Slide duplicator / digitizer

[SteveM]

We have maybe 6 cubic feet of slides my dad took.

We don't want to go thru them and pick and choose which to digitize, nor do we want to pay a service (LegacyBox wants $1,000 to do 40 boxes of 25 slides).

I'm thinking that the best thing to do is to BUY the slide digitizer, use it and then re-sell it, as our cost will be the difference between the buy and sell.

One with an automatic feed would be a plus (or at least one that lets you stack them and manually feed them from the stack rather than having to load them one at a time by hand)

Anyone have any experience with one of these?

Steve

[mikeehlert]

I have a similar problem. The older Nikon would be ideal but discontinued and are not so compatible with modern computers. I am still looking for a solution but not very hard. e-bay is probably best place for a used / rebuilt one. There are a couple people who make a business of this.

[jcfx]

I've got no experience with automated batch slide scanners, I've only done it with manual ones but
with the the amounts you have it would be a full time job + to scan them all even with an automated
one. Scanning resolution might be a problem with older scanners the sensors would be lower in resolution compared to
the cheapest modern day point and shoot digital camera or even a cel phone. That coupled with a computer that
would run the drivers for the scanner.

[jcfx]

You got me thinking about aerial imaging ( not the taking pictures of land from above ), not a lot of info online since it
seemed to have gone the way of the dinosaur, but back in the day I worked at a animation company that had aerial image
printers used for film effects work, it was a method of projecting an image focused at a determined distance in air so that
multiple images with masks could be combined and re shot.
Basically the printers ( they were called optical benches, not to be confused with lens optical benches ) were a motion picture camera
and projectors mounted on a precision lathe bed. To keep it short, I was wondering if it was possible to just use a slide projector
to aerial image the projected slide directly onto a DSLR sensor.
And I stumbled upon this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vfnc0iJmks
that's a commercial unit, there are also other videos's of DIY batch slide scanners on Youtube too.
Something to consider if you're game to tinker a bit.

[SteveM]

Here's a DIY version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPCpwcn2Q6w

Certainly do-able.

Interesting that SlideSnap will rent them to you, but only in Scandinavia.

Steve

[jcfx]

Strange that it's only rentable in Scandinavia, this place rents in the US, but do research about them first
it's just a site I came across yesterday -
https://services.ezphotoscan.com/rent-p ... oto-slide/

I'm sure that SlideSnap got the idea from the photography DIY'ers, if you have a slide projector
and I would would assume you would if you have 6 cubic feet of slides, it'll be a cheap experiment to
try, if the results are good enough then you're on your way, if not it's a good excuse to buy your
self a new DSLR or if you have one a new lens !

[SteveM]

if not it's a good excuse to buy your
self a new DSLR or if you have one a new lens !

Great minds think alike.

Don't tell my wife.

Steve

[jcfx]

Tell your wife what ?

[SteveM]

Tell your wife what ?

Exactly.

Steve

[Bill Shields]

pacific image has a unit that does batches of 50 slides.

$1000....

what is your time worth?

[SteveM]

pacific image has a unit that does batches of 50 slides.

$1000....

what is your time worth?

Exactly the point I'm trying to make to my family.

We don't have the time to look thru 9,000 slides to see which to copy and which not to copy.

Disk space is so cheap, it's a non-issue - you can buy 2tb in a blister pack at the Best Buy checkout for under $100.

And the cost for the duplicator isn't $1,000 - it's $1,000 less how much you can sell it for. Even if you took a bath on it, that would make it $500.

Steve