detail. If you want high quality tack sharp scans for large prints, a lab noritsu will blow away the quality of scan you can achieve at home. in my opinion flatbeds are basically useless except for basic viewing. Plustek is slightly better.

As others have recommended, you can buy out of production high quality film scanners from nikon minolta canon etc. These are no longer supported and in various states of dis/repair. the later coolscan 9000 is the finest amateur home scanning device you can buy.

[NHAero]

FWIW - all these folks know much more than I do, but I had a few score slides scanned by a reputable lab after a trip to Tibet in 2002, and they scratched a bunch if them. So if you send it out, get some kind of guarantee they won't mess them up.

[tylercheung]

I used to scan, but nowadays, I just pay the lab. Much less aggravation and time spent.

[mwynne]

Depending on what's currently open in your area, reach out to libraries - public and academic. Many have exactly the equipment needed.

[PSJoyce]

I'll second VueScan regardless of scanner. It has powerful tools for cleaning and restoration. I've got a Nikon LS50 -- takes a long time, but great results.

[retrofit]

A third vote for VueScan; been using the Mac version since 2003 to scan documents to PDFs, B&W negatives, color negatives, and color slides. It is updated frequently and works with a wide range of scanners.

For negatives and slides I use an older Epson Perfection 1660 scanner with a built-in adapter with out any issues.

As others have said, a time intensive process.

[weisan]

I would start with the end in mind asking myself these questions:

What's the purpose of me doing this?

What end result am I shooting for?

What's the final desired outcome?

Realistically speaking, in terms of time, level of effort and money, this is what is feasible and attainable goal?

If I accomplish X, this will make me happy or satisfied even though i can't convert all of them.

Many of us, including myself, have been sitting on truckloads after truckloads of old photography work filed away in mental and physical warehouses thinking that one day we will get to them.

We won't.

At least not all of them.

Even if we start now, chances of us ever "finishing" is slim.

So we have to ask ourselves so very very hard questions at the beginning in order to break the initial resistance and procrastination and ensuring a certain degree of success and final compromise that we can accept.

You might have to spend some time going through and pick out the ones you really want to preserve. Quality vs quantity. You can set up intermediate goals....I want to get to these first and when I am finish, I will do the next batch...and the next batch and....You get the idea.

We don't live forever.

Our time is limited.

We don't want to start on something we can't finish.

We don't want to take on more than we can chew.

It's a loss to not able to preserve everything but.... sometimes, we must be prepared to let them go and just allow them to live and store in our memory vaults. If it's a life well-lived, then there's no regrets.