Newbie question / help on scanning workflow

[lodious]

I'm aiming to get some old negatives / slides scanned to present in a blurb book (i.e. they aren't going to printed big). I have c.500 negatives to look through, probably end up using about 50-70 images. All images are 35mm format, but a mix of slide and negative. I'm not after the ultimate in quality, but I tried scanning with an 10year old Epson flatbed years ago (think it was a Perfection2450), and came away thinking that without some kind of dust removal, it was taking too long to retouch each image to be workable. The colour balance was a bit unpredictable too.

My current thinking is to buy some kind on standalone viewer or light table /loupe to quickly work out which images are worth scanning, then use something like an Epson V500 to scan multiple images simultaneously. I've looked at the Plustek 7600i, but the scans appear to take a long time for a single image, and without an auto feeder, I can see the scanning process taking too long to be practical. Perhaps if the Plustek would be more consistent in scanning or require less post processing, it would work out quicker?

Is this a sensible approach? Can someone explain / recommend what hardware i'd need to quickly preview the images (should I buy a light table and loupe or something all in one?) Is it quicker to use a stand alone hardware viewer or should I use the scanner to preview the images (this obviously won't work for a the Plustek, as it would take too long).

I'd rather compromise on quality and get to the end of the task, than have great quality and only do 5 scans.

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[joxby]

I'd rather compromise on quality and get to the end of the task, than have great quality and only do 5 scans.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Well, I think you get out of something what you put in, but if you're not too fussed about perfection it is like you say, a flatbed that'll scan a dozen or so frames at a time and digital ice for the crusty bits.
A loupe and light box is what I use to determine what is a goer but if you have a lot of mounted slides, hand held slide viewers are pretty cheap on fleabay.

 

[lodious]

Could I use an iPad with a white screen as a lightbox?

 

[Joenail]

You can use anything that's bright & clear as a lightbox. Might end up seeing pixels if you use a computer screen or similar though. It can be rather distracting. Why can't you just scan the lot a roll at a time & only touch up the few you're going to print?

 

[joxby]

Why can't you just scan the lot a roll at a time & only touch up the few you're going to print?

I have c.500 negatives to look through, I'm not after the ultimate in quality....

I'm actually struggling to offer positive solutions because I think which ever method is chosen, it will not be as painless as lodious hopes it can be.
That and the thought that if its worth scanning in the first place, its worth investing some time making it right.
That said, sometimes the frames aren't that important, that's where cheap CD deals at Asda or Tesco come in to their own.
Unfortunately, Asda isn't an option but some consideration ought to be given to sending them out for low res scan, that is by far the most painless way I can think of..

 

[lodious]

Thanks for your input guys. I know this going to be a daft question, but when using a lightbox / loupe, are the colours are going to be inverted (as i'm viewing negatives)? Is there any way to see them as positives and do you get used to veiwing with the colours the wrong way round?

 

[s162216]

Simply put, no theres no way of viewing negatives as postives on a lightbox.

With the Plustek to just preview an image it takes about 15 seconds and if your only going to print them to a small size then its not necessary to scan then at the maximum 7200 dpi which takes about 11 minutes according to reviews (with the iSRD scratch/dust removal on and multi exposure off, it doesn't do anything for negs but its useful for slides). In fact for the sort of size your going to be printing you might as well just use a V500 at its max optical resolution and downsize after.

 

[AJQS]

The Plustek has a mini lightbox for mounted slides in the top, and that model features dust reduction. I don't know how well it works mind, I have the 7200 which has no dust reduction feature.

I've done 11 rolls of 36 in one 'go' with mine - it took 3 weeks, interrupted by work and sleep.

 

[Cuchulainn]

I'm currently in the midst of scanning my grandad's old slides with a Coolpix IV and all I can say is "good luck". It takes a lot of time to do properly - I estimate about 20 hours for the 130 or so I've done properly so far. Some of them were from the 50's and 60's, so quite degraded and took multiple passes and a lot of PS work to get corrected properly. If they are of significant sentimental value, then it's worth doing it well. Once you've done it, make sure to do a copy or two onto USB drives and give them ro relevant friends or family as a backup against hard drive failure or further degradation of the negs and slides.