Slide Scanners

[Tony Eeds]

I have a 30 year collection of slides and my father's collection that goes back to WW II that I would like to scan.

I have a flatbed that I have tried, but it is crappy at best.

A dedicated 35MM slide scanner seems to be the way to go. Anyone had any experience with one?

 

[Papakeith]

I don't have any experience with this type of scanner but I too have hundreds if not thousands of slides that need to be converted. I'll be watching this with interest.

 

[Tony Eeds]

This is one I have read about.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/310476-REG/Nikon_9239_Coolscan_V_ED_Film.html

Want to go halves, each use it, sell it on flea bay and split what we get out of it? :nod:

 

[mojonito]

did the flat bed you used have the dedicated attachments? i have a canon that has a mount for the ...... nevermind- it's for negatives and i am not sure it will work with slides

 

[FruDaddy]

I have an Epson 1660 that came withan attachment for slides and negatives. It has a light in the top that shines through. I have never needed to scan slides, but I have done a few negs. I doubt that it's on the level of the one in the link, but it didn't cost nearly as much either.

 

[Rich Rohrich]

Tony - Every time I've asked serious slide shooters what I should buy to scan my old Ektachrome stuff, they always without fail say buy a Nikon Coolscan. They always say thye Nikon is a real scanner, and the other are mostly toys,

I've been thinking hard about pulling the trigger on this as well. I have some cool old MX slides from the 70s, and like you I want to have a way to save my Dad's old stuff. He got me started in this stuff 30 years ago so I figure it's a good way to honor his memory.

 

[Tony Eeds]

Coolscan seems to be the schiznit ...

At 4000 dpi, STORAGE will become a huge issue as well. I read last night to expect files in the 20 meg range.

I'm going to have to rethink my active storage system. Right now, it is a pile of external drives that are attached to my high HP desktop unit. I mostly keep them off, so they don't spin for no reason, but I cannot see just continuing to pile them taller.

At this point I am thinking that it makes sense to look at moving to a RAID system for storage and back it up with off-site DVD storage of all images.

I know this loops back to the DAM thread, but the entire system has to be thought about. I am no IT guy, so I am a bit out of water past the plug and play line.

If I get the contract signed for the Settles Hotel Restoration on Tuesday, I think I will pull the trigger and get me a coolscan and charge it to the Settles (internally anyway). That way the Income Redistribution Service (IRS) gets to help pay for the unit. I do have some slides of the Settles that I took back in the early 90's ... :p

 

[Tony Eeds]

I've been thinking hard about pulling the trigger on this as well. I have some cool old MX slides from the 70s, and like you I want to have a way to save my Dad's old stuff. He got me started in this stuff 30 years ago so I figure it's a good way to honor his memory.

Honoring our Dads! Yea buddy. Major dittos there SIR!

My dad has everything from WWII to fishing camp shots, family, family vacations and work. Much of it was taken with an Argus C3.

I can hear my mother now ...

GDit Leary ... take the damn picture, I am tired of standing still ... ;)

I recently went through a hat box full of photographs that go back to the 20's that is priceless as well.

Dang, storage problems are only getting bigger. :bang:

 

[Rich Rohrich]

At this point I am thinking that it makes sense to look at moving to a RAID system for storage and back it up with off-site DVD storage of all images.

I just added an HP Media Vault IP based network drive to my system for the same basic reasons. I'm only running 500gb non-RAID at this point, but adding a second 500gb drive and going to RAID is fairly inexpensive and only takes a few minutes. The second drive pops in via a no-tools needed carrier.

The software that comes with it is PC based , but getting my MAC and my PCs to talk to it took no effort or any sort of high priest knowledge.

I looked at a lot of drives but this one seemed to be the best solution.

My dad has everything from WWII to fishing camp shots, family, family vacations and work. Much of it was taken with an Argus C3.

My dad shot with an Argus C4 :cool: He passed that down to me and I shot with that for years. I wish I still had that camera. :bang:

 

[Tony Eeds]

I just added an HP Media Vault IP based network drive to my system for the same basic reasons. I'm only running 500gb non-RAID at this point, but adding a second 500gb drive and going to RAID is fairly inexpensive and only takes a few minutes. The second drive pops in via a no-tools needed carrier.

The software that comes with it is PC based , but getting my MAC and my PCs to talk to it took no effort or any sort of high priest knowledge.

I looked at a lot of drives but this one seemed to be the best solution.

My dad shot with an Argus C4 :cool: He passed that down to me and I shot with that for years. I wish I still had that camera. :bang:

I will check out the Media Vault. We were at Fry's yesterday and I noticed some manufacturer offering a 1 TB drive for less than $400. My lord, have the price of HDD dropped or what?

I was rather dumb, letting the C3 slip through my fingers as well. I got to take it to the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Valley Forge PA and then up to the 1964 World Fair in NYC.

It was way too complicated for a 13 year old kid, but I did get a few good shots. I wish my dad had just let me take a Brownie, but he felt the C3 would produce better shots. It would have, assuming I used it. As it turned out, it was too much for my mind to get wrapped around. Light meters, ASA, shutter speed, f stops ... :bang: never mind that if I did try and take a shot with it, it took me a long time to figure all that stuff out. He kind of sprung it on me late in the game, just before leaving actually, and I had not had a chance to try and figure out how to use it.

An aside, seeing the Chrysler Building at 13, live and in person, is the reason I decided to pursue architecture as a career. NYC is kick ass for architecture. Someday, I want to come to Chitown and let you show me the place through the glass in my viewfinder.