Film Scanner for Mounted 35mm Color Slides

[shamrock838]

Film Scanner for Mounted 35mm Color Slides?:

I have m-a-n-y *mounted* 35mm color slides taken over the years.

What is the best way to convert the best of these slides into quality digital images? I have both the Canon EOS D-60 and Powershot Pro 90 IS digital cameras. My OS is Windows 2000 Professional.

Is a digital film scanner the way to go here? Will it take cardboard-mounted slides?

Many thanks.

M i k e

[Gibbs]

Hi'ya

It is a great way to make your collection of slides accessible and viewable without the setup of a projector, screen etc. You will lose some of the sharpness in the scan (this is true of any copy process, no copy is as sharp as the original) and you will find that no scanner can cope with the exposure range of film so some shadow and highlight detail can be lost in the process. All in all it is still worth the effort.

A few basic comments on scanners. Flatbed scanners are fine for prints, documents etc. but disappointing when it comes to scanning slides or negatives. Even a dedicated film scanner with a dpi of 1800 will out perform a flatbed with a much higher dpi. The other factor is the quality of the driver and software that accompanies the scanner. The performance of a relatively cheap film scanner can be dramatically improved with some good software that allows you to process the image during the scan rather than only after.

Depending on what your final use is I would look no lower than an 1800 dpi with 36bit colour. Most of the pro brand products start with a dpi of 2400 plus with 48bit colour. Do bare in mind that these units produce 30 - 40 Mb images.

Most of these scanners will accept slides in mounts as well as in film strips. Where you have them mounted in glass you may be advised to temporarily remove them so that there is less dust or moire on the scan.

Hope this helps.

C'ya