Post by csmI need a scanner to scan my large collection of color slides. To get the
best quality scans possible (good enough for home use, it's not for a
business) what resolution do I need to look for? Looks like the flatbed
scanners with slide/film scanning are 2400 DPI nowadays.
2400 ppi/dpi or better. Only Epson scanners starting with the EPSON
Perfection 2400 PHOTO flatbed scanners will produce acceptable scans, the
EPSON Perfection 3200 PRO Color Scanner. About $599 USD, or the EPSON
Perfection 3200 PHOTO Color Scanner, about $399 USD.
I have an Epson myself, but I hope this is a recommendation withing the
Epson family, and not saying that only Epson scanners are "acceptable".
Several other manufacturers might disagree :-).
Post by csmOtherwise, you need a dedicated film scanner to get the most from 35mm
negatives and slides.
Since you only mention slides, and you use the words "large collection", you
*really* might want to consider a dedicated film/slide scanner rather than a
flatbed, for issues other than raw resolution.
Efficiency: Scanning slides is *slow*, and with (many?) dedicated scanners
you can set it up with a stack of slides or strip of film and let it do its
thing rather than hanging around measuring your life in 5, 10, 15 minute
cycles.
Dust and scratches: Especially if you're trying to do a whole mess of
slides these are unavoidable, and undesirable even to the non-pro. Trying
to remove this in a photo editing program by hand is a grind. (I've not
figured out why it seems to be harder to get dust-free scans than dust-free
enlarger prints.) Some of the better (though still not fantastically
expensive, call them medium-end) dedicated scanners have a fourth 'color'
channel, infrared, which allows software on the computer (or built into the
scanner?) to seemingly-magically cover up these defects. A brand name
process is "Digital ICE" (try googling on that).
If you primarily have an existing collection to scan -- say you've moved to
a digital camera and no longer take slides -- I've heard of a strategy to
buy a dedicated scanner, process the collection, then sell the scanner used.
If I had the cash I'd get the dedicated scanner to do *my* huge back
collection, and may try this strategy someday.
go over to comp.periphs.scanners (without the 'alt.'), and dejanews it,
where this sort of stuff is discussed a lot. I'm mainly regurgitating what
I read there.