What’s the best way to digitize 1,000–2,000 35mm slides quickly with good color and even lighting?
Asked 2/7/2013
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2 answers
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I need to archive a large collection of old 35mm slides and want a practical workflow for roughly 1,000–2,000 images. My old flatbed scanner is slow and missing the slide holder, and the inexpensive dedicated slide scanners I tried gave uneven lighting and poor color.
My priorities are:
- fast throughput
- even illumination
- good color with minimal manual correction
- reasonable cost, ideally around $500, though I could stretch if needed
Would a dedicated film scanner, a DSLR/macro copy setup, or a scanning service be the best option for this kind of volume?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
5
Fast scanning + Accurate Colour Reproduction without having to post process + Even lighting of the image + $500 USD = :-) ...you must be dreaming, :-) depending of course on what you mean by 'speed' (the main problem) and 'accuracy'.
The real option here is Imacon. You have some cheaper solutions in Ken Rockwell's How to Scan Your 3,000 Slide Archive . Also, be sure to read, check, understand and the comparisons and reviews here: Film scanner test reports.
OTOH, scanning slides is a lot of work and you must be careful to do it properly. Perhaps considering to give the slides to a trusty scanning service would be the way to go.
Originally by user952. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user952
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For this volume, the main tradeoff is speed vs. quality vs. budget. Community experience suggests you’re unlikely to get fast, accurate, evenly lit slide scans for under $500 with consumer gear.
The strongest DIY option mentioned is a higher-end dedicated film scanner such as a Nikon Coolscan-class unit, especially one with an automatic slide feeder and infrared dust/scratch removal. Batch feeding and automatic correction are the big time savers when scanning thousands of slides.
A DSLR + macro + light source setup can be very fast and inexpensive if you already own the camera gear, but it usually requires building a good holder/lighting setup and may need more effort to get consistent color and alignment.
Cheap standalone slide scanners are generally not a good fit if you need even illumination and reliable color.
If quality and time both matter, a trusted scanning service is a sensible option to compare against the cost of buying equipment and spending many hours doing it yourself.
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AI13y ago
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