From: DaEyeGuy@xxxxxxx
I have thousands of slides waiting for my attention...
I have now a good quality, 600 x 1200 dpi scanner...
Stupid Question #1: can I lay my slides face down and get ANYTHING?
Not "anything" you'd want to look at! Some people have reported
limited success by putting a mirror behind the slides; otherwise,
there's no light source. With the mirror trick, contrast is doubled,
and the dark bits will be way too dense.
Almost As Bad #2: are there generic slide adapters (I don't think Umax has
one for my 1200S)
Not really. It has to integrate with your scanner. Consider that, as
a minimum, it has to turn the internal lamp off. Better tranny
adaptors have travelling light sources that move in sync with the
scan head.
Pitiful Question #3: ... where's the
cheapest slide scanner i can get that isn't embarrassing?
That depends on what you want to do with them. If it's only for
on-screen use, you can probably get by with a few hundred dollars for
HP PhotoSmart, Minolta ScanDual -- heck, even Olympus makes one in
this range, although it isn't very good.
If you want to print larger than 8x12, or have contrasty slides,
you'll probably tire of your low-end scanner quickly, and will move
up into the ~$1,000 range, like the Minolta ScanSpeed or Nikon LS-30.
If you want to print REALLY big, or need to crop a lot, or have a lot
of dark or light slides to rescue, you'll want to move up to $1500 --
$2000, with the Nikon LS-2000 or the new 4000 spi scanners from
Polaroid and Minolta.
At that point, there's a big price break, with some super quality
flatbeds at $5k or so, and bottom end drums beginning at $10,000.
I'm poor this
month...
Yes, but next month you may regret buying a scanner that won't do
what you want. On the other hand, if you can afford to "write off" a
few hundred, it might be a cheap learning experience. If you're going
to get a low-end one, look around for a used one, because you'll
probably be replacing it sooner or later.
: Jan Steinman <mailto:Jan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
: Bytesmiths <http://www.bytesmiths.com>
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