Bulk scanning old photos , film various formats

validis_

At home we have two big boxes of old photographs, I would like to scan them all in and catalog them so that we do not lose these memories. (also family members would love copies).

I am trying to figure out the best way todo this.

Can you rent good negative scanners?
Is there someone on boards who would rent equipment for a small price?
Is there any shops that would do this for you?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

I currently have a macbook pro and a normal document scanner.

stcstc

the cheapest way to do it, if there is a big amount fo those images is, go onto ebay and find a nikon film scanner.

there are loads of them around.

validis_

what model would you recommend? I was hoping I would be able to hire one, but I could buy one I guess. Also do these film scannes also do photos?

thanks for the info by the way

trishw78

validis let me know how you get on I also have alot of film and I've been looking into someone else doing it but no such look yet. There was another thread where I asked a similar question, but funds are a little tight at the moment so I'm lookin at after Christmas sometime to buying a scanner.

Gone West

get a scanner with an auto feeder.
Some new HP ones come with one built in

trishw78

linky poos
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055170420&highlight=nikon+coolscan

validis_

I had read that thread Trishw, it seems to recommend the
Nikon Coolscan V for film scanning
and
Epson Perfection 4990 for photos (doesnt seem to do bulk scanning)

If its the best value then I would buy one of these , but It would be much better if you could hire one?

Alun

validis_ wrote: »

If its the best value then I would buy one of these , but It would be much better if you could hire one?

I think what a lot of people do is to basically buy one, either new or used, use it to do what they want and then just sell it on. The loss you make on such a transaction would probably be less than you'd shell out on hiring one.

Also be aware that even with an auto feeder it's a pretty soul destroying thing to do for large numbers of negatives, so at least if you have your own scanner, you're not worrying about getting it all done in time, and can do it at your leisure.

JMcL

As Alun said, buying then selling when you're done is probably your best bet.

I think the Epson 4990 has just been replaced by the V500 which got a very good review in Amateur Photographer last week. Further up the scale there's the V700 and V750, which are supposed to give excellent results, but at a higher price.

If you've a lot to do, Vuescan seems to be the way to go - it might not help that much with batch scanning of the photographs (you'll still have to put them on the scanner bed), but it should help with the negs/slides

Heinrich

This scanner from Komplett would be ideal for the job!

I use this older model which gives excellent results. It is not the fastest but it gets the job done.You can scan three slides at a time.

Comes with good bundled software for the transparencies.

stcstc

I have a V750 pro

it will scan 12 slides at once and the results are great.

it comes with the full version of silverfast, which is a great program, used by a good few pros

validis_

Thanks for all of the replies so far , you have all been helpful.

So I am going to buy a scanner. I am between the Epson V500 and the Epson Perfection 4490 Office (the 4490 has an automatic document feeder).

I think a document feeder might be very useful for photos , but I am not sure how the two scanners compare.