I have a large number of slides I would like to xfer to a puter and understand that the slide adapters that either come with or can be had separately for regular full size scanners are not the greatest (which I understand).
Can anyone recomend a slide only scanner that isn't too expensive? I'm not sure what the price range is, but I would guess something under $200 for starters.

Unless there is a full size scanner that will give a decent (not necessary the best) scan out.

I'm not looking for the best, just something that isn't going to noticeable degrade the slide (worse that what it is already).

I have looked at slide scanners before and there are a couple in that price range, although I can't tell you anything about quality since I have never gone so far as to use one. I can also tell you that the next set of scanners begin at around $1000 and jump up in a major way on quality. However, as I am sure you know, if you go to that level of quality, you will also need some major storage for the resulting files. I did transfer slides to video a few years ago and found that the main thing I needed to do was clean them first....

I have been thinking along the lines of re-photographing. I have an attachment for my slr which attaches to the camera lens, drop in a slide, point at the light and shoot.

so I tried a simple setup with my digicam (viewing onscreen) it looked quite promising, but will need a little diy to set up properly.

I have many old negs too (that I no longer have prints for) which I would like to copy (reverse) and print.

Nikkon makes the best slide scanners. You will have to install a SCSI card, but they work well. It used to come with software that allow you to clean up the images.

Thanks for the replies, but SCSI is out, don't feel it's necesary and it only adds to the problems.

Any other suggestions?

Check Out the HP 3570 flatbed
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/ho/WF06b/15179-64195-215155-15202-f25-73490-73492-73494.html

A friend picked one up a month ago
Unlike the older models that use the plugin 35mm slide/neg adapter
The 35mm is built into the cover

It's in your price range

Pacific Image also makes a 35mm only scanner in the $200 range
But I have never seen one working. Only on display



Nikon does make some nice USB scanners for 35mm
But your not going to get them for the price you want to pay

http://anandtech.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--422,att78--773%2D,de_id--300.html


The above link should give you 75plus 35mm scanners listed

This week at CompUSA, PrimeFilm 1800U Film Scanner for $150 after rebates....

I have the HP3570c scanner and I've done both slides and negatives with it. The scanner works great and doing slides/negatives gets by. I found scanning slides/negatives which were either over/under exposed is virtually impossible to recover from with my current setup. Also, slides/negatives which were overwashed in colours (like a slide having too much blue or red on it) was also tricky to deal with. Conversely, slides/negatives which were really clear and colour-even reproduced nicely. The scanner software is no great thing but I do all the touchups with Photoshop which works wonders. For the price the 3570 is a good deal for home use.