35 mm slides converted to digital format

[caver]

I had some slides made into enlarged prints but can't recall who I've used. I had some of dad's old 8mm home movies digitized by a place in AZ. They're called Got Memories. Years ago my mom picked up some old camera equipment she thought I might be interested in. One item was a foot square box with all kinds of slides in it organized. What I'm trying to say is as your heirs might not care about your memories as much as you do.

 

[deserteagle71]

Generally, there were two types of slide film, and that makes a difference in how they are scanned. One was Kodachrome, and the other the E-6 processed slide films. A top-notch Kodachrome slide scanner (drum scanner) costs thousands of dollars.

I have thousands upon thousands of slides that I'm slowly scanning to digital. Tried sending them off to be scanned but I was not very happy with the results. Having tried most of the different methods such as rephotographing the slide with a digital camera/macro lens, and flatbed scanners, I finally bought a Plustek OpticFilm 7600i slide/film scanner and use it. It is not an ideal solution - very slow process, and it doesn't do Kodachromes well, but it gives me the best results for an affordable price. After scanning, each shot usually has to be "touched up" with a software program such as Photoshop Elements or Photoshop itself. A slide that is very contrasty is difficult to get a good scan off - just too much difference between the light and dark portions of the shot. Here's a Kodachrome of California's Mono Lake I shot in 1979. Note that there is no detail visible in the white (snow) portions, and even though the shot is on Kodachrome 25 film, grain is plainly visible:

Below is an Ektachrome shot in 1972. Not as much contrast in this shot so it came out rather well. But there is a color shift that I was not able to correct without affecting overall look of the shot:

FYI - Kodachrome slides are far less prone to color shifts and deterioration due to age. I've scanned 80 year old Kodachromes that look as good today as they did when taken. Most slide films using the E-6 process - Ektachrome, Agfachrome, Fujichrome will have visible deterioration within 30 years even if stored properly.

 

[JasperFrank]

My wife had a huge collection of slides, well over a thousand, she had been using for many years in teaching classes. Tech changed and we needed to convert all of these in to digital formats so she could insert the imagines in to Power Point lectures. We looked at having this done by some photography shops, and it was very expensive. So I bought a used PrimeFilm 1800u scanner off ebay for $15. Tested it out and it worked and we could find drivers for it for both her Macintosh and one of my then XP Based PCs. All her slides were the standard size. As some people that have "been there done that" have said, this is a very tedious process to do a thousand plus individual slides. Took me well over a month to convert her collection in to something usable for large display Power Point presentations. But you just want a smaller display of the photos. Do a test. Find the most bad slide you have, one that doesn't really mean any thing. Take it out of the carrier so you just have the flat film. Now use any, almost free, 2000's made HP, or other, combo Printer Scanner - 10 bucks, set the "film" down and set the scan as high a DPI, as you can for that device. I was surprised how well this worked out. I was able to recover many 60+ year old slides, in that were in an odd format, Not 35 ML, that my family had thought were forever lost cause no one local had the ability to deal with them, they didn't fit the 35 Scanner.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I'm in the process of digitizing my 2000+ 35mm slide collection with this Plustek 8200i scanner.

Amazon.com

The scanner was expensive and the process is time consuming. The scanner came with dust & defect removal software which works well but requires attention to detail. I scan at 600dpi and use photoshop to try and compensate for age related deterioration. Some of the slides are 40 years old and are in poor condition.

I work at it a few hours per week when I get the time. I can do approximately 20 slides per hour if they're in reasonably good condition. Less than half that if they require much correction.

I'm about halfway through the process now and sometimes wonder if it's really worth the time & effort. Every so often, I come across a priceless shot though and keep at it.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Are you using the RS40 scanner?

9000f, I’ve had it awhile

 

[BigBlue1]

I'm in the process of digitizing my 2000+ 35mm slide collection with this Plustek 8200i scanner.

Amazon.com

The scanner was expensive and the process is time consuming. The scanner came with dust & defect removal software which works well but requires attention to detail. I scan at 600dpi and use photoshop to try and compensate for age related deterioration. Some of the slides are 40 years old and are in poor condition.

I work at it a few hours per week when I get the time. I can do approximately 20 slides per hour if they're in reasonably good condition. Less than half that if they require much correction.

I'm about halfway through the process now and sometimes wonder if it's really worth the time & effort. Every so often, I come across a priceless shot though and keep at it.

That one looks a lot like the one I used years ago (in features). But wow, $400. Ouch. Well, still probably cheaper than paying a company to scan 2000+ slides.

 

[MossRoad]

That one looks a lot like the one I used years ago (in features). But wow, $400. Ouch. Well, still probably cheaper than paying a company to scan 2000+ slides.

$400/2000 pictures = 2 cents per scan, doesn't it?

Of course, no value placed on your time. If you put a value on that, everything changes.

 

[deserteagle71]

That one looks a lot like the one I used years ago (in features). But wow, $400. Ouch. Well, still probably cheaper than paying a company to scan 2000+ slides.

For me, it wasn't just the cost of having someone else do the scanning.

Doing you own scanning there are multiple adjustments you can make so the scan looks the way you want it to. Here's just one screen from my scanning software:

When you send your slides off to be scanned they'll load them into a machine that will scan them pretty much the same way for each slide. No custom adjustments for each individual slide...unless you can afford to pay someone to do that for you!

So doing it yourself you can get better results.

 

[BigBlue1]

$400/2000 pictures = 2 cents per scan, doesn't it?

Of course, no value placed on your time. If you put a value on that, everything changes.

Well, the math says 0.20. But the cost per slide/scan is irrelevant to what I was implying.

My point is that the $400 is WAY more than the device itself should cost today. I bought a similar scanner back in 2002 or 2003 and I'm sure it was under $150. Yes, maybe the resolution improved, but ultimately the device is identical. Today, that same product should sell for less, given normal tech cost structures.

 

[bdhsfz6]

That one looks a lot like the one I used years ago (in features). But wow, $400. Ouch. Well, still probably cheaper than paying a company to scan 2000+ slides.

Definitely expensive. My original plan was to scan my slides and then sell the scanner on eBay to recoup some of the cost. I had no idea the process would take so long. At this rate, by the time I finish, the scanner will be obsolete.