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Slide And Photo Scanner Recommendations

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Huderon | 16:05 Fri 22nd Mar 2019 | Technology
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Has anybody got ant recommendations for a photo and slide scanner ?

There are around 2000 slides, an unknown number of B&W photographs and around 400 B&W negatives (i'm told those negatives are about 6x9cm). The lides are mostly in cardboard mounts, but some are in plastic mounts and, I am told, some have glass. A premium service (whatever that is) quote just for the slides has come in at £1300.

Since I have a fair amount of time on my hands, I am considering volunteering to get a slide and photo scanner and do the scanning myself so that the scns can be sent to my brothers and sister. And since I know very little about these devices some suggestions would be welcomed.
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Slide/negative scanners that can cope with anything other than 35mm film are hard to come by tend to be expensive. When searching for a suitable scanner it would help to know the film format(s) you'll have to handle. (e.g. 120 roll film). This might help: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format Then you'll be able to search for, say, '120 film scanner'...
20:06 Fri 22nd Mar 2019
Slide/negative scanners that can cope with anything other than 35mm film are hard to come by tend to be expensive. When searching for a suitable scanner it would help to know the film format(s) you'll have to handle. (e.g. 120 roll film). This might help:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format
Then you'll be able to search for, say, '120 film scanner' (Most scanners for larger slide/negative sizes can cope with 35mm as well. Some, but not all, can also scan prints). A search for 'medium format film scanner' is also worth a try but remember that there are several different 'medium formats', so do check that your choice of scanner can cope with the film size(s) involved.

If you can find a PlusTek OpticFilm 120 scanner for a decent price on eBay (or similar) it would probably be ideal for you but, at over £1000 new, it's a massive outlay if you can't pick one up secondhand.
https://plustek.com/gbr/products/film-photo-scanners/opticfilm-120/index.php

Assuming that your needs don't go beyond scanning prints, 35mm film, 120 film and 220 film though, the Epson Perfection V550 Photo Scanner might be ideal for your requirements:
https://www.epson.co.uk/products/scanners/consumer-scanners/perfection-v550-photo
It's cheaper than the recommended price if you buy it on Amazon:
Amazon.co.uk User Recommendation
PS: Don't expect to get a perfect result immediately when you scan a negative or slide. You won't. I've scanned vast quantities of them and I've never encountered one yet which didn't require the scanned image to be tweaked with image-manipulation software to get the best result. You need to allow a minute or two of work for each negative/slide at least, so those 2000 slides aren't going to get scanned particularly quickly.

Scanners are supplied with suitable software but you don't have to use it. It's often easiest to scan your images directly into your favourite image processing program (such as Photoshop, Gimp or, for simplicity, Irfanview) and use that.
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Many thanks Buenchico, a very thorough and helpful answer
https://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/review/epson/perfection_3490/218226/

I don't know if one can still buy these new, because I have had one for years, but here is a second hand one on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Epson-Perfection-3490-PHOTO-Flatbed-Scanner/112177675

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