ThelmaLou Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I'm trying to get all my photos on the computer. We've had a digital camera for the last several years, so that's not the issue. What to do with the stacks and stacks of 35mm film I have from before that is the problem. Any input from those of you who've done large quantities of converting would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Bump....and also, I found something called a photo scanner that says it scans negatives, too, on Amazon. It's by Epson and costs less than $100. Anyone have experience with something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Epson-B11B193081-Epson-Perfection-V300-Photo-Color-Scanner-Black/dp/B001GBKTGM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=IPV6PH5V6K8WD&colid=1MIRNZYIF63V9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Yeah, I've scanned 35mm slides and negatives, but it was many years ago. I'm sure the scanning technology has improved since then. What probably hasn't improved is the film handling. You don't say if your film is slide, negative, or a combination, or what level of quality you're looking for. Slides are problematic if they're mounted. For that, you'd probably need a dedicated slide scanner if you have a large number to do. Strips of color negatives are what most film scanners are set up for. If most of your film is strips of color negative shot in P&S cameras and you're happy with 4X6 prints or maybe a bit larger, I suspect you'd do fine with the Epson quality-wise. If you need higher quality, and particularly if you have lots of images to scan, you'd probably be better off with a dedicated scanner designed for film and slides. Unfortunately, those start around $500 for an entry-level model and go up quickly in price as you add features and scan quality. (I have known people who bought a used film scanner on eBay, scanned their stuff, and then resold it for close to what they paid for it.) Another alternative is to pay a professional scanning service. The good ones do top-notch work, but they're costly if you have many frames to scan. The other thing is you have to send them your original negatives/slides, and it sometimes happens that they're lost in processing or shipping. That's also happened to more than one person I know, so you might want to think about sending your originals in batches to the service, say one or two strips from each group at a time. Be aware that if you do scan them yourself, you're looking at a pretty significant time investment. Depending on the resolution of the scan and other factors, it's not unusual for it to take anything from 30 seconds to 2 or 3 minutes to scan each frame. Actual scanning time, I mean. That doesn't count physical handling of the film, which on inexpensive scanners is usually frame by frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Robert sums it up pretty well. I have never found flatbed scanners (which are good for scanning prints) to be anywhere near adequate for scanning negatives or slides. For that one really needs a dedicated negative/slide scanner. And it is time consuming. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamrachelle Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I've used Scan Digital to convert old film and pictures. In a word, they are awesome. If you look around you can usually find a groupon for a hefty discount several times a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Incidentally, don't pay too much attention to the resolution listed for different scanners. Just as a 6 megapixel DSLR produces better images than a typical 16 MP point-and-shoot camera, scanner sensors differ greatly. That inexpensive Epson is listed as 4,800 dpi, but that doesn't mean its image quality will be as good as a mid-range dedicated film scanner with nominally lower resolution. I'm pretty picky about image quality. I suspect I'd be happy with 4X6 prints from a negative scanned with that Epson, but many people would be happy with 8X10 or larger prints from the images it produces. Actually, thanks for posting that link. My old mid-range Epson scanner just died, and it looks like this one will do the casual scanning I need to do at a pretty low price. I just ordered one from Amazon, so if you're not in a hurry to scan your images you can wait to order one until I get a chance to get it running. I'm sure we still have at least a few strips of 35mm color negative around here, and I'd be happy to do a test scan for you on some of our negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Incidentally, don't pay too much attention to the resolution listed for different scanners. Just as a 6 megapixel DSLR produces better images than a typical 16 MP point-and-shoot camera, scanner sensors differ greatly. That inexpensive Epson is listed as 4,800 dpi, but that doesn't mean its image quality will be as good as a mid-range dedicated film scanner with nominally lower resolution. I'm pretty picky about image quality. I suspect I'd be happy with 4X6 prints from a negative scanned with that Epson, but many people would be happy with 8X10 or larger prints from the images it produces. Actually, thanks for posting that link. My old mid-range Epson scanner just died, and it looks like this one will do the casual scanning I need to do at a pretty low price. I just ordered one from Amazon, so if you're not in a hurry to scan your images you can wait to order one until I get a chance to get it running. I'm sure we still have at least a few strips of 35mm color negative around here, and I'd be happy to do a test scan for you on some of our negatives. I'm curious to hear your review. I'm extremely picky about image quality and have never, in the past, been satisfied with the quality of flatbed scanners for 35 negatives or slides. But it has been a while, and I no longer have access to a dedicated negative/slide scanner (and have some materials to scan myself) so I'm all ears :bigear: Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Well, I swore I'd never convert to digital cameras because of their low resolution and image quality. (I started out in the 60's with an 11X14 Ansco field camera with a red-dot Artar lens and a stack of Ansel Adams books.) Nowadays, I confess that I've mellowed and now use our Pentax DSLRs exclusively. So, I may no longer be as picky about image quality as you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThelmaLou Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Incidentally, don't pay too much attention to the resolution listed for different scanners. Just as a 6 megapixel DSLR produces better images than a typical 16 MP point-and-shoot camera, scanner sensors differ greatly. That inexpensive Epson is listed as 4,800 dpi, but that doesn't mean its image quality will be as good as a mid-range dedicated film scanner with nominally lower resolution. I'm pretty picky about image quality. I suspect I'd be happy with 4X6 prints from a negative scanned with that Epson, but many people would be happy with 8X10 or larger prints from the images it produces. Actually, thanks for posting that link. My old mid-range Epson scanner just died, and it looks like this one will do the casual scanning I need to do at a pretty low price. I just ordered one from Amazon, so if you're not in a hurry to scan your images you can wait to order one until I get a chance to get it running. I'm sure we still have at least a few strips of 35mm color negative around here, and I'd be happy to do a test scan for you on some of our negatives. Yes, I'd love to hear what you think. Didn't think I'd be able to come on here and get someone to try a product out for me :). Seems like it got very good reviews, and the price sounds extremely reasonable. I have strips of color negatives from our first 10 years of marriage. I'm wanting to go back in time and do family scrapbooks (using shutterfly, or something of the sort), and need digital images. I'm not much of a photographer, and these pictures were all taken with a traditional point and shoot camera. I don't envision making many (if any) enlargements. I'm not even planning to get rid of all negatives, necessarily. Just want to cheaply get these in a format that I can use for digital scrapbooking. Please keep me posted on how you like it. It's on my Amazon wishlist, and I'm having to restrain myself from adding it to my cart just yet. I can afford to wait, though, because I really won't have time for at least a couple more weeks to start scanning anything. I'll hold tight and see what you think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Yes, I'd love to hear what you think. Didn't think I'd be able to come on here and get someone to try a product out for me :). Seems like it got very good reviews, and the price sounds extremely reasonable. I have strips of color negatives from our first 10 years of marriage. I'm wanting to go back in time and do family scrapbooks (using shutterfly, or something of the sort), and need digital images. I'm not much of a photographer, and these pictures were all taken with a traditional point and shoot camera. I don't envision making many (if any) enlargements. I'm not even planning to get rid of all negatives, necessarily. Just want to cheaply get these in a format that I can use for digital scrapbooking. Please keep me posted on how you like it. It's on my Amazon wishlist, and I'm having to restrain myself from adding it to my cart just yet. I can afford to wait, though, because I really won't have time for at least a couple more weeks to start scanning anything. I'll hold tight and see what you think! I will let you know. I chose the free shipping, so it may be a week or ten days before it arrives. Also I'm on a 31 January drop-dead deadline for the biology lab book I'm writing for O'Reilly/MAKE, so things will be a bit hectic around here. Finally, I run Linux rather than Windows or OS X, so actually getting a scanner working can require some time and effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHomeScientist Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Incidentally, for what you describe, I suspect that you'd be delighted with that Epson scanner. If you were talking about 35mm Kodachromes shot with a high end SLR, it might be different, but scanning color negative strips shot with a P&S should be well within its capabilities for the size/resolution you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Well, I swore I'd never convert to digital cameras because of their low resolution and image quality. (I started out in the 60's with an 11X14 Ansco field camera with a red-dot Artar lens and a stack of Ansel Adams books.) Nowadays, I confess that I've mellowed and now use our Pentax DSLRs exclusively. So, I may no longer be as picky about image quality as you are. Oh, I strongly suspect that you are ;) :D My professional grade 35 and medium format film cameras largely gather dust these days. Digital cameras are just too compelling. I would be quite happy to find a cost effective way to scan some old slides and negatives with the sort of result one can get from a dedicated negative/slide scanners. Past results have been disappointing, but it has been a long time since I've tried it (as I had access to a great negative scanner). I will look forward to your review. Can't beat that price! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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