[Advice please] Transparency adaptors for Flatbed Scanners

[TarJak]

I've got a little project going that will involve copious amounts of scanning of colour and B+W transparancies so they can be digitised and properly catalogued before final production.

When I say copious amounts there are over 1000 slides that need to be scanned and therefore the individual lightbox style adapter will not provide what I want. I'd like to do between 12 and 24 slides per scan for both individual and contact sheet scans

I've got a flatbed scanner that is capable of up to 2400dpi so the quality is not really an issue other than the way that they are scanned. I'm looking for advice on a good quality transparency adapter that will let me scan multiple images at once and still allow me to do reasonable sized (4"x5" minimum), scans of the slides.

[Kratos]

Might be wrong here T.J. but does photoshop not give you the option to import direct from your scanner,and from there on in you can do batch scanning. Sure i saw someone do this once...pos/neg scanning .... neg/pos scanning..summit to do with setting transparency when scanning.just a thought m8 :hmm:

[Skybird]

My language problem here: I do not exactly figure out what you mean by "adapter": a software or a hardware solution. If the latter, I can recommend the scanner I use myself: Canoscan 8400 F, 3200x6400 dpi maximum. It offers the option to set in a stencil that goives fixed places where to put up to four slides simultaneously. I tested it both with slides (framed), and negatives. Software is very good. Quality of the scans also is very good. I would buy it again without a thought. I use it (it is a TWAIN) from inside PSP9, and it interacts flawlessly with the software.

but you probably need to find it second hand, or a forgotten piece in some hidden store. I do not know the quality of other models in the Canoscan range, but Canon has a good reputation these days.

[TarJak]

Thanks for the suggestions but I guess I need to be very clear about what I'm trying to do so here it is with images to help.

OK what I have is over a thousand 1950's and 60's vintage film transparency slides of the sort you you put into this sort of machine to view them.

http://www.wedgwood-group.com/Simda_3445AF_slide_projector_big.jpg

They look something like this although some are in plastic frames rather than cardboard. There is a mix of 50mm and 35mm slides:

http://www.movies-2-dvd.com/images/35mmSlideTSTS.jpg

To digitise them you need to scan each of the images from the transparency into digital format.

Using a flatbed scanner.

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/graphics/normal/hardware/h901.jpg

To do this you need a light source behind the slide that shines through it onto the scanner. I have a scanner which does not have a light source other than the scanner lamp in the base of the scanner. What I'm looking for is advice on either a device that lets me reflect that light, or a lightbox that shines from behind the slides onto the base of the scanner, or a mirror that reflects the light from the based back into the scanner receptor.

This article mentions the adaptors but doesn't say who makes them or where you can get them: http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2F2004%2Fs1504%2F10s0 4%2F10s04.asp

Because I have so many slides to deal with I need something that allows me to rack up a set of slides onto the scanner so that I can scan them in batches rather than indivudally like this one which would make life tedious:

http://www.andromeda.com/people/ddyer/photo/scanners/scanjet-adapter.jpg

More like this but with the light source fitted so it shines though the slides when scanning:
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%20V700/images1/35mm.jpg


Or maybe I'm better off just buying another scanner which comes with the slide scanning lights already fitted. I know I can get one locally for around AU$250. Before I do part with the readies on a second scanner I'd like to see if I can adapt what I have at a lower cost. I'd like to be able to scan 12 slides per scan rather than only 1,2 or 4 per scan.

Anyone with any advice or ideas?

[August]

I have a similar collection of slides from my parents from the early days of their marriage.

What i did to get them on the computer was set up their 50 year old projector machine then took pictures of the projected images using a 7 megapixel digital camera mounted on a tripod. Worked great because the images were so large and being slides they were self illuminating. Didn't even need a flash.

Kinda nostalgic running the old projector too.

[Chock]

You're going to be looking at a serious amount of money to find a decent large-format tranny scanner, because large format tranny scanners have to try and compete with the best way to scan trannies, which is to oil mount them on a drum scanner, not that it is really possible for them to compete simply because of the physical differences in the methods. There is no way for a tranny adapter to compete with the kind of quality a drum scanner offers, because you cannot put the tranny flat enough to the glass to allow decent contact at the focal point for the scanner unless you buy a purpose- built one with a vacuum mount, and even then, they aren't as good - without oil mounting your trannies, you end up with them being out of focus because they do not adhere properly to the surface of the glass, and therefore do not sit at the correct focal point. Even emulsion-side down and out of the tranny carrier they do not sit firmly on the glass focal point unless vacuumed down or oil-mounted, and here is little that high resolutions can do to alleviate that issue either. In short, you might simply be better off paying to have them scanned at a proper repro house that has a drum scanner. It's a bummer, but that's the way it is.

:D Chock