I want to scan 35mm tranparencies into computer, is there a suitable scanner?

Question

Does anyone know of a scanner that can scan 35mm tranparencies to give good quality results that can be printed off the computer

Answer 1

I use a Nikon Coolscan, good results but it is a time consuming process.

Answer 2

There are quite a few scanners, though to make the choice, you have to balance out things like performance capability, cost, and the like, as well as how many slides you're likely to want to scan and what sort of prints you intend to make.

Although a dedicated scanner is usually best for quality, if you don't have too many slides, and aren't looking for photographic competition quality output, a decent flatbed with transparency capability is probably a better option.

My current scanner is the Epson 4990 Photo, a flatbed with a range of holders for film and transparency, from 35mm to medium format rollfilm to 5x4 and larger. Dedicated film scanners may outdo it for 35mm performance, but the quality difference is not great, and the price difference is. It can do eight (mounted) slides at a time. I recently scanned approximately 1000 slides from my collection, a task which took about three weeks, doing about 4 dozen slides a day.

The supplied Epson software is fairly good, and will scan in batches. For higher quality scans, I use Vuescan as the scanner driver instead, which is not so nifty in batching, but very good for scan quality. I use the Epson-scanned images as my main catalogue and for standard-sized prints, and if a particular slide merits a bigger print with better scan quality, I just re-scan it with Vuescan. I use Picasa to catalogue the scans and create 'contact' sheets.

The Epson 4990 is at the higher end of the price range for flatbeds, at around £300 new, but it's worth the money. The V series also get good writeups.

Answer 3

I use an Epson 2480 Perfection Photo scanner which is over 3 yrs old to scan negatives b & w and colour , slides and prints with good results A newer model may be even better. Most can be printed up to A4 depending on the quality of the original. It is sometimes very time consuming to get the required results.

Answer 4

If you want very good results, you have to go for a dedicated film/transparency scanner such as the Coolscan. But you can get very acceptable results with a flat-bed *** film scanner such as the Epson V350 or V500. Note that high-resolution scans take some time to finish, so unless you are thinking of printing bigger than 6x8in, stick to medium resolution.

Answer 5

I'm using an Epson perfection 3170, and it works OK on slides, but lots better on print scanning. The Nikon coolscan is one my brother used and it did a fine job. He scanned over 15000 slides. That unit is also very good for 35mm negatives.

Answer 6

you may desire to characteristic element on your question with the intention to get a smart answer. what's the make and sort of your scanner? once you're saying which you have "35mm pictures," do you recommend which you have slides, prints or negatives? besides the utility that got here alongside with your scanner, what image processing utility (Photoshop, and so on.) do you employ?

Answer 7

Yeah, search any good hardware site (like Dabs.com) and some scanners will have features for photographic film and transparencies. I guess they have some weird thing for the backlight.