Slide Scanner Guide

Slide scanners or professional development?

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:23:59 +0000

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.

Shopping:

ION FILM 2 SD 35mm Film and Slide Scanner

Epson Perfection V33 Photo Scanner (B11B200201)

Epson Perfection V300 Photo Scanner (B11B193081)

Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner (B11B178011)

ION OMNI SCAN Stand-Alone Image and Slide Scanner

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Installing your photo slide scanner

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:01:35 +0000

Alright everyone, now comes to fun part: Today we’re going to tell you how you should go about installing your photo slide scanner and preparing it for use. This is one of those things that may be a little difficult for those of you who don’t really use computers very often; in fact, that applies to many people who do still use standard 35mm film instead of opting for digital cameras. Not to say there’s anything wrong with that, of course! I prefer to use film when I can instead of going for the “little too perfect” digital camera look. This should help any of you who might be a little intimidated by using a computerized photo scanner for the first time.

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.

Shopping:

Epson Perfection V33 Photo Scanner (B11B200201)

DB-Tech 35mm Film Slide and Negative Scanner - Film to Digital Image Converter - with 2.4-Inch LCD and TV-Out

NEW! PS9700(with 4GB) 3-in-1 Digital Photo/Negative Films/Slides Scanner with built-in 2.4 LCD Screen with FREE 4GB SDHC Memory Card"

SVP 2012 Newest PS9890 3-in-1 Digital Photo / Negative Films / Slides Scanner with built-in 2.4 LCD Screen

Epson Perfection V300 Photo Scanner (B11B193081)

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Is a dedicated film slide scanner better than a standard flatbed scanner?

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:37:44 +0000

A film slide scanner is a great tool if you’re still using a camera that takes film. Many people do this, so you shouldn’t feel like you’re getting “behind” in any way, shape, or form. Many photographers believe that using film rather than digital media is a more “pure” way of photography. We agree to an extent, considering that many things such as HDR processing, while cool looking, is hardly a real representation of the subject that you’re shooting. It does very little to represent the actual perspective seen by the human eye in most cases; it’s usually over-styled and a little gaudy in my opinion. But, I digress. We’re talking about film slide scanners here, afterall.

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.

Shopping:

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

NEW! PS9700(with 4GB) 3-in-1 Digital Photo/Negative Films/Slides Scanner with built-in 2.4 LCD Screen with FREE 4GB SDHC Memory Card"

ION FILM 2 SD 35mm Film and Slide Scanner

Veho VFS-002m Slide & Negative Scanner for 35mm & 110 Instamatic Negatives

SVP 2012 Newest PS9890 3-in-1 Digital Photo / Negative Films / Slides Scanner with built-in 2.4 LCD

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Where to get a 35mm slide scanner

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 23:13:04 +0000

Where do you go to shop for all of your photography needs? When you go out to do your shopping do you ever run into a distinct lack of a good 35mm slide scanner? If you do, you’re not alone. Slide scanners are very popular with the crowd of people who really enjoy getting back to basics: That is, using film and natural lighting to really create a picture that really shines. Most people nowadays are into the digital cameras and what have you, so there’s very little interest at most photography stores to actually stock slide scanners. Most of the time you either have to order them through the store, or go buy one online. We prefer to buy them online, but that’s for you to decide. But of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t tell you a couple of the best places we’ve found on the web to buy them:

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.

Shopping:

NEW!FS1700-Silver(with 2GB) Digital Film 35mm Negative & Slides Scanner with Build-in LCD (SVP 2GB Memory Card Included)

Canon PIXMA MP990 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printer (3749B002)

DB-Tech 35mm Film Slide and Negative Scanner - Film to Digital Image Converter - with 2.4-Inch LCD and TV-Out

Veho VFS-008 Smartfix Scan to SD Stand Alone Slide and Negative Scanner (35mm & 110mm)

SVP FS1200 Black Digital Film 35mm Negatives & Slides Scanner

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What’s the best slide scanner on the market?

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:43:26 +0000

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:

HWC Nylon Police Fire Motorola Kenwood ICom Maxon GE Ericson Yaesu Uniden Bearcat Radio Case Holder Pouch (SIZE SMALL)

Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED Film Scanner

Nikon CoolScan V LS-50 ED Film Scanner

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

NEW!FS1700-Silver(with 2GB) Digital Film 35mm Negative & Slides Scanner with Build-in LCD (SVP 2GB Memory Card Included)

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