Hatrack River Forum: Techie question -- scanning old slides

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Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :

Sooo... my brother had the idea of scanning some of our family's old slides so that they're more accessible. (We've got hundreds -- well, thousands -- of slides from the '60s and '70s, but not many actual photos. My dad was really into slides; that was a thing back then...) We're not gonna scan ALL of them... but we'll scan at least, say, 500 of them. I looked up fees for commercial services, and they charge something like 40 cents per slide at the cheapest. Eep.

So the question is... can an ordinary scanner make a decent image of a slide? Or only some scanners? (If it takes a specialty scanner, then we could try to borrow one, or rent one, and do the work ourselves.)

Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :

My father has a slide scanner, so they do exist. It's not a very advanced thing, and I doubt he would have bought something extremely expensive...

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

There used to be a device that did slide-to-video for the home market, but I can't find it anywhere on a web search.

EDIT:

I found an HP scanner that purports to scan 35mm slides. Total cost of the scanner w/software is under $150.

Check out HP model Q3191A (flatbed scanner). it sounds like it either comes with a 35mm slide adapter or there's one for it for a small extra cost.

Here's a link to one place with a description.

I'm sure there must be other models that do the same thing. This one has 2500 dpi resolution. The professional ones are up around 4000 dpi or better. I'd expect quality to be noticeably worse than if you viewed it from a projector, but hey, it's not going to be THAT bad.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

Oh, and if you already have a scanner, here's a cheap-o gizmo to do the same thing as the above scanner purchase.

homemade slide scanner

Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :

Older slides can be quite dirty. Not all the dirt is visible to your eye, either. Sometimes the tiny specs get magnified by the scanner.

Sometimes the colors have faded. The famed "sepia" effect can become quite bad with some brands. Others shift to green. Yuck. You're going to need to know how to color correct these.

I hope for your sake all the slides are in good condition. If you can find a service that will clean up the slides and color-correct the bad ones, go for it. Otherwise, prepare for a lot of work.

Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :

This Epson works fine. It has a backlight. A professor at my Uni used this to scan in 1000's of slides (well, she paid a TA to do it). The slides are going to be published on a CD with a book she is working on, and the scans are good enough for the publisher.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

quote:
Techie question -- scanning old slides

Now, when I saw the title of this thread, I thought it said "Techie question -- scamming old ladies"

Do I need a better computer monitor, or maybe it is time to go to bed?

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

Y'know, you can also take them into the local photo developing place that does photo discs or other digital products of that sort, and have them scan them for you and either e-mail them to you or burn them to a disc (however they operate).

Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :

Thanks all! [Smile]

The Epson looks good -- we'll probably go with buying or borrowing one of those when we're ready.

Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :

I have an HP3970 that has a slide/negative carrier built into the lid and some sort of reflective backing. No idea what it costs, though, I got it as a Christmas present last year (or was it two years ago? can't quite remember now)