converting lg. # of slides & negs into jpgs

[richards1052]

I have a huge number of old slides & negatives going back 20 yrs. or more & all the way up to a few yrs. ago when I started using jpgs. They're just sitting in a box gathering dust (I know, I haven't stored them that well). The images are very meaningful to me & I haven't seen many of them for years & would love to be able to access them again.

2 yrs. ago or so I bought a Minolta Scan Dual III but I found it complicated & terribly user-unfriendly (in fact I never felt comfortable using it nor did I master it) & impossible to get the kind of scan image I wanted (mostly dust on scans which ruined them). I know I could go out & purchase a $1000+ model which does this better (but I don't plan on using the scanner much after I complete this project since I'm mostly working w. my Rebel digital now). But I'm wondering if, say, I have 300+ negs./slides is there any way to pay someone say $500-600 to convert them all? I'm guessing maybe it would cost more than that & perhaps even be prohibitively expensive, but I just wanted to ask.

And in case you know someone who could do this for me at a not unreasonable price & with good image quality, would you send me a PM or reply here? Thanks.

[kndreyn]

If you could email me or PM here, I'd like to discuss this with you. My email is kndreyn@yahoo.com





I have a huge number of old slides & negatives going back 20 yrs. or more & all the way up to a few yrs. ago when I started using jpgs. They're just sitting in a box gathering dust (I know, I haven't stored them that well). The images are very meaningful to me & I haven't seen many of them for years & would love to be able to access them again.

2 yrs. ago or so I bought a Minolta Scan Dual III but I found it complicated & terribly user-unfriendly (in fact I never felt comfortable using it nor did I master it) & impossible to get the kind of scan image I wanted (mostly dust on scans which ruined them). I know I could go out & purchase a $1000+ model which does this better (but I don't plan on using the scanner much after I complete this project since I'm mostly working w. my Rebel digital now). But I'm wondering if, say, I have 300+ negs./slides is there any way to pay someone say $500-600 to convert them all? I'm guessing maybe it would cost more than that & perhaps even be prohibitively expensive, but I just wanted to ask.

And in case you know someone who could do this for me at a not unreasonable price & with good image quality, would you send me a PM or reply here? Thanks.

[sdommin]

Before you give up on scanning them yourself, try different scanning software. I was in the same boat as you - I wasn't getting the results I wanted from my scanner. Try Vuescan (I don't have any interest in this company other than I am a satisfied customer). You can download a free trial edition here: http://www.hamrick.com/

[richards1052]

Before you give up on scanning them yourself, try different scanning software. I was in the same boat as you - I wasn't getting the results I wanted from my scanner. Try Vuescan (I don't have any interest in this company other than I am a satisfied customer). You can download a free trial edition here: http://www.hamrick.com/Well, I can try that but I don't think the software is the problem or if it is it's only part of the problem. The main problem is that my scanner doesn't have ICE (I think that' s what it's called) so it does a lousy job of removing dust on images. Plus the light it uses for scanning purposes is unduly harsh so images don't look quite as they might (I'm speaking from 2 yr old memory now since it's been a long time since I tried to use the Dimage scanner).

[Conk]

Well, I can try that but I don't think the software is the problem or if it is it's only part of the problem. The main problem is that my scanner doesn't have ICE (I think that' s what it's called) so it does a lousy job of removing dust on images. Plus the light it uses for scanning purposes is unduly harsh so images don't look quite as they might (I'm speaking from 2 yr old memory now since it's been a long time since I tried to use the Dimage scanner).

The "Ice" software you mentioned is good but is also something you can do yourself in a photo editing program. I would suggest scanning your negatives and slides as they are but also making sure everything is clean and dust free. The only thing about the scanner software that removes scratches and dust is that it will edit areas of the image that don't need it. Epson has a great line of scanners now (perfection series) that are very cost effective and have been designed with scanning negatives and slides in mind. As you said "your 2 year old memory". A lot has changed and improved in 2 years.
So before you want to pay somebody $500.00-$600.00 to Scan all your negatives and slides, try buying an Epson scanner for $300.00-$400.00 with the "Ice" software. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=-8172

[robertwgross]

I have a huge number of old slides & negatives going back 20 yrs. or more ...

Are they 35mm, or otherwise?

Some of us have very good scanners for 35mm film and slides. Then we have other scanners for other formats.

---Bob Gross---

[richards1052]

Are they 35mm, or otherwise?

Some of us have very good scanners for 35mm film and slides. Then we have other scanners for other formats.

---Bob Gross---Yes, they're all 35 mm.

[richards1052]

The "Ice" software you mentioned is good but is also something you can do yourself in a photo editing program. I would suggest scanning your negatives and slides as they are but also making sure everything is clean and dust free. The only thing about the scanner software that removes scratches and dust is that it will edit areas of the image that don't need it. Epson has a great line of scanners now (perfection series) that are very cost effective and have been designed with scanning negatives and slides in mind. As you said "your 2 year old memory". A lot has changed and improved in 2 years.
So before you want to pay somebody $500.00-$600.00 to Scan all your negatives and slides, try buying an Epson scanner for $300.00-$400.00 with the "Ice" software. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=-8172
Thanks, I'll check out. Boy things have changed haven't they? When I was shopping for the Dimage model the only ones that had ICE cost $1,000+!!

One of my wife's relatives works for Epson. Maybe I can get a good deal on one. That would be exciting to be able to do this project myself.

[robertwgross]

In the scanner user interface, often you can set the ICE to be either Off, or Low, or High in its action against dust. Sometimes if you set it to High, it will think it sees a dust particle and digitally clone it out, however, it might have been a normal grain/streak in the emulsion. Setting it to Low is much safer.

When I scan 35mm slides, I expect to get about four scanned per hour, not including corrections.

---Bob Gross---

[kndreyn]

Hi Bob,

I ran into the same situation Richard has when we found a box of old 35mm slides in our attic. I tried using my scanner but it just didn't do the job for me. So I used a light box and shot the slides with my camera. I was able to do about 300 slides in just a few hours. In your opinion, would I get a better result than this with one of the newer scanners with ICE? I didn't do any adjustments to these. Just cropped the rounded corners out and resized for the web.

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/slides1.jpg

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/slides2.jpg

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/slides3.jpg

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/slides4.jpg

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/slides5.jpg





In the scanner user interface, often you can set the ICE to be either Off, or Low, or High in its action against dust. Sometimes if you set it to High, it will think it sees a dust particle and digitally clone it out, however, it might have been a normal grain/streak in the emulsion. Setting it to Low is much safer.

When I scan 35mm slides, I expect to get about four scanned per hour, not including corrections.

---Bob Gross---

[Nightcrawler]

What did you use for a light box?

[robertwgross]

I ran into the same situation Richard has when we found a box of old 35mm slides in our attic. I tried using my scanner but it just didn't do the job for me.

It is not clear what your problem was.

Most normal slide scanners will handle 35mm slides or 35mm film. The only trick is that you have to practice with it until you can manipulate the user interface properly. If you don't practice sufficiently, then you spend about eight hours doing a big scan job, and then you discover that you did it wrong and left some visual problem in the scan files. For example, a color shift, or dust spots in the sky.

The other problem is getting sufficient resolution. Too many people will scan at a low resolution because they intend to use the scan files at a low resolution. After a while, you will discover that it is slow, but it is often better to scan at the highest resolution possible. Then edit the scan file and save it. You can always knock the resolution down afterward if you want, but you cannot increase the resolution and retain detail. You can upsample, but that does not create detail.

---Bob Gross---

[kndreyn]

Here is a link to the box I used. If you click the "Larger Image" it shows a better picture of it. It's just a small light box used for viewing negatives and slides. I set it up on my desk and captured the slides with my camera, right into the computer. I'm happy with the results, but I'm wondering if a slide scanner would have done a better job than this.
http://www.uniquephoto.com/index.php?parents=&expand=6497&page=0&startid=0&detail=LNS401
What did you use for a light box?

[kndreyn]

Here are a couple of 100% crops. In the first one you can see my Dad's reflection in the bumper of the car as he's taking the picture. I'm sure there's a more professional way of capturing these, but I did about 300 slides in just a few hours this way.


http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/crop.jpg

http://www.certainty.net/~kndreyn/100crop-2.jpg

[Conk]

Seems to me the light box does a very good job.I'd be inclined to at least try it.