Converting old slides to pictures and/or jpegs

Factual Questions
1

Hi all,

My dad has a collection of slides from back when he was stationed in Europe in the military during the late 60s. These are one of his most prized possessions, and I was hoping to convert them to a more useable format, such as photographs for maybe electronic files.
I’m not too sure what kind of slides that are exacltly… maybe 35mm? I know they fit on those circular carousels…

Anyway, I’m looking for any feedback regarding what my options are to convert these. I believe I can get an adaptor for a computer scanner, but he has around 500 of them which I believe would have to be scanned individually?

Does anyone know how much it might cost to have a lab convert them, or of any easier/cheaper way to get this done?

Thanks,

     Joe
2

The best answer may depens on the resolution you want from them. Do you want to print 11x14 or just display them on a TV or computer screen? Good scanners are costly but HP makes one for less than $400 though I can’t vouch for the quality.

I’m looking for a mid solution myself so may get a slide copying attachment for my digital camera. I’ve got a Minolta Dimage 7 which has 5mp resolution but will need an additional closeup lens to do slides as the built in macro capability isn’t quite enough to fill the camera’s view with a 24x36mm film frame. I thought I had a link for a slide copy attachment but it may be at home. I’ll probably just build a mount for an existing Nikon slide copy attachment I already have.

3

I get my slides developed, mounted, printed and scanned onto a CD for about 12 pounds (18 dollars) from a lab on Guernesey (7day.com). I’m sure there’d be a similarly priced US lab.

4

The above price is for a roll of 36. If you really want them all, buying your own scanner might be more economical, but I would suggest just choosing the best 150 or so.

5

You can buy slide-scanner attachments for flatbed scanners. These are basically just a light source which replaces the scanner lid and provides backlight through the slide. I’ve been very successful scanning slides with a homemade backlight: incandescent desk lamp with a couple of sheets of white paper taped over the shade to provide a diffuser, positioned a few inches above a group of slides on the scanner, scanned at as high a resolution as possible.

6

I have a HP PhotoSmart scanner that does a fine job on slide, 35mm negative strips, and prints up to 5"x7".

Mine’s Scuzzy, but the newer models are USB. You want about 2400 PPI actual resolution for 35mm slides.

7

Thanks, all for the replies.

GaryM - do you scan many slides at once, or one at a time?

Thanks,

8

Thanks, all for the replies.

GaryM - do you scan many slides at once, or one at a time?

Thanks,

      Joe
9

There are two great Microtek scanners.I bought this one last year. Make sure you get the slide attachment.
I bought this one this year because I wanted to scan my medium format film. This one has a 4"x5" built in slide attachment in the lid.

The second one is about $180. The first one you can get for about $100. The resolution for the second one is better. Very good for the price. You can’t beat the Microtek scanning software, for scanning software anyway.