Best way to scan slides at home

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EricBowles said:
You have to watch out for these services. Price savings come from using a lower resolution. And you still need to clean the slides before they are scanned.
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Fair points but they are not all bad. I‘ve used Digmypix a couple times with great results - the final file is 17Mpix which is more than enough to extract all the details in a Velvia 50, they run an IR antidust algorithm that’s quite effective (of course it won’t salvage a slide with fungal growth but normal light dust is well handled) and they do a two pass exposure. So pretty much same as I would do.
i do keep an old 2009 iMac to run my Nikon ls4000 and I honestly couldn’t tell much of a difference. If anything, their color profiling looked a bit more accurate to me. I still scan the occasional file myself but if I need a few hundred slides done, I don’t hesitate to send them away for scanning. At this point my free time is more valuable than money :)
 
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EricBowles said:
The minimum focus distance of the 105mm is too long. None of the 105 lenses work effectively without a lot of extension.
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This was taken with a 105mm macro lens, not sure what the problem with the focal length is you mentioned, this worked pretty well I thought.
I have raised the shadows a lot in this shot to show how close I could get to full framing, I could have done better I believe, this was from a test run.
Paros Windmill_BCG.jpg
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I agree with the cleaning statement, THE most important part of the process.
 
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EricBowles said:
The minimum focus distance of the 105mm is too long. None of the 105 lenses work effectively without a lot of extension. The extension difference is not practical as you need both focus distance and framing. It can be done with the right equipment, but I could not make it work with a stack of extension tubes and close up lenses. You would need the 50mm MC, the 60mm f/2.8, or even the older 55mm f/2.8 or f/3.5 manual focus macro lenses. The older 55mm lenses cost about $150 on KEH. All work with the ES-2 and are easy.

Whatever you use, be sure you spend time cleaning each negative or slide before scanning. 5 minutes up front can save hours of clean up and cloning.
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Thanks. Great advise about clean.
 
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I am using the Nikon ES-2 with the Nikon 60mm f2.8 G macro lens on my D850 and D810 and D800E to convert 35mm slides to digital. When I use the D850, I can convert color and B&L 35mm negatives to digital.

I also have a Nikon 55mm f2.8 manual focus macro lens and extension tube, but I find that focusing each slide by hand takes way too much time.

I use an old light box with the correct Kelvin temperature bulb in it as my light sosurce.

I photograph the shiny side of the 35mm slide and not the emulsion side as I do not have any software to flip the image (as I do not use Photoshop.) I tried both and did not see any differences, so I use the shiny side.
 
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Viseguy said:
I used a dedicated Nikon scanner (LS-2000) for years, very expensive to the point that when it failed, I couldn't really justify the expense of replacing it with a newer model. Currently use an Epson V850 Pro flatbed. Still not cheap, but not looking for ultimate quality, just wanting to scan old family slides and such. Works great for that, but kind of wish I could justify buying a new slide scanner.
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How is the quality on the V850? Did you try using the wet mount? I have medium format negatives I need to scan, some old 110 and photo prints to scan as well and I am considering getting the V850 and selling it when I am done.
 
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I use the ES-2 and a 60mm AFS micro for short runs and a Nikon 9000 (no longer made) for higher volumes, even though it's slow. Firewire isn't a problem, at least on Apple, since the Firewire/Thunderbolt adapters work fine. Software is more of an issue (I use Silverfast. Nikon's SW is no longer supported). The quality of either is fine for most uses, including printing. I have the 9000 because it will do 120/220, 6x7, and 5x7 as well as 35mm. But it's not fast.

I never had much luck with flatbeds. Nor have I had much luck with commercial scans except expensive drum scans.
 
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eaj101 said:
I use the ES-2 and a 60mm AFS micro for short runs and a Nikon 9000 (no longer made) for higher volumes, even though it's slow. Firewire isn't a problem, at least on Apple, since the Firewire/Thunderbolt adapters work fine. Software is more of an issue (I use Silverfast. Nikon's SW is no longer supported). The quality of either is fine for most uses, including printing. I have the 9000 because it will do 120/220, 6x7, and 5x7 as well as 35mm. But it's not fast.

I never had much luck with flatbeds. Nor have I had much luck with commercial scans except expensive drum scans.
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which software do you use? vuescan? I have 2013 mac pro
 
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FB101 said:
Digmypics charges $0.49/slide and $0.59 per negative frame and you can delete up to 20% if you don't like them and don't want to pay for them. So you can pretty much send 5000 slides in and discard 1000 for the same price, same scan quality and minimal work. I don't know how many you were planning on doing but I'd look into that option as well.
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For those interested in commercial solutions, consider ScanCafe. I have used them for years, and like Digmypics, they offer the option to discard 20% (last time I checked anyway). If you get on their mailing list, they have killer deals on slides 3-4 times a year. Absolute lowest price for slides is the Value Kit, but the 20% discard may not apply there. Scanned images are consistently satisfactory. They also do good work with competitive prices on digitizing 8mm, 16mm, Hi8, VHS, etc.
 
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RichF said:
How do "scan" slides at home?

I have have 3 possibilities and thought I would get some expert opinions before I rush out and spend more money (I am very good at that).

1. Nikon film Scanner such as the LS 5000 (4000 requires firewire so not a real option today)
2. Nikon 60mm macro lens and ES-2 on D850. Will other lens work? Will this work on Z7 body?
3. Flat bed scan such as an All-in-1.

Thanks.

Rich
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Rich,
I have used two of the methods.
1. I have not used but heard it is great if you have a large number of slides and/or you may continue to scan for others when you have completed yours.
2. I have the D850, 60mm macro and the ES2. For scanning a few at a time or a few dozen, I found that it works flawlessly. It is too tedious to do 100 or more at a time.
The 60mm is recommended for flat reproduction and focusing. I do not know if it will work with the Z7.
3. I have tried with an HP professional scanner and I found that it was ridiculously slow since each grouping of slides has too be saved and then the process starts all over.
 
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RichF said:
How do "scan" slides at home?

I have have 3 possibilities and thought I would get some expert opinions before I rush out and spend more money (I am very good at that).

1. Nikon film Scanner such as the LS 5000 (4000 requires firewire so not a real option today)
2. Nikon 60mm macro lens and ES-2 on D850. Will other lens work? Will this work on Z7 body?
3. Flat bed scan such as an All-in-1.

Thanks.

Rich
Click to expand...

Hi Rich

I have a Nikon LS4000 and I had a problem for a while with the Firewire hook up but I was able to get a Firewire add-on card for my Win 10 machine and it works great. Nikon no longer supports the LS4000 scanning software but Hamrick VueScan (https://www.hamrick.com/) works wonders as well and I can use it for my flatbed scanner and the scanner that is incorporated in my printer. I like the LS4000 for its resolution and its ability to produce a quality scan.
 
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2Lab said:
Hi Rich

I have a Nikon LS4000 and I had a problem for a while with the Firewire hook up but I was able to get a Firewire add-on card for my Win 10 machine and it works great. Nikon no longer supports the LS4000 scanning software but Hamrick VueScan (https://www.hamrick.com/) works wonders as well and I can use it for my flatbed scanner and the scanner that is incorporated in my printer. I like the LS4000 for its resolution and its ability to produce a quality scan.
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thanks. very helpful.
 
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eaj101 said:
Silverfast. More powerful and more controls than I'm probably capable of using well, and not cheap. But they have support for a lot of different scanners, good manuals and guides, and the license is perpetual.
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i used them years ago when I was scanning slides.
 
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I got a 2nd hand Minolta film and slide scanner to process hundreds of images going back decades. The dust control function alone was worth the money. It did multiples at a time both 35mm and 6x6cm. These were family shots to share with family so I wasn't needing to spend a lot of time on IQ.
Sadly, when the OS moved to the next version the original s/w no longer functioned and generic scanner s/w wasn't as good; but the job was finished.
 
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RichF said:
How do "scan" slides at home?

I have have 3 possibilities and thought I would get some expert opinions before I rush out and spend more money (I am very good at that).

1. Nikon film Scanner such as the LS 5000 (4000 requires firewire so not a real option today)
2. Nikon 60mm macro lens and ES-2 on D850. Will other lens work? Will this work on Z7 body?
3. Flat bed scan such as an All-in-1.

Thanks.

Rich
Click to expand...
Please be aware that some mounts are too thick for the ES-2.
 
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RichF said:
How do "scan" slides at home?

I have have 3 possibilities and thought I would get some expert opinions before I rush out and spend more money (I am very good at that).

1. Nikon film Scanner such as the LS 5000 (4000 requires firewire so not a real option today)
2. Nikon 60mm macro lens and ES-2 on D850. Will other lens work? Will this work on Z7 body?
3. Flat bed scan such as an All-in-1.

Thanks.

Rich
Click to expand...
I connect my Nikon CoolScan 4000 to my iMac using a series of adapters, and it works flawlessly. The CoolScan 4000 has FireWire 400. I connect the FireWire 400 cable to a FireWire 400 to 800 adapter. Mine is a Sonnettech model, which is no longer available (https://sonnettech.com/product/legacyproducts/fw_adapter.html), but Amazon has 400 to 800 adapters from other vendors that are inexpensive. My iMac is a late 2014 machine that has Thunderbolt 2 ports. I connect the FireWire 800 end of the 400 to 800 adapter to an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire 800 adapter (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD464LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter) and am good to go. It may sound clunky, but it works great.
 
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RecalcitrantRon said:
How is the quality on the V850? Did you try using the wet mount? I have medium format negatives I need to scan, some old 110 and photo prints to scan as well and I am considering getting the V850 and selling it when I am done.
Click to expand...

I have not tried a wet mount scan. Quality is not on par with a dedicated scanner, found it acceptable for scanning 35mm with prints to 8x10.
 
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Hey there, I'm new to this forum, but I've been in a similar situation before. When it comes to scanning slides at home, there are a few different options you can try. If you're looking for the best possible image quality, a dedicated film scanner like the Nikon LS 5000 might be the way to go. But if you already have a DSLR camera, you could also use a macro lens and slide holder like the ES-2. Another option is to use a flatbed scanner like an all-in-one. I've used a similar Minolta film and slide scanner before, and it was great for quickly processing many images. Of course, there are other options out there, too, like using a professional scanning service. And if you're looking to automate the scanning process, you could try using Smart Engines SDK to extract information from images.
 
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I still have my Nikon CoolScan 4000 and I purchased a Firewire add-on card when I upgraded to Win 10 from Win 7. I works fine but the Nikon Scanning Software is Win 98 and is no longer supported you can get around this with VueScan ( ttps://www.hamrick.com/?keyword=vuescan%20software&gclid=CjwKCAiAr4GgBhBFEiwAgwORrcwNoqnCtbPF3ioP4RvZde5ta4z48YFRDROcj8HVjZI6m31D93q5gxoCXPwQAvD_BwEh ) software. The software is unique because it supports many scanners and is easy to use. It is also a buy-once software and all of the updates are free. I have been using it since Nikon stopped supporting the software in the late 1990 or 200xs.
 
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If speed is not important a slide copier gives great results. Available for most mounts I've still got the one I got for my Olympus OM2 SP many years ago.

It mounts on the camera like a lens or some screw into a flter thread and IIRC you can do them individually or use a small carrier to load up to 5 to make the process abit quicker. A loclal company to me sell them for about £60.
 
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I used the Nikon dedicated photo scanner to covert all my old photos to digital and then sold it. But I still had need of a general perpuse scanner; so I bought the Epsonk Perfection V600 Photo scanner several years ago. It is very good for photos and is still in production with upgraded. software.
 
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Wifey gave me one of these. REALLY easy to use. Saves to an SD card, but I use a usb-c cable and save directly to my mac

www.kodak.com

KODAK SLIDE N SCAN Digital Film Scanner

Don’t let your memories fade into obscurity—preserve and proudly display them with the KODAK SLIDE N SCAN Digital Film Scanner. It’s easy to see why this scanner’s large, clear LCD screen makes viewing images a pleasure.
www.kodak.com www.kodak.com
 
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