Slide scanner recommendations

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sjfriend
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Slide scanner recommendations

Post by sjfriend »

Ok my very old Minolta scanner is putting out weird colors now so I am looking for a new one. I have about 10,000 slides to go thru and scan (not all will be but most). So, I need a less expensive but good quality scanner. Any recommendations would be helpful.

Thanks

Steve
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chrish
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by chrish »

When my old minota scanner crapped out, I bought Nikon Coolscan V ED. Great scanner. The only downside is it doesn't have a multi-slide feeder so I have to feed my slides one at a time. :(

The quality difference is noticeable. I used to have to tweak my slides out of the old Minolta scanner a lot, now with the Coolscan I can pretty much use them straight out of the scanner.
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monklet
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by monklet »

Friend of mine had a Coolscan but there is a lot of "fogging", espcecially on high contrast images. Not sure if that is normal for those. May have to do with the slide being somewhat warped, allowing light to scatter. Not all slides of similar contract etc. did this.In either case, pretty frustrating as he scanned a ton of stuff for me and many scans that are from good images look pretty crummy.

Here's one such.
Image

The chrome itself is perfect, and even made a nice magazine cover. (forgive poor image of tattered mag).
Image

Here's another really bad example:
Image
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chrish
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by chrish »

I have no trouble with mine. I get pretty much perfect scans straight out of the scanner -

Image

Image

Image

Image
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monklet
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by monklet »

Lovely stuff! I do have many which scanned nicely and true to original. I suspect it has more to do with the degree of warpage on any particular slide combined with contrast. ...or, the scanner was defective.
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monklet
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by monklet »

Forgot to ask, is that milk, or whatever it is, wild?
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by Antonsrkn »

Forgot to ask, is that milk, or whatever it is, wild?
Thats a micrurus, and its stunning! I'd love to hear some more abou it too.
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chrish
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by chrish »

It was found by a non-herper in the Dallas/Fort Worth (Texas) area. I got a chance to photograph it while it was in the possession of a guy who was going to try and breed it. It died in captivity a few months later.
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gbin
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by gbin »

It's a shame that coral died before breeding - it was gorgeous!

I have an older Coolscan that I was never really happy with, even when it was new, cutting edge and well recommended. Every image it produced seemed to lack at least a bit of critical focus, even when the slide it was produced from was sharp as could be, and I guess now that monklet has mentioned it there might have been just a touch of clouding, too. Maybe Nikon has some quality control issues with these devices? I had recently been thinking perhaps I should look into getting something that's up to date (and hopefully lives up to its reviews), but now I'm thinking...

... Chris, could I just send you my slides to scan? :)

Gerry
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chrish
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by chrish »

gbin wrote:Chris, could I just send you my slides to scan? :)
Sure, I'll get to them right after I finish mine.
Is May 2037 soon enough for you? :lol:

Seriously, it must be variation because my Coolscan V ED works like a charm. It is far superior to the three other types of slide scanners I have used over the years.
Maybe different Coolscan versions?

Chris
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gbin
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by gbin »

chrish wrote:Sure, I'll get to them right after I finish mine.
Is May 2037 soon enough for you? :lol:
I hear that!...

You want to know something? I really miss Kodachrome 25 and 64.

Gerry
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chrish
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by chrish »

gbin wrote:
chrish wrote:Sure, I'll get to them right after I finish mine.
Is May 2037 soon enough for you? :lol:
I hear that!...

You want to know something? I really miss Kodachrome 25 and 64.

Gerry
I don't miss spending s$3-4 per roll for the film and then another $5+ per roll to get it developed only to get 1 decent shot.
jimoo742
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by jimoo742 »

chrish wrote:

I don't miss spending s$3-4 per roll for the film and then another $5+ per roll to get it developed only to get 1 decent shot.

A lot more now, I spend probably $14 on a roll of Velvia 50 and $10 to develop and mount, but about 25 or so I find to be decent most times.
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gbin
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Re: Slide scanner recommendations

Post by gbin »

I just looked: My Nikon slide scanner is a Super Coolscan 4000 ED. Definitely an oldie by today's standards, but highly recommended (and by no means cheap!) when I bought it. I had very high hopes for it, and still resent it not living up to them.

Gerry
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