Slide Scanner?

[onthekeg]

Hey Everyone,
My Father has many old 35mm slides and for Christmas, I mentioned that I would transfer them to a DVD for him. I would also like to have him narrate what is going on in the pictures as well, but that will be later.

Has anyone an opinion on the slide scanners available out there? Something good, but doesn't break the bank?

 

[Homercidal]

I'd check out Newegg.com and browse through their listing for a scanner with that option and read the reviews. You are likely to get a lot more response form people who have actually used them on a site dedicated to hardware.

 

[Varmintman]

My family had a ton of slides and I looked into a scanner to transfer them to disc. I ended up just paying someone to do it. Mainly because of the cost and the fact that once they are done you really will not ever use the scanner again.

 

[duboman]

I have a Prime Film series PF3650u for slide and negatives and am really happy with it. It is a few years old so I don't know if they make it any longer but it worked great, relatively quick scans with color correction tools in the software. I want to say it was a little over $100.00 new bu I really don't recall.

Definitely don't go cheap! When I originally started scanning I borrowed a friends to try out and it was crap. The pictures looked like s***t so I invested in this one and wound up re-scanning all the pictures I had tried first on his.

 

[Golddiggie]

You'll also want good software to edit the slides with. I did a bunch a while back on my old scanner and a big part was removing specs and color work. If the slides are in good shape you'll have a better starting point. I would also check out the scanners on Amazon. Knowing what they'll be used for will also help. To print larger from them you'll want a scanner that has higher resolution capability. Not so much if they will just go to web.

I would check to see if there are any local shops that would do the job for you. Consider that you'll probably spend 2-10 minutes on each slide (total). It could be worth letting someone else do it, with professional grade equipment and software.