Eastern Railroad Discussion > Scanning my Eastern USA RR slides

Being retired now with some available time, I am looking to start scanning my collection of RR slide originals from the past 50 years. Can anybody suggest a good but not crazily expensive slide scanner to use?

photo: CNJ (ex MEC) #189 and NYC at Valley RR, Essex, CT.

Thanks in advance for your help.

rrcaboose (Rail Scene) 

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Epson V600 - but you have to know what settings to use to get good results. Sending them to an outfit like Scan Cafe may be a better option.


RWJ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/21 09:01 by LV95032.

I've been very satisfied with Scan Cafe.  DSLRs can be set up to convert slides into digital files.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots

I have a Pacific Image Prime Film scanner that works pretty well with 35mm. I just use the software that came with it, but probably would get even better results with a third-party app. 

One always hears good things about the Epson V600, and I will probably buy one since I have a number of 6x6 cm negatives and a few slides. 

I'd recommend the Plustek OpticFilm 8200i. I'm pretty sure this scanner doesn't care whether a slide was taken east of the Mississippi or west of the Mississippi.
/Ted

LV95032 Wrote:
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> Epson V600 - but you have to know what settings to
> use to get good results. Sending them to an outfit
> like Scan Cafe may be a better option.

Good recommendation, I use one too. Solid basic scanner that's pretty easy to use including the software that comes with it and I'm far from being a computer geek...

JG

I will also vouch for the V600. I had one previously which I bought secondhand, and it gave good service and results until it finally just plain wore out. The previous owner had given it good care and used it fairly heavily, and I got reasonable use out of it before it finally gave up the ghost. I had bought it fairly cheap, in part as a means of trying out the Epson brand and feature set at lower cost than buying new, knowing full well that I would probably have to replace it in due course. It gave me good service and good results, and I was perfectly satisfied with it overall.

So when the time came to replace it,  I bought another Epson -- a new V800 , the next model up the product line. I am very pleased with it so far. I opted for the more expensive model for some additional features that were important to me personally, particularly the larger number of 35mm slides that can be scanned in one setup of the holder -- 12 slides at a time for the V800 using the standard holder that comes with the scanner, versus 4 at a time for the V600 with the standard holder. I also placed a premium on better ability to handle some larger size and odd-size material.

There have been many positive comments about Epson scanners here on TO -- do a search and read them. I based my purchase decisions on them to a considerable degree. And I am a satisfied Epson user.

MC

I recommend MartyBernard on History and Nostalgia.
Ed