Railfan Technology > Film scanners and software,storage and more...Ideas?

My old Minolta Dimage Scan II has given up the ghost. It locks up on MAX dpi(PPI) scanning. So I have been thinking about upgrading to a Nikon Coolscan 5000. I've been reading some great past threads that have been very educational.
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?9,1315869,1315869#msg-1315869
and
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?9,1268548,1268548#msg-1268548
and
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?9,1132756,1132756#msg-1132756
The first thread states software that comes with the Nikon scanner is not the best. A software called "silverfast" was mentioned. I have some 6X6 med format, but a lot more 35mm slides.
Any recommendations or info are welcome. Places to buy, software. etc.
Also, external hard drives for storage? I'm running a PC.
Thanks, Dave

I started with a Minolta Dimage Scan II years ago, but never really was happy with it. About 4 or so months ago, I bought a Nikon Coolscan 5000, and I'm very happy with it. The software that came with it, once you figure it out, is very easy to use and has some nice features for working with old problem slides.

Stan

The other alternative is to have your really good stuff scanned by a service. That Coolscan 5000 and slide loader will set you back about $1500 bucks. How many can you get done for that?

Its a big number. Try looking at www.scancafe.com.

Hmm...this scancafe.com thing sounds interesting compared to other scanning services I've tried. It's inexpensive and you can review the images online and only pay for the ones you want. They ship originals to India for scanning though. I would be a little worried about my originals going all the way to India and back. I guess if you just sent small batches, any loss could be kept minimal. At 3000 PPI, the finals would be about 4125 X 2800 pixels which would work for about 95% of my needs. Has anyone here actually tried them out? If so, how were the scans and service? Thanks!

Mike

Get an Epson, for the price, you can't beat it! I have the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo that costs around $200.00, you can't go wrong with this thing!