I just wanted to thank all those who replied to my questions, particularly those who so kindly offered to lend me their kit (both on and off list)
I have arranged to borrow a canon slide scanner. I will need to buy vuescan - ahhh well thems the breaks, at least the NZ$ is high! Thanks again for all the suggestions. On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 20:21:35 +1300 David Mann wrote: > On Jan 22, 2006, at 9:53 AM, Volker Kuhlmann wrote: > > >> taking about 45 mins per slide for scanning, retouching and entering > >> its info into a database. > > > > What sort of data base setup do you use? > > Something I put together myself using MySQL and a bunch of php scripts. > > >> The best method I can think of involves a digital SLR with > >> appropriate macro lens and a slide copier, although sensor crop- > >> factors can get in the way of this. > > > > Do you have experience with this? With what slide copier? > > Sensor aspect ratios would only add a black area in one direction, if > > you frame it carefully. An ImageMagick loop should deal with that. > > A slide copier is a camera accessory that's been available for > decades. It's basically a slide holder with a white plastic > diffuser, and fits onto the end of a set of bellows. With the right > lens fitted to the bellows you'll get a copy at 1:1 magnification. > > It may be possible to buy slide copiers that are especially designed > for digital cameras. Or just set up a light box with the camera held > at the right distance using a copy stand. The whole approach is > basically the same: you just need a way to hold the slide and camera > at the right distance from each other. It does require a macro lens > though, and they aren't exactly cheap. > > Regarding the crop factor, the problem I'm talking about isn't black > bars... it's more to do with the fact that you'll no longer have 1:1 > because the sensor is smaller than the film unless you've spent a > truckload of money on a 24x36 DSLR. I know someone who's tried this > with his bellows setup and APS-sized sensor and couldn't make it work > because he couldn't get the magnification low enough to reduce the > 35mm slide down to the sensor size. > > >> I hear Vuescan is quite good but I've not used it. > > > > What do you use? I wouldn't consider anything less than vuescan. > > The driver that came with the scanner. It does the basics well; the > rest happens in Photoshop. I did try Vuescan a long time ago but I > didn't like it for some reason. > > - Dave -- Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
