Flatbed scanner transparency adapters - what do they do?

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

timeOday wrote:
> I've never seen one and am wondering if I could get by scanning a few
> slides without one. What do they do? Backlight the image? Surely they
> don't just hold the picture straight.

There are lots of flatbed scanners with transparency adapters and they
are very reasonably priced. The Epson 2480 sells for less than $100 and
does a very creditable job.
I have cobbled together some backlighting arrangements for my scanner 6
years ago when slide adapters on flatbeds were quite rare. They worked
OK but not nearly as well as modern Flatbed scanners with slide
adapters. Scanner technology has improved a lot since those early days.
Bob Williams

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

They hold the slides straight, making it easier for the scanner software
to auto-detect the thumbnails. If your slides are unmounted, they
also keep the film above the scanner glass surface, avoiding Newton's
Rings. This is not necessary for mounted slides as the mounts maintain
a gap.

Graham

"timeOday" <timeOday-UNspam@theknack.net> wrote in message
news:8JKdnUWEGvIIFDHcRVn-1A@comcast.com...
> I've never seen one and am wondering if I could get by scanning a few
> slides without one. What do they do? Backlight the image? Surely they
> don't just hold the picture straight.