Slide Scanner

What’s the best slide scanner on the market?

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First off, welcome to The Slide Scanner Guide! We’re putting up this website to really help you get to know all about slide scanners, what they do, and how they can really improve your photography experience when you’re out there doing what you do best. These will really bring your photography to the next level by allowing you to still use film and still allow you to avoid having to go a professional developer to get that film developed. Naturally, those are getting harder and harder to find these days as digital cameras take over the world.

So, let’s get started. First of all, what is a slide scanner anyway? A slide scanner is simply a device that will allow you to place a roll of film (either a full roll or individual slides) into a specified port, and will then convert that raw film into a photo on your computer. This photo can generally be saved in all sorts of formats (.jpg, .gif, .png, etc.), and a wide range of resolutions and quality settings. You can do just about anything you want with the resulting picture, including digital enhancement, cropping, and others. If you still have a film camera and prefer to use that instead of the newer high-end digital cameras for your photography work, slide scanners may be for you. Also, if you have those pesky relatives who just won’t give up their 35mm camera and step into the digital age, well, this is for them as well. Good stuff!

So, let’s talk about the best one we’ve found on the market. The one that’s been voted by consumersearch.com as the very top rated pick is the Nikon CoolScan V ED. The Nikon CoolScan is the premier slide scanner on the market for a number of reasons. The reasons we’ve found through our own research include:

Top notch film to digital photo conversion quality

Very easy setup; this is especially important for people who are more photographically inclined and not so much computer inclined!

We all know that Nikon has been a leading manufacturer in cameras for years at this point. Now they’ve released this little gem, allowing you to still use their film cameras (which are and were industry-leading). Now, there are some cons to using this device as well: First, the cost. The CoolScan comes in at a brisk $1000 USD, which is not cheap if you’ve ever bought one of these things. However, the quality speaks for itself. Also, people usually have the complaint that it doesn’t do anything besides scan photos/film.
That’s true, but which do you want? A slide scanner that does its job well, or a generic scanner that does all jobs with mediocrity? You decide.

Shopping:

ION FILM 2 SD 35mm Film and Slide Scanner

Hammacher Schlemmer Portable Digital Photo Converter

Ion Audio Photo, Slide, and Film Scanner (PICS2SD)

Nikon FH-G1 Coolscan IV Medical Microscope Slide Holder

Epson Perfection V700 Photo Color Scanner

Posted in Slide Scanner | 3 Comments

Slide scanners or professional development?

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Slide scanners are all the rage these days, and there’s no wonder about that: They allow you, the photographer who cares about making a great natural photo, to still use film. While most people have succumbed to the digital age and have gone out and gotten fancy digital cameras with even more fancy programs to turn those photos into something they’re not (see my small rant on HDR a couple posts back), you want to ensure that what you’re showing the world is as close to the human eye’s experience as possible. And a lot of times, that’s really only possible with film.

So, that begs the question: Should you go out and get a slide scanner, or should you take your film to a professional developer whenever you’re ready to get your photos developed? There is a strong contingent of people who definitely believe that you should go out to a professional developer when you’re getting pictures developed; however, do they know why they recommend that? Is it just based out of the comfort of knowing that your photographs will come out correctly, or is it just because they don’t know that you can get your photos developed at home for no cost other than the up-front cost of buying the equipment? Most of the time, it’s the latter!

First of all, I think you should get slide scanners due to the fact that your privacy remains yours. When you take photos to a professional developer that developer will see exactly what you had taken pictures of. Most of the time you’re not going to care; after all, who cares if they see the pictures you took of that waterfall during your honeymoon? But, what if you took a picture of something else during that same honeymoon that you don’t want the person to see? Hah, you catch my drift don’t you? Great.

Another reason to get a slide scanner is that slide scanners are fairly cheap nowadays. They’re now portable and inexpensive, unlike how they were a number of years ago. Back then you had to basically own your own development business to justify the expense. Not any more. For $1000 or less, you can usually pick up a great scanner that will fit all of your needs. While, yes, $1000 is quite a bit of money, the cost of getting your photos developed at the store can add up to quite a bit more over a period of years. The nice thing about these scanners is that they’re reliable, and they pay for themselves after a period of time. Check them out.