Digitise slides

[Just4Fun]

Years ago an uncle was a keen photographer. Nothing grand, just your typical snaps of family members, holiday trips and the like. Anyway, he has quite a collection of slides. I would like to get him a device he can use to digitise the slides so he can view them on his computer, but this is something I know absolutely nothing about. I know there are some knowledgeable photographers among the regulars here so perhaps someone is able to advise me what to get, or at least what to look for.

 

[ChaiLatte]

...perhaps someone is able to advise me what to get, or at least what to look for.

If I needed a device to scan 35mm slides, I would probably search using the words '35mm film scanner'.

Perhaps you could do this as an initial exercise and report some of the results you find, especially a target price.

You might also do well to verify that the slides he has are actually standard 35mm ones.

Given that your location is Finland, anything I find here in the UK on my local high street is unlikely to fulfil your requirements.

 

[kinverkid]

If you know someone with a 3D printer you can print a holder for the slides that is backlit from either a phone or tablet then re-photograph them with another phone or camera.
As an example: https://www.printables.com/model/744717-35mm-slide-scan-table-qnd

 

[Yojevol]

Veho is a good brand. There are plenty on the secondhand market. I have one but haven't got far into digitising my collection. It's a time consuming job.
Brian

 

[Chris152]

I looked into this a few years back. I'd go for one of these, maybe you can find one used?

https://www.thescannershop.com/epso...ZiQUHk_Bd_D3H8UYmnEBb60YqiYmTYquAclzyecbUW5Fw

We had scanners in work so I never bought it, but I remember reviews being very good. There are updated versions, but if you're not looking to spend lots, the 600 should be good.

 

[artie]

Years ago I had a printer/scanner for the PC.

It had a built in device for scanning slides.
I never used it and unfortunately I don't recall the make or model. It would be obsolete now anyway.

But perhaps something more modern exists

 

[Amplidyne]

Personally, if it's more than a few slides, I'd be looking at something with an auto bulk feed.
But you / he needs to be selective on which slides to actually scan. Time for a good sort out perhaps?
The slides often need blowing clean of dust and hairs as well.
It's quite a job.

 

[user 36867]

You can use a close up lens and make a wood slide holder with back light . But I was given this by a friend and its briliant you can do slides and film.

 

[ChaiLatte]

If your relative values his time, it would be worth investigating the cost to have this service done professionally.

First one I found is £0.48 per slide and includes a cleaning service:

https://www.filmscanuk.co.uk/SlideScanning.php

 

[XTiffy]

I bought an Epson 700 photo scanner around 20 years ago to scan old photos and slides(still have it!). This has a plastic slide holders to hold various sizes of slides. The scanner has two modes Flat plate scanning or scanning slides which use a backlight arrangement to illuminate the slides. This scanner worked well in both modes. I would absolutely agree with Amplidyne about cleaning and sorting the slides first as when their small size is magnified so is the dust etc. I did not have a bulk feed arrangement but the plastic holder for typical 35mm slides, holds around a dozen slides for each scan. Then it is easy to separate the results using any photo editing prog. The other problem with slides is that it easy to scan them "back to front", so important to be organised.

 

[accipiter]

About 20 years ago (?) I bought an Epson a600 scanner with the facility to use for scanning printed film, negatives and 35mm slides. I found the reproduced/scanned efforts were somewhat of a chore to get colours correct... More recently... about 5~10 years ago (?) I found far more helpful information on YouTube from some showing how to achieve better results. I'd direct you to either use Google (how to scan 35mm slides) and go through the results - which, no doubt, will have links to YouTube videos. You - and he - will learn more from seeing others results rather than reading about it and then attempting it. Have fun with your uncle doing this together

 

[ChaiLatte]

The other problem with slides is that it easy to scan them "back to front"...

Why is that a problem? It is one click in the photo editing program to correct.

That takes less time and effort than taking the slide out of the holder, putting it back in and re-scanning.

Unless the slides are clearly marked for proper direction, you would spend more time faffing about trying to put them in the holder correctly than you would editing the 50% of them that would be incorrect.

 

[accipiter]

...<snip >...The other problem with slides is that it easy to scan them "back to front", so important to be organised.

The front is the 'shiny' side... the 'dull' side is the back or emulsion side. I doubt the OP's uncle would have any problems knowing which is which but I'd agree it does help to be organised - it's a time consuming task.

 

[niall Y]

There are firms who offer this service, Though if you're looking at 1000 units+ it might not make economic sense.

 

[woodieallen]

Be wary when buying secondhand ones as your computer may not have the necessary drivers and they may not be available due to incompatibility between the version of OS and the s/w that the scanner needs.

 

[Robbo3]

Mine is an Ion Film Scanner & came from Robert Dyas. No idea of the quality of the copies that it produces but they are ok for my needs.
About 12 slides can be stacked in the carrier which also has an adjustment to cope with different thicknesses of slides.

 

[668hrn]

Another vote for the Veho. Used one to digitise and then repair my late father in law’s slides from the 60’s. Bought one on eBay did the job and sold it again. There is one on eBay around £25.