Transferring transparencies into digital format

[Jurek]

Does anyone have any idea how to go about transferring images from 35mm slides into digital format.
I have trannies covering about 10 years of work (gives you an idea when the work was carried out) which I'd like to have as digi files.

Any ideas?
TIA

[pcolbeck]

You can get scanners with a slide and/or negative attachment. Takes a while and is fiddly if you have lots to do but the quality is fine.
Alternately you can buy specialised slide scanners that have a hopper you load a load of slides into and it does its thing, better if you have lots to do.
In the end it may be cheaper to take them to a company that does it professionally and pay for them to run them through  a professional quality slide scanner.

[Jurek]

Thanks Pat.
Just scored a slide scanner from 7Day shop for £40.00 - reduced from £70.00 
It'll probably be up for grabs on here once I'm done.

[LEE]

FYI.  (Too late for you)

Assuming owners of transparencies have a projector and screen, simply:

1) Project "white" light onto screen and set a custom White Balance

2) Put Digital camera on tripod just behind projector

3) Project slide

4) Take a photo

5) Repeat.

The quality is amazing (the better the projector and the bigger the screen, the better the result).

Typically a well projected transparency will have incredible detail, possibly more than a Digital camera can resolve.

[Jurek]

Thanks Lee -I am the owner of the transparencies - And while the idea to project and photograph had occured to me, I cannot justify the cost of a decent projector. The reason they all ended up as trannies rather than prints was a) to capture the level of detail that trannies, as you say, offer and b) Storage - there's a mountain of slides there - as prints it would've been unmanageable.

[sojournermike]

I'm about to try photographing my and my deceased father in laws archive with my pentax K1 ( due in next week) and 100 macro. I still need to acquire a couple of bits, but am on the way!

I'll report results if you're interested?

Mike

[nicknack]

I've got reasonable (you can see the grain) results from photographing them on a light box using a macro setting. Slight barrel distortion but perfectly usable for my purposes (they're only snaps after all).

[nextSibling]

How many do you want to digitize? There are services that can be found online that will do it for you. If you have more than a handful to be scanned (I had hundreds), the quality is good and the cost reasonable compared to the mind-numbing grind and likelihood of giving up while the project is incomplete if doing it yourself.

[Jurek]

Dunno - If I'm ruthless probably not that many. If I do the lot, then it is lots.
I'll see tonight.

[fuaran]

Thanks Pat.
Just scored a slide scanner from 7Day shop for £40.00 - reduced from £70.00 
It'll probably be up for grabs on here once I'm done.

Most of those cheap slide scanners are crap. They are not really scanners, more like a (poor quality) camera in a box.
I bought one from Maplin for about £50, but soon returned it as it was rubbish. Poor colours, and not very sharp etc.

I've now got a Plustek slide scanner (about £200), it gives much better results. Though it is rather slow, it will take a while if you have lots of slides. Plus even longer if you want to tweak/clean up each photo.

[rogerzilla]

I have a German film scanner which does a good job but is very slow to use  - and that's before you've tweaked every single scan in Photoshop to get the curves right and make it look like the original.  It takes me a whole evening to do a 36-exp roll of b/w film, when I don't even need to faff about with colour balance.

[sojournermike]

I have a German film scanner which does a good job but is very slow to use  - and that's before you've tweaked every single scan in Photoshop to get the curves right and make it look like the original.  It takes me a whole evening to do a 36-exp roll of b/w film, when I don't even need to faff about with colour balance.

Time is my key driver for trying dslr scanning, plus adapting for larger formats than 35mm is pretty easy

[Jaded]

I have a German film scanner which does a good job but is very slow to use  - and that's before you've tweaked every single scan in Photoshop to get the curves right and make it look like the original.  It takes me a whole evening to do a 36-exp roll of b/w film, when I don't even need to faff about with colour balance.

We have to hope that Jurek doesn't have any German films to scan.

[PaulR]

I await your report with interest. I have many slides, a half way decent projector and a modestly sized screen. If I find time, I might try the projecting method. Or, if you have success with your scanner, I might be a buyer.

[Jurek]

Scanner has just been delivered.
What with that, and bangers and mash for supper tonight, I excite!
It's all German film. IIRC I always used Agfachrome 

[Jurek]

My excite is doused .
Currently undergoing consolation thanks to bangers and mash.
Fuaran may've had it right.
PaulR, if you have a couple of slides you know to be good images, pop them round and I'll see what I can do as a benchmark.
Meanwhile, I'm familiarising myself with 7day shop's returns policy....
Meh!

[rogerzilla]

Mine is a Reflecta CrystalScan 7200: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reflecta-CrystalScan-7200-Slide-Scanner/dp/B000FWGWCS

It gets a real-world resolution of about 3200dpi and is sharp enough to sort your good camera lenses from your crap ones, and good film from crap film.

Funnily enough, mine also came with a euro plug but ICBA to return it so I just bought a fused adaptor.

[jsabine]

I've got an Olympus OM-system slide copier, macro bellows etc etc - sure I can dig it out: it could be used with a suitable adaptor if you've got an appropriate digital camera.

(Mind you, I can't remember what lenses I've got, and http://www.alanwood.net/photography/olympus/slide-copier.html says if you don't have a full-frame digital SLR, then the lens choice is more restrictive ...)

[Jaded]

<off topic>wasn't the OM system gorgeous...</off topic>

[jsabine]

I have too much gear, used too little ...

Mind you, there are enough adaptors around that the macro kit should be quite usable if I ever get round to acquiring an SLR.

[LEE]

My excite is doused .
Currently undergoing consolation thanks to bangers and mash.
Fuaran may've had it right.
PaulR, if you have a couple of slides you know to be good images, pop them round and I'll see what I can do as a benchmark.
Meanwhile, I'm familiarising myself with 7day shop's returns policy....
Meh!

Could you post an example?

It would be nice to see comparisons.

This is one I copied, using a projector and a digital camera.



I should point out that I copied this in the year 2000 using a 2Mp Fuji Finepix camera (my first digicam).
Any lack of detail/sharpness is actually the limitation of the camera and not the projected slide (Pentax ME Super on, probably, Kodachrome 25 so detail won't be an issue).

I may dig the slides out and do it again using a modern DSLR, RAW and Lightroom.

[Woofage]

I did a load just over a year ago by photographing the slide directly. My setup included:
1. Micro 4/3 camera with OM adapter, mounted on table-top tripod
2. OM extension tube (can't remember length)
3. Olympus 50mm lens
4. Slide holder molished from foam board
5. Bright daylight bulb diffused through a sheet of white paper (behind the slide).

The results were very good indeed. Here's an example:

P1030016 by pencyclist, on Flickr
(note that the original photo was probably taken on a basic P&S camera, not an SLR).

I have lots of others (many much better quality) but they're of the friends and family of the slide owner so I'm a bit reluctant to post here.

[Jurek]

My excite is doused .
Currently undergoing consolation thanks to bangers and mash.
Fuaran may've had it right.
PaulR, if you have a couple of slides you know to be good images, pop them round and I'll see what I can do as a benchmark.
Meanwhile, I'm familiarising myself with 7day shop's returns policy....
Meh!

Could you post an example?

It would be nice to see comparisons.

I'll give it a go this weekend, Lee.
I've decided not to return the scanner to 7day shop.
I think part of the issue might be the quality of my photography  which isn't immediately apparent when viewing a slide through a linen tester loupe.

[Jurek]

This weekend, turned out to be next weekend for one reason or another.
Yesterday's sweltering temperatures were ideal for me to spend a day indoors.
An opportunity to scan ~ 230 slides.
The results range from acceptable, to appalling, and I don't think that's just down to me being a poor shutter-jockey.
I think the scanner struggles to deal with high contrasts - namely highly polished, reflective metal against a matt black (synthetic velvet) background.
The naked eye sees much more detail on the slide than the last scan does.

Judge for yourselves.....

[slope]

Thread resurrection

Got loads of trannies and negs taken over the many decades prior to digital.

Most will be crap images

But I KNOW there are a few gems - and specific photos/images that I NEED digitising

Given that there are hundreds and way more

Loads of us must be in the same position?

Buy a decent slide/neg scanner and hunker down to the tedium but probably fun (in parts) - then sell it on afterwards?

Any other suggestions?