Slides to digital

[khrab]

Some years ago I found by incident a company in CM on the internet that transfers old slides into digital files like JPG.

Now I cannot find it anymore as I sit suddenly on 1000+ of slides, decades old.

Anybody knows if this company still exists and if yes can provide their URL?

That would be a great help. Thanks a lot in advance!

[Shurup]

You can look for a 2nd hand slide scanner (eBay) and do it yourself at your leisure time. Would be helpful too if you still use the film camera.

[Shurup]

Just checked eBay, plenty of new and 2nd hand scanners, no names and brand names, many brand names can be had for as little as $30 US (not including shipping). Do a little research on what to look for in the scanner, I'd think the auto models would be more expensive, but for yourself you can get a manual model unless you're in a hurry to scan all your slides, they'd also vary in resolution I'd guess, but, it's just a guess. So do your research.

I think the hardest part would be to find a seller who ships to Thailand, or if you have relatives in the states, send to them and ask they to ship to you.

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_trksid=m570.l3201&_nkw=film+slide+scanner&_sacat=0

[FolkGuitar]

Go to "PhotoBug" shop 200m on the left up Chiang Puak Rd from the moat. They will be able to recommend a scanning service for you. It's the very best professional photography shop in town!

[AngelsLariat]

You can look for a 2nd hand slide scanner (eBay) and do it yourself at your leisure time. Would be helpful too if you still use the film camera.

But scanning one slide at a time is very labor intensive, and the OP says he has 1000+ slides to scan. Personally I'd rather source it out - considering the low wages in Thailand it would seem that it ought to be possible to find someone to do it at a reasonable price.

[Shurup]

Everyone is to their own, I was making a suggestion based on my point of view and myself I'd rather own a device than running back and forth and having someone do the scans for me, especially if I still used a film camera!

It's good to have choices and here we have another poster with suggestion of where to go to get his slides scanned.

OP can make his choice.

[masuk]

Everyone is to their own, I was making a suggestion based on my point of view and myself I'd rather own a device than running back and forth and having someone do the scans for me, especially if I still used a film camera!

It's good to have choices and here we have another poster with suggestion of where to go to get his slides scanned.

OP can make his choice.

I did the same things a few years ago. I had 50 years worth of colour slides to scan before I moved to Asia. > 4000 slides.

Step 1. Bought a Canon scanner which was a model designed for scanning negatives and slides. In other words transmitted light. It came with a series of plastic frames to hold negatives of 3 or 4 sizes, and a frame which held 4 x 35 mm slides.

Step 2. Dust and clean each slide, as they attract dust.

Step 3. Scan a set of slides, then adjust the colour using something like Photoshop. Some brands such as Agfa, tended to lose their blue colour, but Photoshop adjusted this.

Step 4. I named and dated each slide, so that programs such as Picasa can locate rapidly any person or place or year.

Yes, it took me an entire winter plus to do this, and after sending DVDs to family and making backups, closed my eyes and dumped the slides.

[Frank James]

This could be a worthwhile and fun project for the OP. Some time ago I found a very high quality Optek scanner and software at Photobug and bought it. I finished my project and sold it back to them, and then they sold it to someone else, all on consignment. Could be they might have another one, as they are well known as the place to buy and sell good used gear.

Slides can be a pain to deal with, as over time they tend to deteriorate badly, especially in this climate. They don't lay flat, which can cause distortion in a big enlargement. Also, they attract dust which bonds with the surface. Hours of fun on Photoshop, but nothing compared to the agony of this sort of work in the pre-digital age. At least nowadays, color shift is easily corrected, and dust motes can be made to disappear. They blow up to look like insects and boulders.

Don't bother with those cheap scanners. They are toys. The Canon upper end flatbeds are good units, and more versatile than the film only 35mm scanners. They come with holders for 35mm slides & negs, as well as 6 x6 cm format. You can use the same unit to scan documents, objects, fabrics, etc.

Chok dee.

[AngelsLariat]

Everyone is to their own, I was making a suggestion based on my point of view and myself I'd rather own a device than running back and forth and having someone do the scans for me, especially if I still used a film camera!

It's good to have choices and here we have another poster with suggestion of where to go to get his slides scanned.

OP can make his choice.

I agree that some people might prefer to do the job themselves but the OP was specifically asking for a commercial service that could do it for him. I have a fairly high-end Nikon slide & negative scanner that I used a lot before I finally got a digital camera and spent countless hours scanning & then photoshopping in order to get satisfactory results. There's no way that I'd want to do that for 1000+ slides.

[masuk]

This could be a worthwhile and fun project for the OP. Some time ago I found a very high quality Optek scanner and software at Photobug and bought it. I finished my project and sold it back to them, and then they sold it to someone else, all on consignment. Could be they might have another one, as they are well known as the place to buy and sell good used gear.

Slides can be a pain to deal with, as over time they tend to deteriorate badly, especially in this climate. They don't lay flat, which can cause distortion in a big enlargement. Also, they attract dust which bonds with the surface. Hours of fun on Photoshop, but nothing compared to the agony of this sort of work in the pre-digital age. At least nowadays, color shift is easily corrected, and dust motes can be made to disappear. They blow up to look like insects and boulders.

Don't bother with those cheap scanners. They are toys. The Canon upper end flatbeds are good units, and more versatile than the film only 35mm scanners. They come with holders for 35mm slides & negs, as well as 6 x6 cm format. You can use the same unit to scan documents, objects, fabrics, etc.

Chok dee.

Agreed.

As you say, it will also scan 6 x 6 cm negs, and I was able to digitise some great photos taken in the 1960s.

[khrab]

Go to "PhotoBug" shop 200m on the left up Chiang Puak Rd from the moat. They will be able to recommend a scanning service for you. It's the very best professional photography shop in town!

Wow! So many answers. I didn't expect one.

Thanks to you all and especially Guitar.

Yes I am looking for a commercial service as I checked the available hardware already. So next time I am in CM (living 60km south) I will go and see PhotoBug. I lived almost five years in CM. The place must be on the right side of the market hall.

Cheers