Minolta Scan Dual IV Suggestions Wanted!

[codyj1286]

Hello Everyone and Merry Christmas!

 

I very much so apologize if I just didn't research this topic out well

enough and find an educated answer for myself. So I recently came

upon a Scan Dual IV and was wondering if I might recieve some help. I

have a Digital Rebel XT, and am computer savvy so this isn't just a

tech question about how to plug a cable in ;)

 

My first "job" (for family) that I am tasked with for this scanner is

to scan in hundreds of Kodachrome, Ektachrome, and other Kodak Slide

films from the early 60's. I see no problem at the moment with the

scanning software, and have practiced scanning some slides, WOW are

they stunning for being so old, really, really beautiful colors

unedited!

 

So, my computer is very well capable, and I have tons of space,

obviously using my dSLR I can get RAW shots that are around 8mb per

shot. So, could anyone recomment particular settings on the scanner

that would yield similar 8mb files of these scans, in resolution etc

etc. I couldn't see these being ever any larger than a 4X6, but I

want a good photo record and turn it digital so it will last "forever".

 

Thank you guys very much for the input and I would love any adive you

could give me.

 

Merry Christmas!

Cody Jorgensen<div></div>

[mendel_leisk]

I'd advocate using the scanner's highest resolution (3200dpi?), and saving 16 bit per channel tiffs. You may not want or need it now, but it will do justice to your slides, and save re-doing them. Since that scanner does not have ICE, you will likely have a "labour of love" ahead of you, depending how closely you look, and how meticuluous you are. Even with ICE, this excercise is necessary, though easier.

 

If you want to squeeze the most files (onto hard drives, dvd, or whatever), the best lossless compression (I think) is jpeg2000. There's a free plug-in available for download here:

 

http://www.fnordware.com/j2k/

 

That will work within Photoshop CS2, just giving you an extra "save-as" option. Still, the safest and least cumbersome approach is to just stick with uncompressed tiffs: storage capacities are always improving.

 

FWIW, I'd advocate outputting Minolta Scan Utility's "16 bit linear" format, with auto-exposure off, and manual focus each slide, at off-center compromise position. And retain these as your masters. There is a learning curve for working with these tho. I either convert them through Photoshop, with custom made ICC profile, or use them as source raw file through Vuescan, utilizing the same profile. You might want to stay clear of all this "nonsense", and just output MSU's 16 bit (regular), with auto-exposure on.

[alan_olander1664878205]

For all the time and effort it's going to take to scan all the slides, I would scan them at the highest resolution in 16 bit and save them as TIFFs. You would have all the data you needed to work with for small or large prints if you ever wanted them. The TIFF files, however, are going to be much larger than 8mb, more like 70+mb, but an 8mb RAW file converted to a TIFF would be much larger, too. If you scan them at one half the highest resolution and save them as an 8 bit TIFF you will get about an 8mb file size.

[mendel_leisk]

If you do opt for lower resolution (don't, don't), at least do your scan at highest res 16 bit, and do the downsample afterwards, with Photoshop bi-cubic method. Experiment with the downsample options, and retain your originals until you have sorted out your method.

 

Further on jpeg2000: with it's lossless option selected, the jpeg is a misnomer: it *is* a lossless format, you are not compromising your pixels. It can be converted back to tiff, with no change in the translation. But with it's "lossy" format, or regular jpeg, you definitely *are* degrading the image quality. The latter is really not an option, if you want to retain the full scan quality.

 

If your whole project involves "hundreds" of scans, say 500, it would not take a lot of (high quality) dvd's to store the lot at full resolution. It's best to have atleast 2 discs burnt (stored at different locations), and maybe an external drive stashed away as well.

[johnclinch]

I would echo the above advice but with one small difference

 

Keep everything you scan as described above, the way to save space is scan less!

 

I would only scan for a purpose

 

e.g. scan 20 slides of the Yellowstone trip then print for the album

 

any way good luck