Questions re: choosing a 35mm slide scanner

[galemorgan]

This is my first post, so forgive me if I am not following proper protocol...

I have hundreds of 1940's and 1960's 35mm mounted slides (I think they are called "diapositives", whatever that means) that I want to digitize. Commercial rates locally are about $.75 per slide, but I think they will not adjust color, quality, etc. -- just convert en masse. So I'm thinking I should invest in a scanner and converted these properly myself. A friend raves about his Epson Perfection V350 -- specially the bundled Epson Photo Fix software. Since he only converts strips, he likes the auto strip feed feature. For $50 less, I could get an Epson Perfection V200 that seems to have the same bells and whistles but is a tad slower. Both have the Advanced Epson Digital Dust Correction feature.

Question: For my purposes, is the extra 50 bucks worth it to get the V350 vs. the V200? Better yet, should I be looking at another manufacturer for a better scanner(s)? Thanks!

[Doug Nelson]

Re: Questions re: choosing a 35mm slide scanner

Get a dedicated slide scanner with autofeed, preferably one with Digital ICE installed. I like Nikon, but there are other brands. Will be a bit more than you mention to purchase, but you can set it to scan 50 at a time unattended, with better quality than you'll ever get from a flatbed.

[Dave.Cox]

Re: Questions re: choosing a 35mm slide scanner

I use the HP Scanjet 4890. It doesn't have the autofeed option, but I prefer to load the slides manually anyway, as I try to make sure that they are clean as possible before I scan. It also has a lot of auto features including the dust removal, but I find that if you want the best results it's better to leave all of that turned off, and do all adjustements in photoshop. But then, maybe that's just me being old fashion.

[mistermonday]

Re: Questions re: choosing a 35mm slide scanner

Been through this movie many times! Buy a dedicated film / negative scanner. Flatbeds do not do anywhere near the job. They do not have dynamic range. I prefer Nikon - you can't beat the digital ice and other adjustment S/W. If any of your slides or negatives are color, you can bet they are no longer the same color as when the slide was processed, so you will need to adjust them and certain scanner s/w works better than others.
There are a few threads here are RP regarding slide scanning. If you do a search you will find a lot of additional tips.
Regards, Murray