Does anyone have any good recommendations for a 35mm film scanner for an avid hobby photographer?

I’ll be working with mainly 35mm color and slide films therefore I intend to invest in a 35mm slide scanner.

(I’ve tried researching online and only get scanner reviews from 2001-2002 and am guessing they’re most probably outdated)

I’m using Mac OSX so support for it is most crucial.
Also, I’m a hobby-photographer so I can take all my time to scan films.

Need your opinions and recommendations!

What is a reasonable resolution and dpi/ppi to scan 35mm slides if they will only be viewed on 20″ monitor? I am currently using a flatbed scanner and would appreciate any advice you may have. I am not against purchasing a devoted 35mm slide scanner if that is the best thing to do. I have about one hundred slides I am looking to get scanned in the near future. I am not seeking perfection, but I would like the best compromise between quality and performance. Thanks.

My father was an incredible amateur photographer who left us with all of his work. We now have literally hundreds and thousands of  slides from family events, vacations, and the sort. My goal is to scan them to my computer and burn a DVD for my family, most importantly my mother. Is there a suggested method, device, or service that will help get all these slides to the right format with good quality? Should I purchase a 35mm slide scanner just for this project or is there another way?

I have a question about photo slide positives and negatives. When film prints to a paper, or print, is that the positive?. Then the sleeve of film is referred to as the Negatives? The negatives have me putting on my reading glasses just to see which picture they are so I think scanning them would be a bit tricky for me.  So,  I want to transfer all my 35mm Photo Prints to computer images files. What Scanner should I consider using? Are these scanners expensive? Any help is very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I need to scan color, as well as black and white, 35mm negative strips. Somebody recommended the Microtek 4800? can you recommend a different one that might perform better?

Answer: The Microtek is a decent entry level slide and negative scanner. The images are not great and the processing can be slow. Plus you need to worry about computer compatibility. I would recommend a 35 mm slide and negative scanner that does not require a direct computer attachment. This way it is easier to scan your 35mm negatives and then plug the memory card into any computer. You don’t have to worry if it is XP, Vista, Mac, or whatever. They are simply jpg images that you can drag and drop wherever you like.  Plus, if it is not always attached to your computer it will take up permanant real estate on your desk. Pull it out when you need it, and put it away when you are done. I hope this advice helps.

A lot of people have asked this question about scanning old 35mm slides and it seems that the Epson 4490 has been recommended. I have Vista and it appears this scanner is not compatible with my operating system. The Nikon Coolscan-V ED was also recommended to me and it is Vista compatible, is this a better scanner? Obviously I want good quality, ease of use, and an affordable scanner. Do you have any advice for me?

Answer: Because operating systems are constantly changing, I am a fan of this 35mm slide scanner that can work independent from a computer. It can store your images directly to a memory card and then you can just transfer them to any computer, Mac, PC, XP, Vista, 7, and whatever comes out next.

I Have close to 900 35mm slides that need to be scanned and converted to a digital format for my Mac I would prefer .jpg’s but any digital format will work . How can I go about accomplishing this?
I currently have a Brother MFC420 / flat bed scanner but I am not sure it is the right tool for the job.

A: Scanning slides with a flatbed scanner is not an efficient way to convert them to digitals. There are 35mm slide scanners available that will actually backlight the slide before capturing the image. This way each slide is converted and the images will have better lighting.  If you have 900 slides to convert it is going to take you a very long time to get through all of them. Alternatively you might consider using a service.  If however you want to have the ability to scan slides as needed, a home model is a perfect solution.

I recently came across some old negatives and was wondering if anyone had some advice for me.

I have a 35 mm slide film that is about 30 years old. I would really like to minimize the potential for damage. My 35mm slide scanner can hold straight strips of up to 5 frames, so I want to get them in this form. The scanner can also scan plastic or cardboard frames that are used for holding single frames of 35mm slide film. Any advice?

I took my first trip to Europe back  in 1979, and all my pictures are 35mm slides, just sitting in a carousel collecting dust. I really want to see them again! This is not only about my pics, my Aunt went to Norway in the 50’s (certainly her slides are black and white), and now that I’m into genealogy I want to see pictures she took . They were mostly of our relatives over there. It would be so fun to put all these pictures into my family tree software! Is this possible, and if so, how can I do it?

Answer: This is not only possible, but it is a a fun project and incredibly easy. Check out this 35mm slide scanner it should be all you need. Good luck and get ready for some fun!

I have close to 500, 35mm slides, They are pretty old, like from 1950. They are vacation slides I would love to preserve the memories to digital format. Eventually I would like them on DVD’s. So I purchased a HP slide scanner and SOFTWARE. I can get them to the scanner but I can’t get them on the computer. Can you please help?

Answer: While I do not have experience with that particular model, does it have a memory card or do they scan directly to your computer? If it has a memory card, then it is very simple. Just drag and drop to a DVD program and burn the dvd. If you are connecting directly to your computer, you need to figure out where the HP software is loading them. Usually they are hidden within a program directory and not in an obvious pace like the “my pictures” folder. Good Luck.