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looking to beg, steal, small hire fee, or just take it off you.....

........ helping a friend convert lots of 35mm slides to digital, so the image's can be placed into archive. There is almost 15 years of pix's so a lot of sorting before an edit, then onto digital...... so if you can help please PM me.......

Hi,
being in SA it's a bit far for you to drop in to borrow mine ...but when I wanted to do similar a couple of years back I found it cheaper to buy one and after a good hunt around purchased the 'Epson Perfection 4990 Photo' flatbed. This worked exceptionally well as it does multiple negatives and or slides at the same time AND separates and saves each FRAME/SHOT into an individual file (with incremental file names). I scanned everything as they came out of the box then sorted them out on the pc at my leisure - much easier than doing before hand

It also does large format negatives and XRays ...so while you may have to spend $$'s It was really worth it (and so much cheaper than having to pay to get them done)......it sat on my dining room table with my laptop for a month and every time I walked past or sat down to watch TV I did a few more. It was worth the investment PS It also does regular hard copy scans ... PSS it has since paid for itself as I have done a few jobs for friends and charged them a small fee
DebT

DebT wrote:PSS it has since paid for itself as I have done a few jobs for friends and charged them a small fee
DebT

Or you just sell it and recover some of your outlay.

....... thanks..... to buy one and sell after the job is compleated, would be option 2

Wow, that modle seems to be supeseeded, the new one is 600US. Can anyone else recommended any alternative models ?

Epson V700 seems to be the pick of the crop.

Buy a new scanner...scan pictures over 3 months and then sell scanner with 9 months warranty left on it for a loss of $130. This is a cheap way of doing it.

I recieved a bright shiney new V700 tomorrow. And then the mammoth task of gathering all the material, scanning, sorting and cataloging begins. To that end, anyone got any tips on how to "clean" or restore old slides, or even negatives for that matter ? I know a lot of my grandparents slides, seemed to have mould or fungus growing on them, never mind the years of dust. I certainly don't want to cause more damage by handling the media badly.

I have successfully cleaned slides using Kodak Film Cleaner. I just used cotton buds (q-tips) and wet them slightly with the film cleaner. I tried to only clean the non-emulsion side.

Craig
Note the film holders....although they seem flimsy in fact are quite sturdy and very user friendly. They have small lugs on the bottom and these lugs can and should be turned to adjust the height of the film holders. For some reason they are/or were set incorrectly at the factory. See here for more info...http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/intera ... page_1.htm

It's not so much they may have been set incorrectly at the factory as that there has probably always been large manufacturing tolerances for Epson flatbed scanners. The V700 is the first to have these sort of adjustments come with the scanner but people have been doing this with say bits of cardboard on Epson scanners for years.

There are two ways of trying to restore old slides or negatives. Physical cleaning is one and there is also various things you can do either in the scanning software or in Photoshop. Third party software may be worth considering, too. Epsonscan is Ok but both Silverfast and Vuescan have the capacity to deliver better results. Silverfast is probably the more capable though also more expensive. You would need AI or AI Studio, not an intro version such as SE. Silverfast has good capabilities for restoring colours and densities in old slides and is reputedly the best alternative for scanning negatives.

Wet mounting could help with damaged slides too if you're prepared to take the time to work it out and it doesn't slow you down too much. (I never quite got round to trying it myself).

Regards,
Murray

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Matt. K wrote:See here for more info...http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/intera ... page_1.htm

Thanks Matt, it was actually that review that convinced me if I'm going to go to the time and effort of doing this project, I might as well spend the money on good gear to do it.

Murray Foote wrote:Silverfast is probably the more capable though also more expensive.

I'll look into it, see if it fits my budget, and also how bad the majority of the slides I'll be scanning are. So far I've onyl see a very small sub-section.

Murray Foote wrote:Wet mounting could help with damaged slides too if you're prepared to take the time to work it out and it doesn't slow you down too much. (I never quite got round to trying it myself).

Never heard of this technique, I'll have a quick google, but please feel free to elaborate.

Alpha_7 wrote:

Murray Foote wrote:Silverfast is probably the more capable though also more expensive.

I'll look into it, see if it fits my budget, and also how bad the majority of the slides I'll be scanning are. So far I've onyl see a very small sub-section.

You should be able to download a trial version for assessment. And if you do decide to purchase, get it directly online rather than from an Australian distributor such as AIM. I'd suggest trying AI Studio then you can see if you want the extra features over AI. One thing that can do is single-pass multi-scanning (a little bit like HDR scanning) which can give reduced noise, improved resolution and improved dynamic range.

Alpha_7 wrote:

Murray Foote wrote:Wet mounting could help with damaged slides too if you're prepared to take the time to work it out and it doesn't slow you down too much. (I never quite got round to trying it myself).

Never heard of this technique, I'll have a quick google, but please feel free to elaborate.

Have a look at Vincent's V750 review, which also considers Silverfast. The V750 came with a wet mounting accessory as well as Silverfast. I'm pretty sure that is also compatible with the V700 (though it would be as well to check if you decide to go down that path - you'll need to get it from OS). Also have a look at the ScanMax site. Although wetmounting can improve scan quality generally, it may be particularly effective with damages slides because mould or surface damage may not be so apparent in wet mounting oil.

Regards,
Murray

Bernie my Nikon scanner posted should get it mon -tues postage was $14 I think(check label) pm and i will give details for a deposit--jim

......... thanks Jim, will PM for details