Transparency scanners

At a low price range there are several from Plustek (£200 to 400). The professionals still use the Nikon Coolscan though the current model is around £3000.

Might be worth giving your local Jessops or independent camera shop a ring, see if they have any in stock you could demo - take some slides in and scan see if the quality is up to your exceptions.

Just found this website - http://www.filmscanner.info/en...nerTestberichte.html - which maybe of help / interest.

Eloise

Bruce - I'm lucky enough to own & use a high end-end Imacon film scanner for my professional work (think along the lines of a 555 for costs!) but one of the first decent consumer scanners I ever owned was from the Nikon range....At the time and the price range, they pretty much had the market wrapped up...Very good scanners within reason. I'm not sure what the models and prices are at now, but I'm sure there are probably plenty going around used as folk dump them for digi cameras - If just needing 35mm, then something from the 4000, 5000 models up should be great...there are also many add on elements that may be of use - I remember having the auto feeder for mounted slides which was a very handy feature at the time.....

One good thing about the Nikons is they feature (think they still do ?) their own dust/blemish removal software, which generally works a treat and saves many hours of spotting & retouching, particularly on older/poor condition slides...(something I dream of at times!, but is unsuitable for pre-press use as the scans are actually slightly 'softer')....

If you're comparing a few different models, have a look at the quoted D-max levels (though sometimes take with a pinch of salt!) - the higher the figure towards 5, the better the ability the scanner has to scan dark/shadow area and pull out detail - particularly useful with trannies....

Hope this helps a little,

Steve.

I use and recommend a Nikon Coolscan, and quite a few appear cheaply on a well known internet auction site.

Take a look on eBay - slide scanners are often bought for a limited life project and then sold on - so you essentially have to fund the loan of the scanner from the world and may get most of your money back when you sell it back to the world.

You risk is that the scanner fails or requires a repair.

Bruce
I have a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED along with an auto slide feeder accessory (SF-210).

This produces very high quality scans and you can leave the scanner and computer to trundle through a bundle of slides automatically.

Derek's advice is good - keep your eyes peeled on e-bay and enjoy a discounted price sure in the knowledge that once you have scanned your slides, you too could sell on for little or no loss on the purchase price.

Peter

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll be 'scanning' Ebay.

Bruce

Glad to see that you are at your desk for these extended hours.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockingdoc:
Glad to see that you are at your desk for these extended hours.

Aren't we all?

Anyway 'The early bird catches the wor(m/k)'

Bruce