Digitize 35mm Slides?

[Dave Renfroe]

I have used a few different scanners using VueScan software on a Mac and have struggled with with Colour Balance. I am now trying to just shoot the slide on a light-box with my Olympus TG-6 set to auto white balance and extreme macro mode. I posted a JPG without adjustments. It is not too bad except for maybe the blue-purple sky.
I would appreciate any suggestions.

Am I better off perusing it with the flat-bed scanner?

How are you "digitizing" your slide library?

You can download the original SOOC raw file here:
Oly Raw file link
(Watch out - it downloads as soon as you click the link.)

 

[AlanLichty]

I made a simple copy stand a number of years ago to scan mine using a DSLR. I posted a thread describing the setup at the time. It worked quite well for my needs.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Dave,

Love that image by the way! What a cool spot.

I haven't converted any of my old slides. I probably should at some point, but I don't have any spare time to do that, I am busy processing what I am capturing now.

I know Alan did some converting and left a link to how he is doing it. It seems to me we had someone else doing a lot of converting of old slides and negs a while back. Maybe @AlanLichty recalls who that was?

 

[AlanLichty]

Hey Dave,

Love that image by the way! What a cool spot.

I haven't converted any of my old slides. I probably should at some point, but I don't have any spare time to do that, I am busy processing what I am capturing now.

I know Alan did some converting and left a link to how he is doing it. It seems to me we had someone else doing a lot of converting of old slides and negs a while back. Maybe @AlanLichty recalls who that was?

Ben went on a binge to digitize his old slides during his last year and ended up using his camera as a scanner. He used a tripod instead of a copy stand:

Ben's description

 

[Trent Watts]

Hello Dave... I setup a simple stand with a small LED light and used my OM-1 (can't remember what lens) and just took a picture of the slide. It worked just as well as the ones I had done at a local photo store. I think what you are doing will work well.

 

[JimFox]

Ben went on a binge to digitize his old slides during his last year and ended up using his camera as a scanner. He used a tripod instead of a copy stand:

Ben's description

Thanks Alan, I was wondering if it was Ben that I was thinking of, but wasn't sure.

 

[Dave Renfroe]

I made a simple copy stand a number of years ago to scan mine using a DSLR. I posted a thread describing the setup at the time. It worked quite well for my needs.

...... very interesting article on your slide digitizing technique. Your sample there looks really good.
I don't have a macro lens, but I would like to figure out a way of using my Nikon Z50 instead of the little Olympus (without breaking the bank). I will check to see if any extensions are available.
I have a good tripod that comes out the side, so I will try that instead of the little desktop tripod I tried. Reversing the center column - good idea - maybe better than using it off to side.
Can I rely on fixing any parallax problems in post-editing?
What about colour correction - how has that worked out for you?
.... thanks for sharing.

 

[AlanLichty]

I haven't seen a great need for color corrections at all using this technique except when the slide itself had degraded colors. Most of my Kodachrome and Fuji Velvia slides have stayed true with their colors but I shot a number of rolls of Agfachrome back in the 1970's that showed some distressing color shifts. That wasn't a problem of the scanning technique however.

I did find that getting the slide level and parallel with the camera lens/sensor was critical since you have a very limited depth of field when focusing on something so close.

 

[Dave Renfroe]

Ben went on a binge to digitize his old slides during his last year and ended up using his camera as a scanner. He used a tripod instead of a copy stand:

Ben's description

Thanks for finding this post...... a lot of good tips there.
To me, the one of the Glacier Park mountains looked like the white-balance or tint was off a bit. But that could have been what the slide looked like, eh?

 

[AlanLichty]

Thanks for finding this post...... a lot of good tips there.
To me, the one of the Glacier Park mountains looked like the white-balance or tint was off a bit. But that could have been what the slide looked like, eh?

I would guess yes to the slide having shifted color a bit. The one thing I found was that the camera was very consistent on colors and everything hinged on what you were scanning.

 

[Dave Renfroe]

Hey Dave,

Love that image by the way! What a cool spot.

I haven't converted any of my old slides. I probably should at some point, but I don't have any spare time to do that, I am busy processing what I am capturing now.

I know Alan did some converting and left a link to how he is doing it. It seems to me we had someone else doing a lot of converting of old slides and negs a while back. Maybe @AlanLichty recalls who that was?

Thanks, Jim.
The slide is from backpacking in the Olympic Mountains - Lillian Ridge above Grand Valley. It was an amazing trek and one of the best campsites ever.

 

[JimFox]

Thanks, Jim.
The slide is from backpacking in the Olympic Mountains - Lillian Ridge above Grand Valley. It was an amazing trek and one of the best campsites ever.

I have done lot's of backpacking in California and Colorado, but the Olympic mountains have escaped me. I had thought about it many times, but it just never worked out. I hope you will share more photos over in the Landscape Section of backpacking there when you get more slides scanned over.

 

[Dave Renfroe]

I have done lot's of backpacking in California and Colorado, but the Olympic mountains have escaped me. I had thought about it many times, but it just never worked out. I hope you will share more photos over in the Landscape Section of backpacking there when you get more slides scanned over.

….. sure will, Jim.
Are you still backpacking? Or camping with car or RV?
It will be fun to do a bit of an article with maps and stuff.