good 35mm negative scanner?

[AlphaDog]

[quote grad]Just send it out to be scanned. You could even use Costco.

I think a gift that forces her to learn scanning software, prioritize your negatives with a light box and loupe, feed hundreds upon hundreds of negatives through a feeder, organize the scanned documents, and do a crap load of tedious work over the course of months wouldn't be that great a christmas gift...

... what would be great is if she could wake up christmas morning and have the prints in her hand... to flip through... tell you stories about... and feel great about.

Awwwww. Merry Christmas. (Insert Hallmark quote here)
If anybody ever did something like that "for me", I might give them their head back on a platter.

Many of you are still at the point in time where you're so consumed with working and raising families that you can't imagine anyone actually wanting to do a project like this personally. Starting in 2001, I began scanning thousands of slides dating back 50 or 60 years. A lot that had belonged to my in-laws were pretty dull as far as I was concerned, but most of the pictures had been taken during the years we were raising kids. Even the process of reviewing all of them was satisfying in a way that many of you might not be able to understand. Heck, I wasn't as concerned about the quality (although I did use a dedicated slide and film scanner) as I was about preserving the memories.

The question posed was about suggestions for a 35mm scanner, not a question about whether or not one should be purchased or options for completing the task.

I don't have a recommendation, because the slide and film scanner I have is now obsolete (although it accomplished my goal.) Nikon Coolscan has been mentioned, but you might also want to check out the Konica Minolta Dimage. I know several people who have been extremely pleased with those.

[davester]

[quote AlphaDog]If anybody ever did something like that "for me", I might give them their head back on a platter. .
I really don't understand your objection, unless you're a very serious photographer who bristles at the thought of someone else touching your negatives. Personally, I would love for someone else to have gone through and sent out my old negs/slides and presented me with scanned versions on christmas morning. After all, the negs are still there to be scanned again and the files are available for digital manipulation if you don't like the original results. I'd be far less enamored of someone giving me a gift that involved me doing hundreds of hours of tedious work, unless of course I'd specifically asked for it myself.

[DaviDC.]

Minolta Dimage film scanner is worth looking at. It connects via USB 2 & does a very good job on negatives. It's also about half the price of a Nikon. Stay away from Pacific Image scanners! They are crap!

[AlphaDog]

[quote davester]...unless of course I'd specifically asked for it myself.
You just hit on the piece we don't really know, and I should have mentioned that myself, because, you're right, and that is an important factor. If a slide scanner is someone else's idea of a "really fun gift", then that's a different story. I got the impression from the initial post that this was something the gentleman felt his wife would want, since she's apparently already got a flatbed scanner. I know that I would certainly not have wanted anyone to pack up every slide and negative they could find in the house and do this for me. But, I'm kind of a compulsive neat freak, and I used the whole project as an opportunity to review and reorganize everything as I went along. By the time the images were scanned, they were also well organized, both digitally and physically. Even though I didn't necessarily get a big charge out of sitting next to the scanner listening to it, I did get a huge amount of satisfaction out of the whole project, and much of that satisfaction came from the "process" aspect of it.,

I did go back and reread the original post, and, ahem, those references to "we" do cast a bit of a cloud over whose idea this really is.

[jesse]

My husband is in the process of scanning his negs, it is a long process but one that he is enjoying. He uses an older minolta, it does a good job. You may want to find one that uses Digital Ice, it automatically removes dust and scratches from the negs.

jesse

[ka jowct]

Scanning slides and negative isn't a big thing. Even my simple mind scans them on my Alfa scanner with very good results. Maybe not as good as sending out but it doesn't envolve anymore learning curve than scanning a piece of paper.

No offense, Sam, but there is a (good) reason that people get drum scans or use dedicated film scanners. It IS a big thing, if you care about quality.

I wish it were as simple as throwing some slides into a flatbed and pressing a button. It's certainly not like scanning a piece of paper.

[raz]

[quote ka jowct]Scanning slides and negative isn't a big thing. Even my simple mind scans them on my Alfa scanner with very good results. Maybe not as good as sending out but it doesn't envolve anymore learning curve than scanning a piece of paper.

No offense, Sam, but there is a (good) reason that people get drum scans or use dedicated film scanners. It IS a big thing, if you care about quality.

I wish it were as simple as throwing some slides into a flatbed and pressing a button. It's certainly not like scanning a piece of paper.
Indeed. My ancient Minolta Dimage produces TIFF files of roughy 28 megabytes. Then, the color needs to adjusted, scratches and dust that didn't get removed by ICE, any other retouching, ...

Next, comes the printing (or burning or ...)

At this level, photography is an art form. If the Mom is of that mindset (like AlphaDog), then she'll get the same pleasure out of the finished result. If Mom just wants prints of the kids when they were young because she never drags out the slide projector ...

[grad]

[quote AlphaDog] The question posed was about suggestions for a 35mm scanner, not a question about whether or not one should be purchased or options for completing the task.
Maybe you should re-read the original post?
We are all offering our recommendations and experiences.

[AlphaDog]

[quote grad][quote AlphaDog] The question posed was about suggestions for a 35mm scanner, not a question about whether or not one should be purchased or options for completing the task.
Maybe you should re-read the original post?
I did re-read the post, as I mentioned in the final sentence of another post a couple of notches up the ladder.

[anonymouse1]

I agree with raz. Either the Minolta or one of the Nikons with Digital ICE, if she wants to do it herself. Otherwise, outsource.