Scanners, Anyone?

[Andy]

Like a lot of my fellow photographers, I am sure, I have several hundred slides and a number of negatives which are "archived" for future reference. With the advent of my "digital darkroom," I have had a small number of them professionally scanned at high resolution, in order to be able to print them. That is a fairly expensive undertaking on a per slide basis, so I am choosy. I had the first generation HP Photosmart slide/film scanner, which was able to do a "decent" job of lo-res scanning; good enough for web output, but certainly not for printing of any size. I have been contemplating a scanner that would be good enough do make up to 13 x 19 prints and not bankrupt me. Yesterday, I purchased an Epson V500 Photo scanner for a total price after rebate of $200. It is a flatbed scanner with a slide and film holder. I have previously been reticent to purchase a flatbed scanner for film scanning, but the reviews I read suggest that this one does a good job. I was the proverbial "hair's breadth" away from purchasing a used Minolta DiMage III dedicated film scanner on eBay when I ran across the review of the Epson. The DiMage -- used -- was going to go between $200 - $250 before shipping costs. And it is used and Konica Minolta discontinued is photo business, so I don't know how available parts and service might be. Also, it did not have the newer "hardware-based" programs for scratches and dust and the review said it did a good job with color rendition and dynamic range, but not so much on the scratches and dust. On the plus side, it has software which allows "manual focus" of the scanning sensor, and the software has the "look and feel" of Photoshop and apparently the "play well together."

The Epson, OTOH, has the "Digital ICE" hardware and looks as if it can scan at high enough resolution to match my D200's resolution (I know -- there are pixes and then there are pixels). It also has a new warranty, and Epson is still in the business. I have used (and will probably continue to use) Epson Photo Printers in the past with good success. So in the end, I opted for the Epson.

Unfortunately, given the season, it is still in the box. Maybe over the weekend. I will try to report my experiences. Anybody else here have any "scanner" thoughts or recommendations?

I am "days" away from launching my own Photo-oriented website. I am excited about it now that it is finally coming together. We have some "tweaks" I want to do before we publish, but I'll let you know here - in case anyone is interested) when its "live." Of course, it will have a part of it dedicated to Vermont!

[Roel Reijne]

I know this is an 'old' post,
but maybe you can use this tip....

Just digitize the slides with you digital SLR.

http://www.foto-expositie.nl/tips.html

works great for me!

Roel Reijne
www.foto-expositie.nl