transferring old slides to DVD format

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hatch
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transferring old slides to DVD format

#1

Post by hatch »

I have 5 slide presentations on the topic of trout ponds and lakes in Maine which have the Maine Department of Fish and Wildlife designation of "fly fishing only". Maine has approximately 200 lakes and ponds that carry the Fly Fishing Only designation. Back when I was a kid I started a project to find and fish all of Maines Fly Fishing Only lakes and ponds. I had a Pentax K1000 camera and with slide film (you remember film?) I documented the project. When I finished I had five slide shows each featuring approximately forty different Maine FFO ponds and depth maps and other items of interest. Each show ended up being about 130 slides. For years I went to sportsman shows with my Kodak Carousel projector and slides and did my presentations. This worked out great for a long time then technology caught up with me. The projector bulbs were notoriously unreliable and finding someone to repair the projectors became almost impossible.
My question to you is, what is the device you recommend to transfer these slides to DVD? Remember we are taking about 700 slides. I want to transfer each show to an individual DVD ( I assume a DVD can hold 140 slides?) and buy a projector to play the DVD and project the images up on a screen. I know the technology has been around for a while, but so have I. If you could give me some names of products to transfer the slides as well as projector options, perhaps I can get my show back on the road. Thanks in advance.
Image
This is the entire "Fly Fishing Only Ponds of Maine" project.

AlexP
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#2

Post by AlexP »

https://www.amazon.com/KODAK-Scanner-Co ... 139&sr=8-4

If you do a quick google search, you can see that there are products that transfer the slides to a digital format. I am guessing you could then transfer the digital files to DVDs. However, you are going to run into trouble right away with DVDs. New computers do not even have DVD drives anymore...

I just picked something with decent ratings in Amazon in the link above to give you an idea.

Tight Lines

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eotr
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#3

Post by eotr »

I had a similar problem a few years back - 6,000+ slides.
I bought an Epson V550 flat bed scanner which can scan 4 slides at a time. Scanning is a little tedious but once you get the hang of it you can scan a few hundred a night. I don't recall the cost but it was reasonable at the time. There are probably newer alternatives out now. The software allows you to automatically number and/or lable the copies, add information such as date or location to each scan.

Here's a link to the V550 help site https://files.support.epson.com/docid/c ... index.html This should give you an idea of what you can expect from a flat bed scanner.
Brent

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DrLogik
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#4

Post by DrLogik »

There are companies that transfer video tape to digital. I would search for companies that do that and ask them if they convert slides also. I would not recommend making the incremental upgrade to DVD. I would go straight to Cloud or in MP4 and/or iTunes-ready digital format. At some point you'll need to do that anyway. However, having that material on DVD as a backup strategy is highly recommended. If there is a way that the converter can digitally watermark your photos, that would be a good thing to do as well.

There is software available that you can manage your new digital library and I would spend some money on that also.

FWI, I am scanning my extensive library B&W negatives, as time permits, and boy is it tedious! I recommend hiring somebody to do this for you. I'm thinking of doing the same as lately I've lost my motivation.

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hatch
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#5

Post by hatch »

Thanks for the responses. What I an hearing is that transferring slides to dvd might be out dated technology? Dr.Logik recommends Cloud or Itunes. As I was worried, this sounds like it could be a real pain in the butt.
I'm not willing to spend the money it would take to have a private company transfer 700 slides to whatever they need to be transferred to.
I saw all my choices on line as far as devices used to transfer slides to dvds. I asked on this post because I thought I could benefit from the experience of someone who had already done a similar project and could pass on the names of the equipment used. I appreciate all the education and think I'm going to follow eotr's advice to at least get started. Thank you all for your help.
eotr wrote:
01/12/22 15:03
I had a similar problem a few years back - 6,000+ slides.
I bought an Epson V550 flat bed scanner which can scan 4 slides at a time. Scanning is a little tedious but once you get the hang of it you can scan a few hundred a night. I don't recall the cost but it was reasonable at the time. There are probably newer alternatives out now. The software allows you to automatically number and/or lable the copies, add information such as date or location to each scan.

Here's a link to the V550 help site https://files.support.epson.com/docid/c ... index.html This should give you an idea of what you can expect from a flat bed scanner.

JoeBolt
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#6

Post by JoeBolt »

Unsolicited, yet friendly advice from someone who spent their entire career giving and sitting through hundreds and hundreds of slide presentations.
• edit each down to 60 slides apiece - make those cuts and you'll be happy, and so will your audience
• searches reveal pricing at about 33¢ per slide or more for super resolution - hire it out to a gig shop that does this professionally
• save to USB thumb drives, which shouldn't be going anywhere soon - for laptop presentations.
• math says 300 x .40 = $120
• doubtful you could beat that with your own equipment and time!
Cool project; full of great youthful ambition. Kudos.

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DrLogik
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#7

Post by DrLogik »

What JoeBolt said.

A decent scanner alone will set you back more than that. I bought an Epson V600 (a good photo and negative scanner) for about $250 bucks. I already had good software. However, $250 bucks plus a zillion hours of time may not be worth it when 700 slides x $.40 = $280 dollars minus the headaches...

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Random Casts
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#8

Post by Random Casts »

I’ve just gone through the process of digitizing 4000+ slides and several carousels of slide presentations into my computer and onto a thumb drive. It is not difficult with today’s tech.

I purchased a Kodak Digital film scanner even though the reviews weren’t that positive. It worked fine. I figured as long as it lasted through the project I was happy to pay…read that as not expensive. It takes time and patience but it works and you can use your computer’s on board film editing software to enhance any image that requires it. Great stuff!

No need to go to a third party provider that may not be as sensitive to your images as you would be.

Regards,
Richard
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JoeBolt
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#9

Post by JoeBolt »

Amazing hands-on experience. Great post, Richard.
Bob

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Random Casts
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#10

Post by Random Casts »

I have no financial interest in suggesting this choice I made. I used this device for transferring my slides to digital format.

Image

As I have stated previously, a third party provider may be an appropriate choice for a few dozen slides, but when you are dealing with thousands of images, some of which that may need some TLC, tedious though it may be, I like to have control over the end product.

Regards,
Richard
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crowebeetle
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Re: transferring old slides to DVD format

#11

Post by crowebeetle »

Searching on YouTube university will yield many methods with a digital camera or cell phone such as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bN-NRk4uYA

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