Re: Slide scanning - another example

Todd and anyone else,

This sounds like a good idea IF your slides are nice and clean. Many of my slides are dusty and need a good cleaning before scanning (Digital ICE softens the image. While this is acceptable for many portraits, it genuinely sucks for train shots!) I have an older Nikon scanner (CS 4000 ED) which for all intents and purposes is identical to the newer scanners (the difference is in the add-ons included, the basic scanning capabilities haven't changed.) In my case I demand the highest quality image, and I control the processing of the scan, and while the Scan Cafe can deliver this quality, it's more time and money, and your slides are tied up for at least three months. In your case, you may not need the higher quality or can wait for your slides to be scanned.
A new Nikon Cool Scan V sells for $549.95 (the faster Super Cool Scan V is over a grand... it takes 20 seconds to scan vs. 38 seconds for the base model. Both deliver the same quality of scan.), while as I mentioned earlier you can often get a older (but NOT less capablie) scanner for $150 to $250. Mine uses firewire to send the image to my computer (most new PC's have firewire ports, and of course all Macs do as well). The newer ones use USB 2.0, which is similar. Avoid a scanner that uses USB 1.0... it will take forever to download the data to your computer, especially at the higher resolutions.

Bill Daniels
Santa Rosa, California