I have been commissioned to scan and digitize around 3000 - 4000 35mm film slides, mostly B&W. I need to purchase a scanner OS X 10.5 compatible that will allow fast scanning at a reasonable resolution. Importantly I don't want to spend too much as it will all come out of my very small commission to do the work. I would consider any suggestions for older scanners that I might find on eBay but they would need to be usable under 10.5 either USB or Firewire?
For all those thinking they can use a $100 flatbed scanner -- Yes you can
but your time is not worth it. The major cost here
by far is labor. Paying $2,500 in labor plus $100 for a scanner is a waste of your $2,500. Spend $500 or $600 for a good used professional scanner.
How much are you being paid? You can outsource the job for about 25 cents per scan. If you are being paid less refuse the work. (Selling burgers at McDonald's pays better then scanning slides for 25 cents each.) and if you are being paid more send the work out and pocket the difference.
The only reason to do the work yourself is either
1) you are retired and need a time consumming hobby
2) The images are something you can't let anyone else see
3) You need a few images scanned quickly and can't wait for a professional service or lab's turn around time.
IF you find that you must scan 4000 slides yourself do NOT go cheap on the scanner. The goal here is to conserve your TIME. Expect to spend about 4 minutes per slide as a minimum. And this does NOT include the time you spend waiting for the scanner, you will be busy quality controlling the last batch and setting up the next and moving the slides in and out of whatever storage system is used. Assume 4 minutes of your hands-on time. So, 16,000 minutes is 266 hours or 33 days if you work 8 hours per day. I hope you did not bid this job for $100. Seriously I would not want to do this for 50 cents per slide.
For EVERY slide you will need to
1) remove it from storage container,
2) Dust it with anti-static brush
3) Look at it to verify which side is emulsion and which is base and which side is up. You may need a light table and a loupe.
4) place it on the holder on the scanner
5) Scan the image
6) look at the scan in photoshop and make minor corrections to color exposure and remove as much dust as you can in one or two minutes. This means just getting the worst of it off the main subject. This is an absolute must. You DO have to quality control
every frame and I've never seen a frame that did not require some work. Black and White always requires hand work.
7) Add some kind of text to describe the image, even if just the roll and frame number
8) move the slide from scanner to storage.
When you buy the scanner a required feature is Kodak's ICE. This can eliminate dust and scratches at about the 80% level and save much time with step #6 but this only works for color images. The process does NOT work with silver based film. So maybe my 4 minutes per slide estimate is wrong. I based it on color and using ICE.
Budget your time. Step #6 can be a real time sink. Look at a clock and just quit after 2 minutes. If it needs more work, write down the frame number and move on. It's easy for a perfectionist to spend an hour on one frame. Resist that temptation.
Given the size of the job you want the BEST scanner you can get. If you buy a used scanner you can sell it for about what you paid so don't cut corners. Using a cheap scanner could add hours to the job. Better scanners require less post scan hand correction.
The "standard" scanner that is used for this kind of work is the Nikon 5000ED. Buy a used one and don't mess around with cheap scanners. Not for a 4,000 slide job. If this job can't pay for a scanner, decline the job.
Do not attempt to use the automatic feeder. If it jams even once and destroys even one slide you have failed and will likey owe the owner of the slides more than the job is worth.
And do buy some white cotton film gloves and maybe a mask, Keep the film clean.
