At 06:47 PM 1/31/99 -0800, two.wing-nuts at juno.com wrote:
>Nancy: I have a HP ScanJet 4100C which does not scan slides. The next
>model up (not sure if it is 5100 series or 6200 series) has an optional
>slide scanner. My 4100 cost $200 and the slide scanning model is in the
>$400 range. In my ignorance I placed a slide on my scanner and actually
>got a fair result. (see attached file) Every other slide I tried did not
>work. Only got scans of the cardboard mounts. The first slide was an
>over/underexposed (?) light washy image. The strongly colored contrasty
>slides did not scan. I wish I could have afforded the more expensive HP.

You're talking about a flatbed scanner, here. With all due respect, this
is a very poor choice for scanning 35mm slides. The resolution is very low
(a few hundred DPI, the HP Photo Smart, currently $399 or less if the
rebate's still running) will scan slides at a true 2000 dpi.

The flatbeds that HP offers that have transparency adaptors simply light
the work from behind, rather than below like for reflective work. Lit
below, as you found out usually you'll get a great scan of the slide
mount but not the slide.

The flatbeds ARE a reasonable choice for LARGE transparency materials,
and that's really what the slide adaptor's meant for, not for 35mm
slides which are very tiny. Medium format, or view camera chromes can
be scanned reasonably well on a flatbed because that 300 or 600 dpi is
scanning 2.25 x 2.25, 2.25 x 3.25, or 4 x 5 " 'i's " (inches). This
will give you good results for web use. And of course larger transparency
source material, like those used for overhead projectors or the like,
are excellent source materials for a flatbed with a transparency
adaptor.


> When I accessed HP's web site (www.scanjet.com) and looked at the model
>that scans slides it looked like a simple device that sits on the scanner
>bed.

It's essentially a fluorescent light fixture with proper color balanced
tubes (5000 K) like used in photographic light tables. It has simple
control circuitry to tell the scanner not to turn on the underside
lights when the overhead light's on.

I might add that this IS a great tool for scanning sheets of slides
for anyone who wants to register copyrights or the like. Simply use
the transparency adaptor but don't plug in the communications cable
and figure out a way to get it to turn on all the time, and voila!
The slides are illuminated and the underneath source scans the
slide mounts for caption info, etc.




- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net