I have a large collection of 35mm colour slides which I would like to convert into digital format and store on the computer. I am unsure of the best way to approach scanning these slides, and wanted to seek your advice. Do you know of any devices which are capable of slide scanning?

It is becoming increasingly common to scan slides into the computer, as this provides an efficient way to store large numbers of slides and also keep them in a state which will not degrade over time. You have several different options regarding how to scan slides into the computer. The first option is to purchase a normal flatbed scanner which comes with a special slide adapter. The more high-end flatbed scanners come with a special slide and negative holder, allowing you to place the slides within the holder and then place this onto the scanning glass. The scanner should then recognise the item being scanned as a slide or negative, and then scan the item appropriately into the computer. This is the cheapest method of scanning slides into the computer, since a flatbed scanner with slide adapter will cost around $200 - $400. However, if you have a large number of slides this will also prove to be the most time consuming and cumbersome method, since you will need to manually place each slide into the slide adapter, scan the slide, and then save the slide. Obviously if you have a large number of slides this will take a very long time and, depending on the number of slides you intend to scan, may not be a feasible solution.

The next option is to purchase a dedicated slide scanner. These are devices which allow you to feed bulk lots of slides into the scanner (such as 50 slides at a time) and they will be automatically scanned and saved to the computer. This is a much more time efficient solution than scanning slides on a flatbed scanner, but comes at a cost. Most dedicated slide scanners are around the $1000 and over price-tag. However, there is a new slide scanner which has recently entered the market called the Plustek Opticfilm 7200i SE Film Scanner (www.plustek.com/product/7200.asp). This device allows you to place four slides into the slide holder and scan the slides. While this doesn’t allow a large bulk lot of slides to be scanned, this is a good compromise between the two extremes (scanning one slide at a time, versus scanning 50 slides at a time). Additionally, this slide scanner is more affordable than most, retailing for around $400 - $500. I have not used this device myself so I am unsure whether it will completely meet your needs. Therefore, as usual before purchasing anything, I would recommend you read reviews about the item to ensure it will be useful for your purposes.

The final option is to not purchase a slide scanner yourself, but instead find a service which can scan the slides. If you have a large number of slides at the moment, you need to determine whether it will be cost feasible to purchase a slide scanner, especially if you are unlikely to do any more slide scanning after you have completed scanning this batch of slides. Employing a service to scan the slides may be more efficient in the longer-term, as you will not need to purchase an expensive piece of equipment which may not be used much in the future. You will need to weigh-up the cost of employing someone else to scan the slides versus the cost of purchasing a scanner such as the Plustek Opticfilm 7200i and your time to scan the slides. Searching Google there seem to be several companies which can scan slides and then covert them onto DVD. However, many of these companies are located in Sydney and Melbourne, and you may not be particularly keen on sending your precious slides to be scanned. Therefore, it may be safer to find a company within Canberra who can do the scanning, although this may be more difficult than it sounds given the speciality nature of slide scanning. However, I would be interested to hear about what you chose, so please let me know whether you decided to purchase a slide scanner and scan all the slides yourself, or decided to employ the services of a company to scan the slides.