I know there are plenty of digital imaging dopers out there, so here’s my plea for help. I need to buy a new 35mm slide scanner for my office. I need to keep it under $300, it should scan at at least 2400dpi, and I really hate the motorized drive that pulls the film into the scanner (thats what broke on my last one!) Any recommendations would be much appreciated. Right now, the top contender is the Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III, based on no real-world info at all.
A flatbed that does transparencies (slides and negatives, and also medium sized transparencies) is the Epson Perfection 3200 PHOTO. However, it’s about $400. But it goes up to 3200 dpi and is fabulous. You could probably get the Perfection 2400 (that does 2400 dpi) for $300 used.
However, I don’t know if this is what you are looking for, since this is a flat-bed with a transparency adapter built-in. I assume you want a stand-alone slide scanner. Can’t help you much there. However, I do know that some pro photographers are pretty smitten with the Perfection 3200.