Andy Wraithmell
aka Limeybirder
Haven't any experience with this piece of kit so could anyone advice me what a good quality rreasonably priced 35mm slide scanner that is compatible with my hp pc. Thanks B 
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Slide scanner - recommendations please (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Andy Wraithmell
- Start date
jackied
Jax
The answer to your query really depends on how much you are willing to pay, you can get a cheap flatbed scanner with slide adapter for as little as
£100, or a top end dedicated slide scanner for thousands. As I am in the market for a slide scanner myself I would check out Epson flatbeds 4490 and 4990, Minolta Dual Scan and Elite 5400 II and Nikon Coolscan. You should be able to find all these at Warehouse Express, click on the logo at the top of some Birdforum pages. The prices of the models mentioned range from £179 - £2199. I would be wary of HP scanners as I have heard that their software can cause problems. Its a hard choice to make, I still haven't made up my mind after 2 years.
Jackie
£100, or a top end dedicated slide scanner for thousands. As I am in the market for a slide scanner myself I would check out Epson flatbeds 4490 and 4990, Minolta Dual Scan and Elite 5400 II and Nikon Coolscan. You should be able to find all these at Warehouse Express, click on the logo at the top of some Birdforum pages. The prices of the models mentioned range from £179 - £2199. I would be wary of HP scanners as I have heard that their software can cause problems. Its a hard choice to make, I still haven't made up my mind after 2 years.
Jackie
Andy Wraithmell
aka Limeybirder
thanks jackie but Id rather get one from over here and not have to pay shipping from the uk. Ive been looking on ebay and in the various electrical outlet stores in town and I can get a good one for c$200 but I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with a particular brand/model.jackied said:
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
I have the Epson Perfection 3170 Photo (1 year old so probable been updated) and find it very good. I bought this model because of the film scanning quality and the negative and possitive scanning attachments actually gives me better results than my dedicated film scanner (Minolta dimage scan duo). More than pleased with this model.
madmike
Well-known member
Scanner
Hi Limeybirder,
Following on from the good advice already posted, it also depends on the quality you need.
Dedicated 35mm film/slide scanners should be better, BUT, I use an Epson 4870 flat bed and the results are pretty good and certainly good enough for web sites/prints up to 8x6 ish.
And of course a flatbed gives you a lot more options for scanning prints and even medium format, so I would say this is probably the better option.
If you get an Epson flat bed, I find it best to use the scanner via Adobe PS.
Cheers,
madmike B
Hi Limeybirder,
Following on from the good advice already posted, it also depends on the quality you need.
Dedicated 35mm film/slide scanners should be better, BUT, I use an Epson 4870 flat bed and the results are pretty good and certainly good enough for web sites/prints up to 8x6 ish.
And of course a flatbed gives you a lot more options for scanning prints and even medium format, so I would say this is probably the better option.
If you get an Epson flat bed, I find it best to use the scanner via Adobe PS.
Cheers,
madmike B
Adey Baker
Member
I've got a Minolta Scan Dual - version 111 - which is fine, but the dust-removal is done via the software, which is a complete waste of time as far as I can see!
So if your films are not in absolute pristine, dust-free,condition,one of the scanners with a 'proper' dust remover, such as 'ICE' would be more than useful
So if your films are not in absolute pristine, dust-free,condition,one of the scanners with a 'proper' dust remover, such as 'ICE' would be more than useful
scampo
Steve Campsall
It's easy to be misled by what people say as this is an area where spending a fortune more yields a diminishing return. You can get a good low priced dedicated Minolta and it will produce super results, undoubtedly. A little more and you'll get ICE hardware that removes specks and dust - if you really need it. A blower and brush is a whole lot cheaper.Limeybirder said:Haven't any experience with this piece of kit so could anyone advice me what a good quality rreasonably priced 35mm slide scanner that is compatible with my hp pc. Thanks B
But... I have just changed my flatbed to an Epson 3490 Photo (actually a cheaper model than my old one...) and, quite frankly, I'm no less than thrilled at the quality of scanned slides which print beautifully at 7x5" on my Pixma ip5200. This has to be the bargain scanner of all time. You'll not be disappointed unless you want to create large prints.
Last edited:
cayoncreekman
Well-known member
We just purchased an HP Scanjet 4850 at Staplesfor 145 cdn$. We're very pleased with it. Our slides are reproduced in A-1 quality and ready for power point presentations, etc. The Scanner does 4 at a time and they take about a minute each at high resolution.
This is one of those technologies that has improved greatly in the last year or so. We used a $900 or so priced special scanner from work a couple years back and it didn't work as well as the new inexpensive one we just bought. Also, the flatbed scanners that were around for slides a couple years back were 'iffy' in quality.
It's been great to get all of our 'keepers' on digital discs. We also did family slides and so on and sent copies off to family and relatives. The slides probably deteriorate after awhile and using photoshop or other program the original colors can be restored and some images sharpened.
Just a note. I'd give myself a 9 out of 10 rating as a birder but only 2 out of ten with technology. The scanner was 'plug in and go'. A couple years back I'd get frustrated trying to use any peripherals but things have definitely improved.
This is one of those technologies that has improved greatly in the last year or so. We used a $900 or so priced special scanner from work a couple years back and it didn't work as well as the new inexpensive one we just bought. Also, the flatbed scanners that were around for slides a couple years back were 'iffy' in quality.
It's been great to get all of our 'keepers' on digital discs. We also did family slides and so on and sent copies off to family and relatives. The slides probably deteriorate after awhile and using photoshop or other program the original colors can be restored and some images sharpened.
Just a note. I'd give myself a 9 out of 10 rating as a birder but only 2 out of ten with technology. The scanner was 'plug in and go'. A couple years back I'd get frustrated trying to use any peripherals but things have definitely improved.
mikesimpson
Well-known member
Last year I bought a Canon Canoscan 5200F - This accepts film strips or up to 4 35mm slides at a time, and with a bit of fiddling and cutting of matt black paper, I managed to set it up to copy my old 2-1/4" square slides from the early 1960s.
I have never regretted buying this scanner, it has done everything I have required from it.
Mike.
I have never regretted buying this scanner, it has done everything I have required from it.
Mike.
Katy Penland
Well-known member
I have an Epson 4180 Perfection Photo Scanner, and it's the 3rd Epson I've owned. Short of paying several hundred dollars for a CoolScan (which does the best non-pro slide and neg scanning I've ever seen), this $100 scanner has worked great for me. It came with Photoshop Elements bundled, and all the doodads for scanning slides (4 at a time), negative strips (4 short or 2 long strips), and another doodad which I have no idea what it's for (haven't read the manual yet ).
Only drawback to these flatbed scanners, and the only reason I've had to get new ones over the years, is that the fluorescent light starts turning pink with age and there's no way to replace it.
).Only drawback to these flatbed scanners, and the only reason I've had to get new ones over the years, is that the fluorescent light starts turning pink with age and there's no way to replace it.
JohnZ
Well-known member
I bought a Nikon Coolscan off of eBay from a gentleman in Lexington, US. It works very nicely indeed and has ICE, dust and speck removal. A blower and brush is a lot cheaper but, in my experience, there always seemed to be a couple of bits that had been missed. Does not work quite as well with B&W as the best results are obtained when the ICE is turned off meaning you have to do a lot of work in PS to get rid of any marks.
Better to buy over there as the postage from the UK is prohibitive but only cost $50 US to send over here.
Better to buy over there as the postage from the UK is prohibitive but only cost $50 US to send over here.
Hi, based on the above advice I went out and bought an Epson 3490 slide scanner - great for photos and modern slides, but I seem to be having problems scanning my square slides from the 60's/70's. It only wants to scan them as wide slides. Any tips or advice on how to get this working? Thanks.
Similar threads
