My family has hundreds of slides and pictures negatives (most of them 35 mm but also those small ones used by the old Kodak Pocket cameras - 110 film ?).
I would like to digitalize them, save and watch on my computer or on the 34 inch TV (using a TV out video board).
What is the best (and reasonably priced) scanner for the job ??
I know an adapter is needed - How does this adapter work ?? Does it use lenses for close up ou anything ???
What about the results ? Is the resolution ok ??
Thanks in advance.

I've had a Nikon CoolScan III for ~ 1 year. It produces very high quality scans (2700dpi) from 35mm slides and negatives, in fact you can end up with 20Mb+ image files so you need lots of memory if you're going to manipulate these images. These resolutions are really only necessary if you then want to print to a photo quality inkjet.

You can also get an APS film adapter for this scanner.
It is very expensive compared to flatbed scanners, but then it does produce better results. I have a vast collection of slides so I needed a film scanner.

I chose the Nikon over similar rivals from Canon (FS2700) and Minolta (Di-Image) because it has "Digital ICE" this is used to remove blemishes caused by dust and scratches on the slide/neg. It works by scanning the
film in infrared to determine where the scratches are.
Note the IR does not work with traditional silver based B&W films nor does it work with Kodachrome slides.

However most of my photos are on Fujichrome slides or
Fuji/Kodak negatives I get great results from these.

The only drawback with this scanner is the NikonScan twain driver supplied with it. I found this very difficult to use sucessfully especially with slides.

I have since bought Vuescan (www.hamrick.com), the best
$40 I've ever spent on software. It runs on Windows and Linux :-) I find it much easier to use.

Once you start scanning photos you have to learn about digital image manipulation but that's a topic for another site. Try www.scantips.com or www.photo-forums.com (this also contains review and readers comments about the CoolScan III).

regards,

Mike

The scanner I've been using is the Epson Expression 1600 SCSI with the transparency expansion. The thing pulls in high quality scans whatever I do, 35mm negatives or opaque images. Has a USB port as well. Works in Linux via the SANE driver. Trouble is, it's expensive--mine cost me about $1100. Whack off maybe $200 if you don't want SCSI connectivity, and the price still bites hard.

The lower-end Epson scanners (such as the Perfection) also do very well; I don't know if they have transparency unit expansions though.

(/me displays the teeth marks in his wallet )

Kelledin
<A HREF="http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg" target="_new">http://kelledin.tripod.com/scovsms.jpg</A>

The Minolta Dimage Scan Elite is a dedicated 35mm scanner that I can highly recommend. It also uses Digital ICE (don't leave home without it)! The Scan Elite can be had for about $700, which is about $300 less than the Nikon IV ED (another exc. scanner).

Acer recently introduced a 35mm scanner (model 2740, I think) with Digital ICE that goes for about $550. But I don't know any more about it.