Anyone have recommendations on a relatively inexpensive (~$100 or less) photo scanner? I was going through boxes at my parent's and thought it'd be cool to have all of our childhood photos in digital format.
Photo Scanner
- Thread starter ianoconnor
- Start date
I'd be interested in that too... Lots of old photos I'd like to scan and tag for future generations. I remember tossing out grandparent photos 'cause nobody had the faintest idea who was in the pictures or where they were taken. Preserve some family history at least.
I've used a regular flatbed scanner in the past - but it is very time consuming.
If anyone knows of one that you could feed a stack of photos into, that would be awesome!
If anyone knows of one that you could feed a stack of photos into, that would be awesome!
I may not speak for everyone, but that is not going to get the quality I am looking for.
That would be a nightmare trying to line it up so there was no glare, as well as just making sure you had all 4 corners of the photo in the picture without random junk in the background.
You need a decent flatbed and not one that feeds like a document scanner. I have an old HP that I use for my photos but it will not do slides. I even have special scanning software from Vuescan for it but that is more than most folks are going to want to mess with.
My sister has a new Epson V series, think it is a 550. I used it over Christmas for some slides and they came out pretty good. I think the newer version is the V600. If you have bulk slides you should send them out but this series scanner does great for individual select slides and will work great for old photos. I might even get one because even though I love my old HP this Espon is great for slides and I assume negatives also although I didn't try any.
Doing anything more than a few photos/slides is going to be time consuming to do right and you had better like doing that sort of thing if you are going the DIY route.
Example 35mm slide scan from the Epson:
Epson scan of 126 Instamatic slide taken with crappy Kodak camera:
Raw unedited Epson scan of old black and white photo:
My sister has a new Epson V series, think it is a 550. I used it over Christmas for some slides and they came out pretty good. I think the newer version is the V600. If you have bulk slides you should send them out but this series scanner does great for individual select slides and will work great for old photos. I might even get one because even though I love my old HP this Espon is great for slides and I assume negatives also although I didn't try any.
Doing anything more than a few photos/slides is going to be time consuming to do right and you had better like doing that sort of thing if you are going the DIY route.
Example 35mm slide scan from the Epson:
Epson scan of 126 Instamatic slide taken with crappy Kodak camera:
Raw unedited Epson scan of old black and white photo:
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You need a decent flatbed and not one that feeds like a document scanner. I have an old HP that I use for my photos but it will not do slides. I even have special scanning software from Vuescan for it but that is more than most folks are going to want to mess with.
My sister has a new Epson V series, think it is a 550. I used it over Christmas for some slides and they came out pretty good. I think the newer version is the V600. If you have bulk slides you should send them out but this series scanner does great for individual select slides and will work great for old photos. I might even get one because even though I love my old HP this Espon is great for slides and I assume negatives also although I didn't try any.
Doing anything more than a few photos/slides is going to be time consuming to do right and you had better like doing that sort of thing if you are going the DIY route.
Example 35mm slide scan from the Epson:
Epson scan of 126 Instamatic slide taken with crappy Kodak camera:
Raw unedited Epson scan of old black and white photo:
Nice car!
This! The old Indian motorcycle picture I scanned is someone from my mothers family. No idea who they are and there is no one alive that can tell me. Still neat but would be cooler if I knew the who and where.
1980 slide, before it rusted to death. I did love that old Datsun
I have two old flatbed scanners and love them both. One is a Kodak and the other is a Canon. The Canon N1220U was $50 new and only works with Linux because Canon refuses to supply drivers for Windows 7 and 8. It is still by far my favorite scanner.
By the way, those old crappy cameras took some excellent photos if the right person was pushing the shutter. It was a matter of taking the time to get the subject framed and in the proper lighting. The photos my 1946 Kodak Retina takes is proof of that.
By the way, those old crappy cameras took some excellent photos if the right person was pushing the shutter. It was a matter of taking the time to get the subject framed and in the proper lighting. The photos my 1946 Kodak Retina takes is proof of that.
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You big cheater, that is not a crappy camera! It has a real lenses and real exposure controls! :smile:
My introduction to photography was using my mothers WWII vintage Target Brownie Six-20. Took this with it 50 plus years ago.
I was so pumped as a student at ISU when I went to the Porters Camera Store in Cedar Falls and bought a 35mm Minolta SRT-101. Through the lenses viewing and "needle chase" exposure controls viewed in the viewfinder! Was wow time for me. Loved that camera.
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