Digitizing Film Slides

[4x4x4doors]

After years of telling myself and others that I would sit down and go through the slides and digitize and sort, I'm now admitting that it just ain't gonna happen. So, I'm paying a service to do the job for me so they can be shared before anyone still interested in them has passed on.

The slide collection at our place covers from 1951-2005 approximately.

Have you used a service to scan your slides? How pleased were you with the results?

Another question that popped up here is what to you do with the slides after they've been scanned? That's several cubic feet of valuable storage space that's "less necessary" now that they're digital.

Do you keep them still? Chuck them? Give them away? To whom?

 

[1911]

I can't bear to throw mine away, though maybe I should. The color has degraded on my Ektachrome slides, so I'm still scanning one at a time to correct the color with VueScan.

 

[4x4x4doors]

I can't bear to throw mine away, though maybe I should. The color has degraded on my Ektachrome slides, so I'm still scanning one at a time to correct the color with VueScan.

It never occurred to me to get rid of them until SWMBO suggested it. I recall evacuating the house when younger for a hurricane and double-wrapping the slide trays in plastic before leaving them in the house (since we couldn't take with).

Color degradation was one consideration but I'm also thinking that making them more easily retrievable will eliminate some of the out-of-sight out-of-mind qualities.

 

[4x4x4doors]

Any other thoughts/input?

 

[photoman]

I paid for a service a few years ago but was a bit concerned with the idea of sending slides or negatives.

I used ScanCafe and sent a bunch of prints and a few negatives. Service was pretty quick and they do allow you to view some examples on line before paying for the DVD's. The results were just okay though. They did not remove dust or other particles from the prints which was a bit disappointing.

On the upside I did not have to spend a bunch of money or more importantly a bunch of time to get these scanned. Having them electronic and available online for family and friends to see beats them being in albums or boxed away.

I still have stuff that I need to have scanned but have not looked into the current companies offering the service or their rates. I will be getting rid of the prints I have scanned but do not plan to get rid of all the slides or negatives even after they have been scanned. Will keep ones which have potential to be made into prints by placing them in a box in one of my safes.

Please share your experience with the rest of us when you choose a company.

 

[plm61]

Scanning Slides

I've been scanning nearly 50 years of my rescue team's slides, negs, and photos and now have almost 8,000 scans.

I tried several dedicated slide scanners, including a PlusTek and an automated Nikon CoolScan. None worked worth a damn. A friend gave me the rather expensive Nikon and after 1 day of playing with it I now know why. I'll never use it again.

I now use a Epson V700 flatbed scanner on which you can place a slide tray which holds 12 at a time. It also comes with trays for 35mm film (up to 24 frames at a time), medium format (2x2), and 4x5. It works pretty well and is a high-quality scanner for prints, too.

There are numerous online services where you mail your slides and they scan and return them. Last time I checked it was about 25 cents per slide.

Regards,

Patrick

 

[photoman]

I've been scanning nearly 50 years of my rescue team's slides, negs, and photos and now have almost 8,000 scans.

I tried several dedicated slide scanners, including a PlusTek and an automated Nikon CoolScan. None worked worth a damn. A friend gave me the rather expensive Nikon and after 1 day of playing with it I now know why. I'll never use it again.

I now use a Epson V700 flatbed scanner on which you can place a slide tray which holds 12 at a time. It also comes with trays for 35mm film (up to 24 frames at a time), medium format (2x2), and 4x5. It works pretty well and is a high-quality scanner for prints, too.

There are numerous online services where you mail your slides and they scan and return them. Last time I checked it was about 25 cents per slide.

Regards,

Patrick

A couple of questions as looking at that Epson it is a pretty nice design for a pretty good price.

What is the scan time per tray of negatives?

What program are you using for post? Does the program separate each negative or scan them as one image?

Can you post a couple examples of scanned negatives?

 

[4x4x4doors]

They are currently enroute to SlideScanning Pros.
Decision to use them was based on price (including no surcharge for handling carousels), comfortable feeling (yes, you may call it a hunch) based on communications with them, the work gets done in this country and choice in storage media (portable HD).
Their timeline was also a bit faster than some of the others I checked. This was not a factor in the decision but was kind of nice.
I'll update as things happen.

Anybody else have experiences?
or thoughts on disposition of the original slides?

 

[plm61]

Epson V700 Scanner

A couple of questions as looking at that Epson it is a pretty nice design for a pretty good price.

What is the scan time per tray of negatives?

What program are you using for post? Does the program separate each negative or scan them as one image?

Can you post a couple examples of scanned negatives?

The scan time is dependent on the size of the film image being scanned and the dpi at which you scan it. I scan most slides at 2400 dpi which gives you a file size of 5MB for b&w and 15MB for color. If it is an exceptionally good shot, I might scan at 4800 or 9600 dpi.

At 2400, slides take a little over a minute each. If you scan medium or large format at hi-res, it can take a looong time.

I could post pix, but would have to downsize them for posting and that wouldn't give you any sense of the scanned image quality.

Regards,

Patrick

 

[Michael Slade]

I have cobbled together a slide-copying rig out of parts I already had and parts I had been looking for over the past few years. Thanks to a generous ExPo member, I was able to get the key pieces in place with a bellows unit and a slide-copier.

I have put together a Nikon D7000, Nikon PB-4, PS-4, Nikkor 60mm macro, SB-28 strobe, SC-17 sync cord, Bogen Super-Clamp and my heaviest Gitzo studio tripod. Yes, this is quite a rig, big, bulky, heavy and yes, expensive. BUT, I can shoot a RAW file from 35mm slides, stereo slides, film in strips, etc... I have a box of about 300 stereo slides I got from my Grandmother when she passed away. They are of my mother's childhood and she does not know I have them. I have had this box of slides for 15 years and now I can finally devote some time to getting them shot and start putting them into a printed book. I have had this project in mind for several years and plan to give it to her as a Blurb book that she and others in the family can order online.

Here's a shot of the rig:

Here's a copy of my first test:

My exposures are 1/200 @ f/16. I am shooting manually, but if I used my SB-800 I am sure I could shoot the whole project on Program mode. My plan is to have my kids do the copywork, I'll do any re-touching and put the book together. I think it'll be a fun project. If it works out the way I think it will I now have a rig that can shoot all of my 35mm slides that are in zillions of boxes in the basement not doing any good to me or anyone else.

In the past I have used every scanner possible and I have learned that I HATE scanning 35mm slides. Even the automated Nikon system isn't very fun...not to mention they don't make those scanners anymore and you can't even get them fixed.

This solution is for me, somewhat Rube-Goldbergian in nature, but I think it will work very well.

EDIT:

Here's a slideshow I made of 45 images. I shot 97, decided to keep and retouch 45 of them and made this little slideshow in just a few hours. If I was running that Epson V750 I would still be scanning, probably only half-way through.

 

[Pathfinder]

Michael, you just refreshed my memory of my Olympus slide copier for my OM-1 back in the days when I still shot 35mm film. I had almost forgotten where I had it hidden away in a closet.

I have digitized hundreds of Kodachrome, Ektachrome, and Anscochrome slides my father shot in the 40s and 50s of the previous century. I did most of these about 2004-2005 with a Nikon CoolScan IV and VueScan. I also have digitized numerous slides and b&w negatives with an Epson V700 as well.

While flat bed scanners are probably easier to get started with for scanning, I never felt the files were as good as my Nikon scanners.

But I suspect that with my slide copier with the Olympus bellows dedicated Zuiko 80mm macro lens and a GF1 mounted via an adapter, or a Canon body via another adapter, that slide digitization should be quite a bit faster and easier. Color balance with flash illumination should be quite consistent, but one still wants to color correct for the fading that may have occurred in the film over the years, and remove the dust and dirt as well.

Thank you for refreshing my memory. I knew there was a reason I hung onto this unit.

 

[Witchdoctor Oz]

Pathfinder,
Where does one get a rig like that from?

David

 

[spressomon]

Michael,

My Dad has a thousand or more stereo color slides from the 50's and 60's. And like you I would like to get them digitized for a number of reasons. However they live in Nebraska and I don't . I had them take a sampling of about 20 slides to a photo processing shop in Omaha just to test the waters but the results were not up to par. I don't know what scanner they used but colors were nice and relatively saturated but on at least 1/2 the slides the process introduced random color layers.

So I was thinking about doing it myself...I was going to go down the path of buying a decent flat bed but will pay heed to your comments about same.

Subscribed.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Pathfinder]

Pathfinder,
Where does one get a rig like that from?

David

That bellows, slide copier, and Olympus Zuiko 80mm Macro lens date from the 1980s. I am sure similar devices from Nikon and Canon ( and perhaps even Pentax or others ) were made back then and can still be found at dealers of used camera gear, like KEH.com or B&H or Adorama.

I just posted it because it is basically the Olympus version of what Michael posted.
Slide copiers were used to make duplicate slides originally, so their optics were very good.

I am fortunate in that I purchased this slide copier and bellows for my own use back then for my OM-1, and had it sitting on my shelf. There was a period a few years ago when film gear was almost being given away, but pro grade slide copiers like these will always have some value to folks who need to digitize slides, or B&W negatives. I suspect they will become more expensive as digital shooters discover that they will provide higher class digital files than flat bed scanners or most film scanners too. A full frame digital SLR will give you a RAW file of ~20Mbytes that are of very high quality pixels. And do it faster than scanners to boot.


You can still purchase a bellows and a macro lens from several of the OEM manufacturers, as well as little slide holders that fit over the front of a macro lens.


Novoflex makes bellows to fit most major camera bodies like Nikon and Canon - but you will not like the price for new equipment. The Novoflex bellows for Canon, without lens or slide holders is ~$810 from B&H. For Nikon you get to pay $983.

But KEH.com has several manual Canon bellows from ~$35 to ~100 dollars. An automatic bellows costs more than a manual bellows ( the manual bellows does not stop the aperture down at the moment of exposure - you have to shut the lens aperture down manually - whether this is a big deal depends on what you are using the bellows for )

A real fixed focal length macro lens can be had for a little more than $400 or so, and is necessary to get the best image quality for slide copying. Used might be a bit less, but not a whole lot for good used glass.

A Novoflex atachment to hold a slide for copying is about $150. But KEH.com has the Olympus slide copier attachment ( but not the bellows or lens ) for $19

If you really want to go this route, you will have to talk to folks dealing in used equipment; so the answer is you have to just know exactly what you want, and then go looking around for it.

 

[Michael Slade]

Perfect answer. I am excited to see what kind of results you get from your setup. Keep us posted!