Forum Index > Photography Talk > Converting slides to digital - Any recommendations out there?
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Dean
(aka CascadeHiker)



Joined: 02 Mar 2002
Posts: 1967 | TRs | Pics
Location: ex Kennewick, Wa & Lehi Utah
Dean
(aka CascadeHiker)
PostSat Mar 09, 2002 10:52 am 
I have a ton of slides that I've taken but have not found an economical way of getting them converted to digital. Any suggestions? confused.gif Any ideas will be appreciated!

Dean - working in Utah for awhile and feeling like it is a 'paid' vacation. http://www.summitpost.org/user_page.php?user_id=1160
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA
Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
PostSat Mar 09, 2002 12:24 pm 
Slide scanners have come way down in price in recent years. I just bought one last week. I bought the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite II for $642 (and free shipping!). There are a ton of film scanners available, many cheaper then the one I bought, and many more expensive. If you plan on printing any photos out you should get a scanner with a minimum of 2700 dpi (my Minolta has 2850). When you jump up to the $1200 range they jump to 4000 dpi. Secondly, I wanted a scanner with a FireWire (IEEE 1394) interface. Most of the cheaper scanners are USB and with a full resolution scan creating a 20 meg tiff I felt that USB just didn't have adequate bandwidth. I could have gone with SCSI but decided that FireWire would be a lot less fussy. That narrowed my choices considerably. I was left with that particular Minolta model, or a Nikon 4000 dpi model. I went for the cheaper scanner as I felt that 2850 was plenty of resolution for my needs. I have been extremely pleased with the results. Since you have to scan at such high resolutions dust is a major concern and slides seem to be dust magnets. Most models in this price range advertise that they come with "Digital ICE" technology. This is an infrared dust filter that I found works extremely well. Any scanner comes with its own software, but I use a third party app that I like better called VueScan.

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA
Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
PostSat Mar 09, 2002 12:40 pm 
Here's a slide I scanned last night with my new scanner. Bonus points to any one who can spot and name the lake you can just see a sliver of in this photo.

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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IBEX
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Joined: 02 Jan 2002
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Location: IBEX Lair - Cavalero Hill
IBEX
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PostSat Mar 09, 2002 7:23 pm 
Hey Brian, I looked at the VuePrint site but couldn't find the answer to my questions: Will VueScan work with my Olympus ES-10 film scanner? Is VS compatible with XP? I value your answers and I will gladly pay in advance with Bonus Points(258k) biggrin.gif

"....what is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen...." -Rene Daumel
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA
Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
PostSat Mar 09, 2002 7:56 pm 
Ooh, very well done. You get double extra bonus points for that nicely labeled photo. I saved a copy. Yes, VueScan is compatible with XP. No, it won't work with the ES-10. Here is the list of compatible scanners.

that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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polarbear
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Joined: 16 Dec 2001
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Location: Snow Lake hide-away
polarbear
Member
PostSat Mar 09, 2002 8:38 pm 
I bought a Umax Astra 3450 flatbed scanner at Comp USA for around $50 (mfr rebate included). It's ok for scanning prints, but I kind of wish I had a better scanner for slides. Anyone know of a place where you can try out the higher end scanners before you buy them? Here is a slide I just scanned in (the pictures of L. Edna were scanned prints):
stuart1200
stuart1200

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Slide Alder Slayer
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Joined: 14 Jan 2002
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Slide Alder Slayer
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PostSun Mar 10, 2002 11:07 am 
Cascade Hiker, I reviewed my Enchantment pictures last night and discovered we met in 1998. My wife and I are now starting to scan our worthy pictures/negatives to a re-writable CD. We also purchased software to help us print our pictures as well . Here is what we are using. The results have been excellent! Printer: hp deskjet 990 cse professional series Scanner: hp scanjet 5470c (comes with hp scanjet xpa 35mm slide/negative adapter) Software: Photoshop Elements. Now all I need to do is find the perfect lightweight point and shoot or do a better job with my Olympus Superzoom 3000.

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