<p>I'm particularly interested in scanning 35mm slides, but need to digitize other media as well. I registered with photo.net, because I was so impressed with your forums prompt response to Ethan's request. Having made a fairly exhausting, if not exhaustive search of my options, I've spent countless hours researching and come to a couple of conclusions. Even though their work seems superior, I can't afford to have all my slides processed at http://www.dijifi.com/. Having said that, my desire to have the best possible final product is hampered by my limited knowledge, and more importantly, my unwillingness to compromise on quality. To that end, I've read lots about scanner hardware, software, their limitations, and best practices. I'm not averse to sending them offshore to be processed, but have concluded that the best work can be done stateside, but is currently out of my budget.<br>
<strong>1. </strong>Not being a professional, I was impressed with the free information: <strong>How To Scan Slide Negatives Photos Into High-Resolution Digital Images</strong>, found at <a href="http://howtoscan.ca/">http://howtoscan.ca/</a>. Yes, he does have a product for sale, but I found it a very nominal amount. He addressed my concerns about quality, something that others seem to see as only a minor consideration.<br>
<strong>2. </strong>I also read <strong>Why I'm Not Using the Online Scanning Services</strong> at <a title="What I think about that" href="https://rknisely.wordpress.com/" rel="home">What I think about that</a><br>
blog <a href="https://rknisely.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/why-im-not-using-the-online-scanning-services/">https://rknisely.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/why-im-not-using-the-online-scanning-services/</a><br>
<strong>3. </strong> I read <strong>The Best Photo Scanning Service </strong>at the Wirecutter.com. The website comes with a disclaimer, something that I found completely acceptable: The Wirecutter (and <a href="http://thesweethome.com/">The Sweethome</a>) is a list of the best gadgets and gear for people who quickly want to know what to get. When readers choose to buy our editorial picks, we earn affiliate commissions that support our work. Here is an explanation of <a href="http://thewirecutter.com/hello-how-to-use-the-wirecutter/">exactly what we do</a> and <a href="http://thewirecutter.com/how-to-support-the-wirecutter/">how to support our work</a>.<br>
<a href="http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-photo-scanning-service/">http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-photo-scanning-service/</a><br>
As for my countless thousands of digital photographs, I want every bit of EXIF data attached to them. I care very much about the time, date and geo-tags. Managing all these images can be a challenge. Unfortunately, while photographing in the wilderness, I took a town day to upload almost 90 gigabytes of photos to an online site that didn't save the EXIF data and compressed the files, forever losing the original image size. Have I taken many photos that are good enough to grace a billboard? Perhaps not, but I'm confident that many of them are good enough to reproduce as life-size portraits or landscapes hanging over mantels.<br>
I have no affiliation with the three websites that I've linked to, but I sincerely hope that some of you will take the time to briefly peruse their content, so as to see where I'm coming from. Scanning the slides myself, seems like the only option for the moment, although I must admit to a burning desire to post this message and immediately go count the 35mm slides that need to be digitized most urgently. Perhaps I could send a test batch off for optimal scanning and correction, to be used for comparison to any 35mm slides that I scan and edit on my own.</p>
<p>Thank you, for your time. I'm looking forward to your comments,<br>
JW Sikes</p>
