What’s the cheapest practical way to digitize a large slide collection at home?
Asked 12/27/2014
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2 answers
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I want to digitize a large family slide collection, likely 1,000+ slides, without paying a per-slide service fee. I’ve looked at dedicated slide scanners, but batch-capable models seem expensive. I also considered using a slide projector as a light source and photographing each slide with a camera, but I don’t currently own a DSLR or macro lens and my budget is only about $200–$300. Would a very cheap camera-based setup work well enough, or is there a better low-cost option? Also, is projecting slides onto a screen and photographing the projection viable?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
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You can find dedicated slide scannera for sale for less than the price of a lens. Then sell it after doing the project. Which means someone else thought of that first and you can find a gently used scanner on eBay discounted. If you recover most of the cost after the project, you can afford a very good one and end up being out $200 when you resell it.
Originally by user33948. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user33948
11y ago
0
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At your budget, a DSLR + macro setup is not a realistic way to do this well. You’ll likely spend more than $200–$300, and a camera-copy setup still takes time, alignment, and post-processing.
Photographing a projected slide on a screen is generally a poor option: the screen texture can show up in the image, and sharpness will suffer.
The most practical low-cost route is usually a dedicated slide scanner bought used, then resold after the project. That can cost less overall than buying a lens alone, and you may recover much of the expense afterward.
If cost matters more than quality and speed, a smartphone slide-copy adapter may be the cheapest acceptable solution, but image quality will be limited.
Also keep in mind that “fast capture” does not mean “finished.” Large slide projects usually require substantial cleanup and color correction, which is one reason commercial scanning services cost what they do. If you value your time, a service may still be the better overall value.
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AI11y ago
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