Slide/Negative Scanner

c18913

OK, in order to get fully digital, I have a B I G project ahead of me.

I have about 75 years worth of slides and negatives from my father and grandmother. It's a true treasure, but not doing me any good until I get them scanned in.

Anyone have a recommendation for a good (400-600 dollar) slide/negative scanner?

Thanks so much!
--Christy

Blurmore

35mm only or 35mm and Medium Format/4x4?

c18913

Blurmore wrote:

35mm only or 35mm and Medium Format/4x4?

Thanks for asking. I've got a few 4x4, but I can do them one at a time on my regular scanner.

The bulk are regular 35mm slides and negatives and I"d like a decided scanner to work through those.

--Christy

pathfinder

For 35mm slides the Konica-Minolta DiMage Scan Elite 5400 has had excellent reviews. Mereimage has one and speaks highly of it. It is $569 at B&H

The Nikon CoolScan V ED at $549 also gets good reviews. I own the earlier CoolScan IV and find it very useful still. You can see scans of Kodachrome slides from the 1940s I did with the CoolScan IV and VueScan here - http://pathfinder.smugmug.com/gallery/20551

The scanning software used with the scanners makes lot of difference. I use VueScan which can control/use a whole series of film and flatbed scanners. It is downloadable from www.hamrick.com I have used software from www.hamrick.com for over a decade with confidence.

Scanning is a bit of an art. Proper software can make a big difference in the performance and ease of use of your scanners.

VueScan has some very nice features that allow you to customize your scan quite a bit, like multiple passes of the scanner on scanners that do not support multiple scans. Much better than the included software that came with the CoolScan IV I own.

For excellent scans plan on a least 5-10 minutes for the scan and image editing in PS. This leads to a lot of time if you are planning on scanning 100s of slides... Don't ask me how I knowrofl