Questions about scanning photos, negatives and slides

[yn9man]

Not sure where best to post this message. Looking to purchase a scanner that will scan old photographs, negatives,  and slides. Black & white photos date from the late 1880s to the 1970s and colored photos date from the 1950s to current. I also have some colored Polaroid photos. Negatives are from the early 1900s to about 1980 and are in various sizes and shapes. The slides date from the 1960s to the 1990s and are black and white and colored. I realize this activity will be time consuming but I now have the time to attempt this endeavor. What is the best scanner for this activity? Will one scanner do all of the above? What photo imagery editing program (am assuming I will need something since many of the old photos are faded, blurry and /or discolored) will work best after I scan? I am very low tech so any hints, comments, assistance, guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ynman 

[[Ray]]

Hi,     

This is NOT a criticism, you say that you are "low tech"           

So, buy a cheap scanner/copier/printer     limit £100 ?
Try scanning a cross-section of what you wish to do     


Modern kit comes with basic software which will give you an idea of what you can/could do.     
( You can spend more on kit and the s/w it comes with. You can add more capable software )     

Play with it first?   
It all depends upon YOUR expectations and what you ( have the resources to ) have bought.     


Ray
ps you have signed your post YNMAN but your ID is YN9MAN
   

[Little Nell]

There are a number of topics on this subject on this board e.g. -

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=122341.msg541162#msg541162
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=752987.msg6017612#msg6017612

(those are just two results but I am not recommending those above any others you may find  )

There was an article in Amateur Photographer just last month about this as well.  However, it was really just about the equipment that you might need, and not the techniques that produce the best results 

As time passes and technology improves, any advice given will probably change.  All  I can say from experience is that it is time consuming!  I'm still learning and often return to previous projects to improve on what I managed to achieve before.

There are some professional services out there which might be worth considering depending on your budget.

Nell

[yn9man]

Ray -

Thanks for your advice. I have read some articles and I guess it depends on exactly what I want to scan and the size of the materials to be scanned. Probably going to buy the cheapest unit I can find for the immediate future. 

Sorry for the wrong name. Guess I didn't pay attention to the "spell check" button … or just another day with poor eyesight.

yn9man   

[yn9man]

Little Nell -


Thanks for the advice and the rootschat links/ posts. I have plenty of time … not sure about patience though.


yn9man

[tomkin]

 
              Most modern scanners will scan slides and photographs. Your problem is that a lot

            of your old negatives will not be 35 mm which is of course the modern type.

           There are stand alone scanners and multifunction i.e. Printer/scanners.

               This may help you understand scanning slides with a Canon Multi function.

               You are right to research before you buy.

                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO4X6vAtIxU

                 I've just tried this link but the sound doesn't seem to work

                     let me know if you have the same problem.