35mm Slide Scanners

[Bob P]

The bulk of the film I used was the various Ectacrome Pro with a few Agfacrome from the 1960's

[Joe]

I can recommend the Nikon Coolscan range too. I'm still finding out what the scanner can do.....the only real poor scans I've had from it have all been down to my operational errors.
Bob, particulalry after reading that you want to use it then sell it on, I would personally recommend you go with a secondhand Nikon, Canon, or KonicaMinolta unit rather than a PlusTek unit. It isn't very good compared to the main branded items. and the branded units hold there price better in the secondhand market .
The real test for any, but especially the cheaper end scanners is to put any transparency through it, not just Kodachrome, some just can't handle the contrast and 'bleed' is a result.
In my experiences so far (I don't think I'll ever stop learning, and I've made plenty of mistakes along the way) is transparencies scan BETTER on my Nikon V unit than colour negs do.
Unlike you tho, for the time being I plan to keep the scanner and get better at that end as it seems the scans rather than the original is the element with my pics that keep letting me down so far!

Good luck

[nirofo]

I can also reccommend the Nikon Coolscan range, I've used them for years, first of all a Coolscan lll and now I use a Coolscan 4, excellent results from both. One thing I find when scanning slides, I don't always accept the first image as being the best you can get from the slide. If the result doesn't look good enough when you know the slide is good, keep reinserting the slide and scanning again, sometimes they take a bit of persuading to obtain the result you want. I've been amazed at the results that can be obtained from a slide you thought wouldn't scan, I had several slides of Barn Owls that had a very dark band across their feet, the flash setup had slipped without my realising, I scanned the slides, cropped the head and shoulders in Photoshop and now have some very useable photo's that print well to A4.

nirofo.

[Leif]

Nikon Coolscans are probably the best bet as I think they are still made, so spares for repairs, if needed, are available. The Minolta and Canon slide scanners are I think discontinued. As Joe says, the big brands will have good resale value. Years ago I sold a Nikon LS30 with little loss, but when I came to sell a lesser known brand of scanner, the loss was much greater.

[alan neilson]

From the reviews I have read if you want a 35 mm film scanner than I would go for the Nikon, if buying new if you pick up one second hand you could add canon or Minolta to the list. The other makes you can buy currently while good are still lower quality then the Nikon range in my option.

I had an Acer model which was reasonable think that has been rebadged as BennQ and don't know if it is still made now, not seen it advertised so don't think so. It had a scssi card as to usb which most seen to be and was 2700 dpi which is low for spec now as I think most are 3600 or 4000. It was the best one I could aford at the time and served it purpose.

It all is down to what you want to do with your photographs if you are wanting just to have them all as digital files then one of the cheaper models would suit your needs if you are wanting to make prints of the same quality as you could get straight from the slide you will need to spend that bit more.

Hope it helps