March Newsletter
Greetings from
Porter's Camera Store!

With digital technology finally coming of age to the average consumer, people are asking, "How do I convert my vast library of slides (and negatives) into digital images at a relatively low cost"? There are many avenues which you can go down and a number of options to consider.

The highest quality will come from scanning your slides and negatives with a film scanner. Porter's sells a number of film scanners of varying cost and scan resolutions. Just new, is SmartScan's 3600 Film Scanner with an optical resolution equal to 17 million pixels. This unit is compatible with Mac and PCs and the 3600 has both a USB connection and the faster Firewire interface. This unit can handle 35mm negative film strips of up to 36 exposures or mounted 35mm slides.

Additional units sold by Porter's are Minolta's Scan Dual III with up to a 10 million pixel resolution, SmartScan's 2700 with a 9.6 million pixel resolution and the PrimeFilm 1800 Silver with 4.2 million pixel optical resolution.

If you cannot afford a film scanner, but do have a digital camera, using a slide duplicator is a possible option. Porter's sells a slide duplicator, which attaches to the front of many of today's current line of cameras. An example would be to use the slide duplicator and the Canon G3 camera. This combination is capable of an optical resolution of 4 megapixels. By placing the slide in the duplicator, which is attached to the camera, you are able to point the duplicator towards a light source and take the photo. Instant digital image! From there, it is easy to adjust any flaws with your computer software.

The third way to begin scanning your slides and negatives is to use a flatbed scanner. Most flatbed scanners are designed to scan only prints and documents, but there are some available which also scan slides and negatives. While the resolution is not as high as the film scanner or the slide duplicator, it is the most economical solution to beginning your digital library. Currently, Porter's sells the Canon D1250 Flatbed Scanner which does the job quite
nicely.

Once your images are scanned and added to your computer's hard drive, it's a good idea to save another copy on a writable medium such as a CD-R. If your computer does not have a built-in CD-R drive, the external CD-Rewritable Drive by Que is an excellent choice.

Once you have your digital library recorded, you will be able to copy the files with no resolution loss and also be able to safeguard your life's work by placing the entire collection in a safe deposit box. Happy scanning!