How do I remove slides for scanning?

Ghoste · Apr 27, 2005

I want to buy a slide scanner and scan my film but what process do I need to remove the film? I have no darkroom experience and don't know much about it at all =(. Basically what steps alone do I need just to remove the film? Is it hard? Thanks.

oriecat · Apr 27, 2005

Remove the film from what?

Ghoste · Apr 27, 2005

The roll? =P. Sorry, didn't know it was that dumb of a question lol. It must be an obvious answer for you to ask that lol.

Edit: Haha, now that I look at it I see what you meen. That was stupid of me. Yeah. Straight from the roll how do I get the film out and do it correctly without exposing the film, but make it so I can expose the film.. do I make any sense at all or do I need to go to bed and ask this when I'm awake.

Kent Frost · Apr 27, 2005

DO NOT REMOVE UNPROCESSED FILM FROM YOUR CANISTER!!!

The film scanner is only for scanning film that has been processed!

If you're trying to scan film into your computer, you must have the film processed first! Take your film to a lab and have them process it. It is your choice at that point whether or not to have prints made.

ksmattfish · Apr 27, 2005

I'm confused now...

Treat slide film just like any other film, load it, shoot it rewind it, and take it to the lab for processing. At that point you might want to ask them to leave it uncut and unmounted (normally it is sliced into individual frames and put in slide mounts). This will make it easier if your scanner only takes film strips.

If you have to remove it from slide mounts then get a pair of white cotton gloves to keep from getting fingerprints all over the film. If you are very careful you can usually remove the film without damaging the mount so you can reuse the mount. If you just pop it open you'll need new mounts.

ksmattfish · Apr 27, 2005

Ghoste said:
Yeah. Straight from the roll how do I get the film out and do it correctly without exposing the film, but make it so I can expose the film.

You mean the roll doesn't have a leader hanging out? Normally it should have the leader out where you can get to it. If not you'll need a film leader extractor, or you can take it to a lab, and ask them to extract the leader.

terri · Apr 27, 2005

Have you looked at many scanners yet? For slide film, it might be easiest to find one with a plastic template with cutouts that exactly fit slides that have already been mounted. It's very easy that way.

I just have a pretty basic Epson flatbed at home, and have various templates for slides and negatives from 35mm up to 4x5.

oriecat · Apr 27, 2005

What scanner do you have Terri? I think I need to look for a new one, mine only does 35mm and slides and all my Holga negatives are lonely.

I'm glad I'm not the only who got confused here.

Ghoste, are you actually talking about slides, or do you want to scan negatives? Are you going to have it lab processed or do you want to develop it yourself?

terri · Apr 27, 2005

Orie, I looked on the Epson site to try to find the model # but it's apparently been replaced - it's about 2 or 3 years old now. It's from the Epson "Perfection" series. There are several out there in that series, and they come with varying negative/slide templates. But you mustn't let the Holga get lonely!!!

At the time, I went with Epson pretty much to guarantee a good interface with the printer (the 2200 photo printer). Plus the scanner came with Adobe Elements, so that assured me they'd also talk to each other nicely. I am very lazy, and scan linear most of the time, without trying to use any of the helpful enhancements that Epson offers. Any adjustments or fixes I have to make, I do in PS after the fact.

Ghoste · Apr 27, 2005

Ok, sorry guys. I was running on like 4 hours of sleep for the last two days. I think I got this now. After I shoot the film and have the roll, what do I do. So apparently just having the film processed is what I need to have the slides safely out of the roll? I was wondering if that was something I could do myself or if I have to take it to get it done. How much cheaper is it to get it processed then to get it fully developed? Sorry if I am making no sense, didn't meen to confuse you =P.

I saw Mitica's post on his scanner he bought for $200 http://www.plustek.com/products/film.htm
Apparently it's a great scanner acording to him, and recomends the purchase of it.

Heres the link to the thread if you never saw it.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14061&highlight=slide+film+scanner

terri · Apr 27, 2005

Yes, like ksmattfish was saying, shoot it and make sure it's rewound when you're done, like with regular film. Then you can safely pop out the film canister and take it someplace that offers E6 processing. That's the slide film process, and it's not hard to find, or very expensive, either. You'll get back your slides in the slide mounts for easy handling.

When you look for a film scanner, try to find one that has a template to hold slide mounts. You can drop them into the cut-out squares and scan several at a time, if you like.

Hope this helps.

ksmattfish · Apr 27, 2005

Ghoste said:
I was wondering if that was something I could do myself or if I have to take it to get it done. How much cheaper is it to get it processed then to get it fully developed?

You can process E-6 yourself, but it propbably will be cheaper to have it done at a lab. Also no toxic chems to deal with.

Processing and developing are the same thing. Slides are normally developed, but not printed.