Is it worth getting a scanner that scans slides and negatives - are they good quality copies?

Question

Thinking of buying one in the hope that copies from actual negatives will be better than scanning photos - has anyone any experience of these scanners?

Answer 1

Have just recently scanned several years of vacation slides using a relatively inexpensive ($99 or so) HP Scanjet 4370. I copied them onto a CD and then onto a DVD, Even though some of these slides are nearly 40 years old (and a few in really bad shape), the colors are amazing!

I had investigated having our slides converted to digital media professionally, but the quotes ranged from $.75 to $1.29 per slide! Way out of our price range for the number of slides we have. However, I wanted to preserve the slides before any further damage, since film in a very unstable medium. I've no doubt that the quality would not satisfy a professional photographer, but these are memories I am preserving not pictures for professional display.

For us, the scanner is an investment in the future, and we will continue to convert all our slides. Transferring them to a DVD is great because then we can watch them on our TV screen (who wants to set up a slide screen and projector these days?)

Answer 2

I have done all my old slides and some negs with an Epson RX500 (3 in 1). The quality is pretty good - you can choose the resolution. It is not as quick as a dedicated slide scanner which does each slide in one shot rather than a slowish swipe, but they are hugely expensive. The Epson does 4 slides or 6 negs at a time and then you can sort and rotate them etc. There are newer models now and probably lots of other similar makes.

Answer 3

I have a slide scanner and it knocks spots off any flatbed scanner for image quality. At about 3600dpi the resolution is about 50 megapixels, 10 times what you will get from a digital camera. Be sure to get one with Digital ICE or Silverfast software, that will remove dust, fingerprint and scanning marks.
Look on www.jessops.com. There are some good ones there.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

I have tons of slide and negatives, and generally you will find the software is not that good, and the scans tend to show more grain.
HP scanners have this nice picture scanner feature where you can scan four or five photos at once, and it will save them as separate pictures. Best of luck, and Happy New Years.

Answer 6

Good idea. Slides to scans? It is a step down in quality. I do not think highly of the digital cameras for the same reason. I have a high qulity DSLR - spent big bucks - but not too happy with its performance.I suppose I am too fussy with my pics.

If you are not that way, yes go for it. I recommend HP.

Answer 7

Yes