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.
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]]>So, the first thing that you’re going to do when you pull everything out of the box is look for is your instruction manual. This is the very first thing you should look at when it comes out of the box. While I can help give you generic installation instructions here, the specifics of installing and operating your photo slide scanner are going to be found in that little booklet. Start by reading the installation instructions carefully. Don’t go to the next step until you’re absolutely certain that you’ve read and at least have some understanding about what the installation process will cover. All set? Excellent, let’s continue the install.
Generally, most scanner manuals are going to tell you that you shouldn’t plug it right in. You should look for an installation CD in the box that the scanner came with. If you don’t see one, and the scanner manual says “Plug And Play” on it, you can generally go ahead and plug it in to your computer before you start. If it’s “plug and play” compatible, that generally means that Windows will recognize the device and automatically install its drivers without the use of a CD.
If it does come with a CD, go ahead and pop it into your CD drive. If you’re using Windows, it should boot right up. Go ahead and follow the prompts to install the drivers for your photo slide scanner now. When it’s done, it’ll let you know.
Next, go ahead and plug the slide scanner into your computer. You may need to restart your system, but that depends on the operating system you’re using. Most newer Windows OSs don’t require you to do that. When you plug it in, the computer should recognize the scanner and allow you to start using it.
From here, simply click on the program that the installation CD installed on your system. Most photo slide scanners will come with a proprietary program that will serve as a way for you to import the photos to your hard drive.
After that, enjoy!
Please comment below should you have any questions.
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So, the question remains: Is a dedicated film slide scanner better than a generic flatbed scanner that also allows you to use film? I think that question deserves a little bit of discussion. What do you think of this matter? If you have some good thoughts about this feel free to jump in and comment below this post; we’re always interested in seeing what our readership has to say about the topics we discuss.
I’ll start: I do feel that most scanners that are highly specialized tend to be a little bit better than the kind that do just about everything. Scanners such as the highly-touted Nikon CoolScan V ED are absolutely dedicated; they do nothing but process film to turn them into digital images. Others, like many of the HP, Sony, etc. scanners tend to be able to do anything from document scanning to film scanning. If we had to make a decision here, when considering photography alone, we have to give our vote to the dedicated scanners. The CoolScan and others like it are absolutely some of the best investments you can make for increasing your photographic portfolio.
If you ask those who do have both, they’d most likely tell you exactly the same: Go for the kind that are specialized. Let’s use another example: Would you rather fly on an airliner with a pilot who flies just the 737 at that point in time, or one who’s going from different airplane to different airplane each day? Me personally, I go for the former. And so should you when it comes to buying a film slide scanner. Most would agree with me here: Go for what’s best, even if you have to spend a little bit more money in the process.
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]]>First of all, Amazon. Yes, Amazon isn’t all books and music anymore. They’ve really become the jack-of-all trades of online selling, selling just about anything from books to zebra food (well, maybe not that). If you can’t find it on Amazon there’s a good chance what you’re looking for doesn’t exist. A quick look through Amazon will yield a wide variety of 35mm slide scanners to choose from. These include the oft-heralded Nikon CoolScan line, as well as many others that will suit your needs just fine. The nice thing about this site is that they tend to offer prices that are just a bit lower than the competition. They do this by way of “economy of scale.” Since they have such a huge inventory and have no need to ship it and staff thousands of individual stores worldwide, they can really offer you just above cost. All they have to do is store it in a couple warehouses and call it good. They also are able to work through other distributors to get you pre-owned versions, so that’s good as well. With these slide scanners being so expensive, that’s a definite plus.
Another good place to look is Tiger Direct. Tiger is a great source for just about anything related to computers, 35mm slide scanners included. They also do offer some great deals on just about any of their inventory for the same reason as Amazon: They only have to pay rent on one warehouse, not tons of stores! Check them out for some great deals.
I think if you go to either of these sites for your 35mm slide scanner, you won’t go wrong.
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]]>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.
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