Thread: Slides to digital

Hello something like this is probably the cheapest option QPIX Negative Slide Converter | Officeworks
You can then convert them at home, at your own pace. I am actually wanted to get one of these too in order to convert my parents seemingly endless number of slides. So many memories to save

I have an old Nikon LS-1000 slide scanner which is incredibly slow which puts me off doing any bulk work.

I also have a couple of commercial Konica scanners but both have failed which is disappointing as they'd take rolls of negatives (I used to buy bulk negative 35mm movie film, load film canisters, and get slides made from the negs). The slides made from the negative film have faded over time, unlike my Kodachrome and Extachrome slides, so I was hoping to get good digital copies from the negs. The colour negs have been sealed in movie film canisters.

All of the above are SCSI devices (as is my flatbed scanner).

Oh, if you need software to run old stuff like this with Win 7, 8, or 10, download VueScan VueScan Scanner Software for macOS Catalina, Windows 10, and Linux

I have a similar device, and it works, although the quality is not perfect (but then most of the slides aren't either).

But there is no escaping the fact that it is a lot of work if there are a lot of slides.

I scan them, then carry out any necessary fixing up using The GIMP software, label them with date and an explanatory title, and file them, with a backup on a separate portable drive. I've been at it in my spare time for years!

Hi,
If you can get 1:1 with a digital camera it is way quicker. You will need a tripod, something to hold the slide (bulldog clip will do) and a white background lit by a good led torch. A darkened room will help reduce flare.
I could only do 100 slides a day on a scanner.
Cheers

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I have a similar device, and it works, although the quality is not perfect (but then most of the slides aren't either).

I have converted quite a few slides and yes the quality is not perfect with lots of dirt and marks - was going to look for a solvent to clean them up before scanning and some sort of software to to quickly clean up the scanned image.

Garry

Originally Posted by 101RRS

I have converted quite a few slides and yes the quality is not perfect with lots of dirt and marks - was going to look for a solvent to clean them up before scanning

I use a puffer/lens cleaning brush to pre-clean the slides.

More modern software will remove a lot of the dust marks.

In the end, who wants to see my hundreds of slides of aircraft?

Originally Posted by austastar

Hi,
If you can get 1:1 with a digital camera it is way quicker. You will need a tripod, something to hold the slide (bulldog clip will do) and a white background lit by a good led torch. A darkened room will help reduce flare.
I could only do 100 slides a day on a scanner.
Cheers

I do the same only a little more agricultural. I hold the slide up to the light outside with my fingers. I'm not too worried about being perfect because the resultant picture can be cropped to the correct size. It's surprising how many you can do when you get used to the method. When I start my computer I do a few while things are warming up, it's a discipline thing.

If you want quality reproductions, nothing beats a modern digital camera copy, in it's native raw format.
I guess it depends on what digital camera system the OP has at their disposal.

I have a Nikon system, and got myself an old slide copy bellows for the Nikon F mount(which also has the side benefit of being a lens extension system for high magnification photography too).
I found an old Nikon PB-4 bellows, with slide copy attachment, which holds the negatives at a preset distance from whatever lens works best for you, and allow you full coverage of the slide. Hold both mounted and strips film.

And depending on the quality of the exposure of the film, this allows you the hands free operation where you can then dodge and burn the reproduction as needed. Having a properly exposed reproduction to begin with, then allows you the latitude to post process the file to taste too.

The most important aspect is the ability to set a proper whitebalance setting for the film too.

Are the films negative or colour? If negs, then it's easy to set up a batch process to covert them all to colour.

I tried a few other methods, quite expensively an Epson scanner ... but not really impressed with the results.

While this isn't a "bulk method" for doing the conversion, I set myself up for it to be a hobby to do it as time allowed.

Mum had a suitcase full of Kodakchrome slides from their early years in Aus, which I wanted to convert, and tested it out on my small collection of films and negs.
When I went to collect the suitcase of films from mum, turned out the stupid sister threw them all out about a month prior!