I have spent many interesting and challenging hours learning and experimenting with digital photography. Before developing an interest in this new branch of photography, I was an avid producer of Ektachrome colour transparencies, and have a collection of approximately 9000 slides. I would now like to transfer some of these slide images to digital format, and would like to know more about slide scanners which could produce a digital image with sufficient quality to make, say, a 6″ x 4″ print.

 

I have spent many interesting and challenging hours learning and experimenting with digital photography. Before developing an interest in this new branch of photography, I was an avid producer of Ektachrome colour transparencies, and have a collection of approximately 9000 slides. I would now like to transfer some of these slide images to digital format, and would like to know more about slide scanners which could produce a digital image with sufficient quality to make, say, a 6″ x 4″ print.

My photographic dealer has offered a Nikon scanner, which from the technical specification and price would appear to be the Rolls Royce of scanners capable of producing images with a huge resolution, and prints of up to A3 size. Surely there is something with a more modest quality, and price, which would suffice. There appears to be a dearth of information on digital scanners in photo magazines.

I was wondering if there was sufficient interest in this topic to warrant an article in Digital PhotoReview which would reveal the scanners on the market suitable for the aspiring amateur rather than for the professional. I would certainly be extremely interested to read such an article. Hoping you may be able to help.

F.M.Scott
February 2003

The Apr/May 2003 issue of Digital PhotoReview magazine features in-depth coverage of scanning technology.

Regarding your wish to scan 35mm transparencies, there are certainly scanners around that will produce adequate quality for generating 10 x 15 cm (6 x 4 inch) prints at prices much lower than that of the Nikon Coolscan IV ED (which is the model I assume you”re referring to). Both Epson (www.epson.com.au) and Canon (www.canon.com.au) have flatbed scanners in their line-ups that either come with a transparency scanning module or offer one as an optional add-on. Check out the latest products on their websites. A couple of other manufacturers also offer similar products but I feel the considerable imaging expertise of Epson and Canon gives their products a performance advantage. This solution will be the most cost-effective and least time-consuming options if all you require is a 10 x 15 cm print as the end product.

Another cost-effective alternative is to have your slides scanned to CD-ROM by your local minilab. Most labs can now offer this service at a reasonable price and you can usually negotiate special deals for large orders (such as yours). This would probably prove the best option in terms of cost vs quality if you’ve switched to digital capture and are no longer shooting on film.

I have some reservations about these recommendations, however, as being an enthusiast myself, I am no longer satisfied with having my best shots limited to 10 x 15 cm output size when they look so great as Super A3-sized (33 x 48 cm) enlargements. For that reason, I have taken the Nikon route for scanning my transparencies and invested in an A3 inkjet printer. It”s slow – it can take half an hour to scan one slide if you need to implement colour and contrast corrections and remove dust and/or scratches, and A3 printouts take around 30 minutes to produce. But the results are superb; noticeably better than the results produced by the top flatbed scanners with transparency adaptors I’ve looked at.

I think you really need to weigh up the pros and cons with regard to your own personal situation. How many of your slides do you REALLY want to scan? How large do you want to print the end results? How much are you prepared to spend to get what you want? Once you’ve answered those questions, you’ll be in a good position to start shopping for either products or scanning services.

Margaret Brown
Technical Editor