[BZ]

I have hundreds (maybe a thousand) slides that I need to scan. I have looked at services that charge $.50 - $3 a slide which at that point seems it is cheaper to buy my own film scanner (A friend of mine will even buy half of it with me).

Now... which one to get? I would like it to be USB and work with OSX AND be able to load up a bunch and do them automatically.

If this it the wrong place to ask, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks,
BZ

[T Allen]

I'd ask over in the Art and Graphic Design forum.

Also:
How are the images are going to be used once they're digitized? For 4-color Printing? Large format ink jet? For the web/screen? What's the final image size? Will the images ever be repurposed? If so, at what size and resolution? How critical is color, etc.?

Good luck. Sounds like quite a project.

[scottiB]

T Allen asks a valid question, and I'll answer them from my perspective--amybe this'll shed some light on what you need.

My hobby-turned-everywakinghour-project:

Digitize my family's analog history: photos, 1/4" reel2reel, 8mm film (might have a service do that), and slides. My father was quite the shutter bug in the 50s, 60s, and early 70s with slide film. I have 20 carousels with 140 slides per (±2800 in total).

T Allen's Q: How are the images are going to be used once they're digitized?

A: My goal is to use iDVD to have on TV slide shows; however, I can use them to in iMovie>>iDVD, etc. Since print enlargements (thus 2700+ dpi resolution) are not a priority, I chose to purchase a flatbed scanner with a lightlid: Epson Perfection 1650 Photo.

This gives me a high enough resolution (±1900x1200) that I can print a decent 5x7 @ 240+ dpi on a photo printer--or through Ofoto, but mostly because at that rez, my 12 year old nephews' future kids will be able to watch them in HD (1920x1080) :-). I'll knock down the res to NTSC (or therabouts) for my immediate plans.

Obviously the Epson is not a pro scanner, but it serves my needs and budget for cataloging and what not. It will scan 4 35mm slides at a time and take about 8-10 minutes to do so @ 1600 dpi. The real time consuming part is naming the TIFFS and cataloging the slides.

Not much X support--yet (I'm scanning in OS 9). If you go with a dedicated film/slide scanner, be prepared to spend over $500 (though SmartDisk--announced a 2700 dpi scanner for $250). Another quality flatbed is the Perfection 2450 PHOTO Scanner (2400 dpi, FireWire) for $399--check out Amazon for customer reviews.

Scan at the highest res avaliable. While it might be slow, it's faster than rescanning.

Have fun.