[Technology] 35mm Slide Viewer and 'Scanner' recommendations

[Westdene Seagull]

Sadly both my parents have passed away in the last three months and I'm currently going through their house. My Dad was an avid photographer and there are drawers full, actually cupboards full, of 35mm slides. It seems criminal to just throw away photos documenting their 60 years together but I don't have the storage space to store them long term.

I'm looking for recommendations of a device that allows me to view the slides and then, if I wish convert to a JPG, but directly to my PC not restricted to an SD Card. Found a few online but with differing reviews. Any advice welcome - Merci !

 

[zefarelly]

Good question, I also have loads, and a projector, which comes out to embarrass relatives once in a while . . . I also have a load of medium format slides.

I do have an old slide scanner but its very slow . . . . Best way I've managed so far was to project onto a wall and take digital photos of the projection!!!

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Good question, I also have loads, and a projector, which comes out to embarrass relatives once in a while . . . I also have a load of medium format slides.

I do have an old slide scanner but its very slow . . . . Best way I've managed so far was to project onto a wall and take digital photos of the projection!!!

That seems like a complete arse ache to me !

 

[PeterOut]

If taking a digital picture of a slide that has been projected onto a wall is a lot of bother to you, you may do better to send the whole lot off to a specialist company that will scan them all for you.

Be prepared to have deep pockets, though, if you have several thousand to scan (as you seem to indicate).

If you are looking to scan them yourself, then here is a list of current devices at a range of prices https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/uk/buying-guides/the-best-film-scanners - £300 will get you decent results in terms of a scanner. However, once they have been digitised, you will probably need to spend about the same amount to ensure that you have multiple offline storage devices (hard drives etc).

Note also the time commitment - 1.5 min per slide might sound OK, but if you have to check and adjust the scanner settings before each slide, it will take quite a bit longer.

Clearly this is written from the perspective of someone who wants you to pay them for their service, rather than DIY, but this guy makes some very valid points - https://theslideconverter.co.uk/buy-a-slide-scanner-or-use-a-service

Unfortunately, it is rarely a simple answer, and each person will have their own answer in terms of time available, quality of finished scan, value (to them) of keeping the original slides in a digital format, cash available to spend, etc, etc

 

[drew]

Not slides but I scanned 3500 photos during the last lockdown and labelled them all.

All done on a £40 all in one printer. No good for slides though.

 

[drew]

With regard to quality, before you spend bucket loads of money, think of how you're going to view them in future. If you're just going to occasionally view them on a pc then why pay for top notch high quality.

 

[Rambo]

So sorry to hear of your loss. I lost both my parents 19 days apart over Christmas and I know exactly how you will be feeling.

My Mum and Dad were also married for 61 years and I have also taken the time to scan all their photos and store them digitally for future generations. I have picked some of the best ones and added them to Ancestry where they will be safe.

I can’t give any advice on slide scanners but just wanted to say that I feel your pain and this is a good way of honouring their memory.

Keep going, each day at a time.

 

[zefarelly]

Not slides but I scanned 3500 photos during the last lockdown and labelled them all.

All done on a £40 all in one printer. No good for slides though.

Agreed, I tried once

If you have a projector its a good quick way of sorting the wheat from the chaff . . . . Then invest in getting the best 100 or so properly scanned . . . .there's still a proper photography shop inChichester I discovered recently . . . Others do still exist I believe!

 

[Wardy's twin]

There was device that you could use on old film cameras that would attach to a modern digital. Not sure how good or quick the process is as I don't have any slides to test it on.

There are other devices that allow you to scan negatives this was on a dedicated flatbed scanner.

I found a modern (5 year old) all in one printer much quicker than my older dedicated flatbed. Software was better and the scan time was better.

Having scanned a thousand photos (and about a thousand to go) I would advocate doing a trawl through them first and prioritise. So nice pictures of mum & dad are keepers pictures of a bird sitting on a wall which mean nothing now are consigned to the bin. So i would categorise first - maybe 5 groups with definite keepers and definite binners at either end of the spectrum. Depends on what you have might be some which need extra editing etc.

 

[Bodian]

It partly depends on what kit you yourself have. A good tripod, tethering and macro lens is fantastic for prints and old postcard (so long as they are properly flat) - and with a cheap lightbox could do for slides as well. The sensor on a DSLR will be far better than the vast majority of scanners.

 

[Hiney]

Ive got an ION Slides2PC thing which works really well, but I've recently bought a new A4 scanner which has a slide attachment thing which also works really well (and probably gives a better quality image tbf).

Depends on how much you want to spend.