Wasn't sure if I should post here or on the nerdery board, but I figured I'd try here first.

Anyone have any experience with digitizing slides? I called the student computing center at A&M to see if their graphics workstation had the equipment and had to explain what slides were to the student on the phone, and I'm still not sure he knew what I was talking about.

I'm planning on borrowing some old slides from someone in College Station while I'm passing through. I do have access to A&M computers, so if anyone knows if the SCC has a slide scanner (that the kid didn't know about) that would be pretty helpful.

Alternatively, does anyone know if Cushing Library could help me out with this? I figure if any library on campus has it, they probably would. I just thought about them. I'll probably give them a call tomorrow.

Thanks in advance

There are plenty of scanners on the market that perform this task admirably. There are also lots of private businesses that specialize in doing exactly this.
Are you looking to have it done for free? (Not meant to be antagonizing but your post sort of reads that way)

I wouldn't mind paying a small amount, if you know any company in College Station that'll do same day turnaround. Since I'll be borrowing these while driving through College Station, I was thinking I could scan them and return them the same day.

I called both Cushing and Evans, and neither said they had the ability to scan slides. And the slide scanners I looked at online are all like $100 for something I don't really have any longterm use for.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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I wouldn't mind paying a small amount, if you know any company in College Station that'll do same day turnaround. Since I'll be borrowing these while driving through College Station, I was thinking I could scan them and return them the same day.

I called both Cushing and Evans, and neither said they had the ability to scan slides. And the slide scanners I looked at online are all like $100 for something I don't really have any longterm use for.

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Unless it's a private individual with a scanner, I doubt you'll be able to get same day turnaround. Keep us informed.

Been down this road. Its unlikely you will find any third parties who will provide commercial on-demand slide scanning.

You would be best served to contact any friends who are professional photographer, who are more likely to have a high grade scanner. Most of those scanners include a transparency adapter which permits the scanning of film positives (slides) and can adjust for the different in location due to the cardboard slide mount. If you're lucky, someone has an Epson 10000 or successor, which permits a substantial number of scans (big glass).

93Spur said:

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Been down this road.Its unlikely you will find any third parties who will provide commercial on-demand slide scanning.

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Well that's just simply not true at all. The same day turnaround request is the issue here, not the lack of service providers.

I have had a wonderful experience with these folks scanning my dad's slides from Vietnam. They are outstanding in every facet of customer service.

I'm not sure what was said of scanners. A slide is too small. It needs to be blown up. Some scanners may be able to do that.

A few years ago, I scanned a whole bunch of my grandpa's negatives from the 1940s and 1950s. To do it, I had to leave the scanner top open and shine a light through it. I imagine you would have to do something like that for slides, the only difference being a slide is a positive, not negative image. (So you wouldn't have to do the final step for me, which was to reverse the image).

This was an imperfect solution as the images were not quite as sharp as they would be with proper reproduction equipment. If you want to just view them and see them, something rigged like this might do the trick, but if you want high quality, I'd take it to a professional.

This thread is surreal.

Slides, negatives, old photos, etc. can all be scanned, the images digitally repaired, resized, etc.
I know this is the history board but there is some really cool technology out there now, guys.

Gota De Limon said:

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93Spur said:

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Been down this road.Its unlikely you will find any third parties who will provide commercial on-demand slide scanning.

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Well that's just simply not true at all. The same day turnaround request is the issue here, not the lack of service providers.

I have had a wonderful experience with these folks scanning my dad's slides from Vietnam. They are outstanding in every facet of customer service.

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Sorry, I should have been clearer on what I meant by "on demand." By "on demand," I meant the likelihood of a local storefront location where you can simply walk-in and obtain immediate scanning services.

If you're willing to mail off, you can find any digitizing service - 8 mm film, 16mm film, 35mm negatives, slides. There are even folks who will process old film.

But the likelihood of local service which is provided on the spot is low.