Digital cameras forum: Coverting Old Kodachrome slides to digital

I have converted all my slides to digital images using a Nikon Coolpix 880 and the Nikon slide copier attachment. The results were excellent in my opinion...much better that when using my Epson Perfection 1670 flatbed scanner.

For a uniform source of white light I used my computer screen with a setting that gave me an essentially blank screen. The copies were a little dark but I took each image into Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home anyway and usually used the Instant Fix tool. I probably should have used a different camera setting.

Anyway, if you do this you will see every speck of dust or scratch that you have on the film.

I believe the final results were better than my original slides but I am not a pro and my 35mm cameras were pretty ordinary.

like the Nikon goes for about $600 although you may find something on eBay.

I have scanned slides on a Microtek 6800, and could not see the difference between that and a Nikon slide scanner. That option is probably far better than trying to photograph the slide or its projection.

About two years ago I had a similar task, except it was for over 2,000 slides.

I purchased a dedicated slide scanner from Hewlett Packard. It worked well but is no longer being sold.
I had many Kodachrome slides along with various other brands of slides and had no problem scanning any of them. The scanner had several settings, including one for faded slides which I needed in some cases.

I ran into a dust problem with the old slides. Many had been used with a projector in the past and had acquired some dust. So plan on getting some canned air and a soft brush to clean them before scanning.

Your project will take longer than you think, so plan on working on it over a period of time.

I was looking through a recent Porter's photo catalog and they have the Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Duel IV advertised for $320. It can scan up to 3200 dpi (dots per inch). It also has a USB 1.1 and a USB 2.0 interface to your computer.

...
..
.

Hi.

Lee Williams here, and I have several slides from a trip that we took to Africa some time ago. I have a HP Scanjet scanner and am wondering where I would look to get an Improved version or a tool that I could coordinate with My Adobe Photoshop Elements to turn the slides into pics that I can save on CD's. Anyone have any experience with the scanners? I have been considering All in ones, etc, but haven't found one that seems to have all the functions I would like. I can scan with the scanner I have but it is extremely slow.

No in fact I probably have 500-600 slides (estimate) I would like to find a scanner that I could use at home, but it seems like slides are a large problem scanning to pictures and coming out with good detail! I will chek out your suggestion. What I really am looking for ultimately is a printer All in one, that will do slides along with everything else!!

Lee

Hello Lee,
About 4 years ago I made the conversion over to digital. I had a Rubbermaid box full of photos and 17 trays of slides. Photos dated back 26 yrs at the time. I wanted to get what I had saved to a stabile format to save for my Son. I went through all the issues like you and ended up buying a slide scanner ($400) that was both USB and Firewire. I scanned my best slides at highest res incase I wanted enlargements, lowest res on the rest. Photos I used a HP flatbed scanner and followed the same guidelines. I still have the flatbed scanner but I sold the slide scanner for $100 less than I paid for it. It was a HUGE project that took me 4 months one winter. My wife helped organise the piles and I did all the scanning. I have over 3000 digital pics to date, 3.2Gig burned on a DVD. Best thing I ever did.

I used an Epson Perfection 3170 Photo scanner, and had good luck. They were bright enough with the light built into it, it does 4 at a time and does work wit the Kodachrome slides. It also has an automatic dust removal box you can check that works pretty well. We made 8x10 prints and they even look great. I did a few hundred and it definitely takes some time. I got the scanner well over a year ago, so I'm sure theres a better one. it was $200 then, and I think the newer ones are less.