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Mickey Richaud

Mickey Richaud

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Anyone have any experience with software/hardware that will convert slide photos to digital? We have a bunch of slides from back in the day that I would like to archive digitally. Some I'd like to print out as pictures.

I've seen some online; never seen any in action, or their results.

Thanks,
Mickey
 
My Epson Stylus RX600 Printer/Scanner has the capability to scan pictures, slides and/or negatives and scan them into digital pictures. No special software required. It has a special holder that attaches to the scanner bed that allows you to place slides or negatives, then you simply select which you are scanning on the printers menu. It works like a charm.
 
End-quality centers around price, generally. I use an Epson Perfection 4990 and Silverfast AI software. The current generation of that scanner is the V700 (which actually is a step up).

The 4990 is a 4800dpi scanner, the v700 is 6400dpi - I don't know what Basil's is. Optical resolution is what to look for - IMHO "interpolated" resolution isn't worth considering. For archiving I start at 3200dpi for 35mm size images.

A friend of mine tried the $100-level slide scanners and found them to be really good paperweights.

A couple of things to look for and be aware of: a good film/slide scanner should have some variety of "digital ICE". That system uses an IR scanning pass to identify film defects and dust, then automatically removes them from the image. It isn't perfect but it works really well...unfortunately it won't work with Kodakchrome or B&W silver-based film (you can scan the base-side of the film instead of the emulsion-side and sort of make it work "sort of").

The software makes a difference too, sort of. Silverfast makes scanner-specific software that can cost quite a bit but the overall capabilities far exceed the basic software that comes with the scanners. They have versions that will do multiple passes to pull more detail from the film, and options that will effectively add their version of digital "ICE" (using the IR scan) to correct defects even on Kodachrome. If you're doing a lifetime of film scanning for archiving the extra price <span style="font-style: italic">may</span> be worth it.

Here are some samples of different types of material from the 4990-

From a 6x4.5cm B&W negative:
<span style="font-size: 8pt">Click to enlarge...</span>


35mm B&W negative:
<span style="font-size: 8pt">Click to enlarge...</span>



35mm Kodachrome Slide
<span style="font-size: 8pt">Click to enlarge...</span>


Ektachrome Slide from the 50s
<span style="font-size: 8pt">Click to enlarge...</span>


35mm color negative from 1992
<span style="font-size: 8pt">Click to enlarge...</span>
 
Great stuff, Scott - thanks! Certainly don't want a paperweight, but don't need to overspend, either.

This is mostly for family pictures/vacation/etc. But I also don't want to lose what resolution some of them have. The old "Instamatic" photos aren't that big a deal, but some of my 35mm shots came out nicely.

Got a good start on looking around for the best option.
 
Depending on how much film you have, how old it is, etc, a decent scanner may be a good investment.

I've got tons of slides and negatives to scan myself, plus all my parent's stuff. Some of it is suffering color shift from aging, deterioration from one reason or another, etc. If a hurricane hits they're likely to be destroyed by water damage, if we have a firestorm and have to evacuate they could burn, etc. I'm trying to scan what I can, when I can (not doing a great job of it unfortunately), store them on multiple hard-drives and optical disks <span style="font-style: italic">and</span> store them on Smugmug.

I would've been interested in a Nikon scanner - they're excellent quality but pricey, format-limited, and I wanted the ability to scan prints.
 
I have an HP "All-in-one" for printing that scans pictures well enough for the internet. Not suitable for slides; doubt it would do well at all.

Am thinking about a dedicated scanner that will do both prints and slides; not sure I really need it to do negatives.
 
Mickey, if it does slides it does negatives (unless it's a dedicated slide scanner). The difference is just positive and negative :smile:
 
Figured it would "see" the negatives, if it could "see" the slides. What does it take to convert the negatives to positive image? (Hope that question makes sense - we're in the middle of Vacation Bible School and I have about 55 kids outside my office door... Smells like sweaty kids in here!)
 
Sweaty kids can be a distraction. Um... Anyway... if the scanner is designed for it (and if it'll do "transparent" materials it will be), the driver/software will have a setting for negative or positive (slide) material. All it does (generally) is invert the colors so you have a positive image. It isn't a big deal.

There's actually a little more involved because negative materials usually have a base color cast in the film (brown/pink color) that is taken out in color balancing the negative. More advanced programs like Silverfast let you use color/contrast curves for the different types of films/emulsions (ie: Kodak 100, Kodak 400, Agfa 100, etc). Photo-labs used to work the same way...it isn't absolutely necessary to go that far into it though because you can tweak the color before and after you scan.
 
I have been happy in most cases with my Minolta Dual Scan II AP-2840, but it has been out of production for ages. It is not up to what you are using, but it is great for most slides I have to copy. I find that I need to normally clean my old slides for dust spots using compressed air and a soft brush before scanning.
 
I use a static-master brush (and the air). The flatbeds are probably worse than the Minolta because you've got to <span style="font-style: italic">also</span> worry about dust on two large glass surfaces and grunge buildup on a third.
 
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