Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

> I recently set up an old friend's new computer with a dual-boot of the
> included Windows XP and Hardy Heron with GNOME. He actually
> straight-away preferred the Heron ("It doesn't look like a cartoon!").
>
> Now he is wanting to get a flat-bed scanner that is capable of copying
> his extensive collection of old 35MM slides. He wants to be able to do
> this with Ubuntu, instead of having to boot to Windows. Within reason,
> price is not a concern.
>
> I have no experience scanning slides, so what hardware do the experts
> recommend for this? (My scanner is an elderly HP Scanjet that works fine
> with Xsane.)
>

I recommend the Canon CanonScan LiDE 25. Having recently bought one myself.
It works straight out of the box with Ubuntu, just plug in and go. Also
amazingly inexpensive, and gives fantastic quality to old slides. I have
been recovering old family photos from the 1930s with no trouble at all.

Just remember to remove any slide frames before you do the scan.

Quite compatible with Xsane, which is what I use, and it also doubles up as
my photocopier.

--
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free

Robin T Cox wrote:

> Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:
> [seeking recommendations]

> I recommend the Canon CanonScan LiDE 25. Having recently bought one
> myself. It works straight out of the box with Ubuntu, just plug in
> and go. Also amazingly inexpensive, and gives fantastic quality to
> old slides. I have been recovering old family photos from the 1930s
> with no trouble at all.

Hmm. Didn't I read somewhere that Canon was not Linux-friendly, and
refusing to produce drivers/software for us?

Or ... you may have provided my answer!

> Just remember to remove any slide frames before you do the scan.

Frames? Ooh, I hope you don't mean remove them from their cardboard
mounts, do you?

> Quite compatible with Xsane, which is what I use, and it also doubles
> up as my photocopier.

Ah. No Canon software. I guess we are bound to use Xsane... We'll get
by.

Thanks. Both you and clay.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows

On Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:01:59 -0500, Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

> I recently set up an old friend's new computer with a dual-boot of the
> included Windows XP and Hardy Heron with GNOME. He actually
> straight-away preferred the Heron ("It doesn't look like a cartoon!").
>
> Now he is wanting to get a flat-bed scanner that is capable of copying
> his extensive collection of old 35MM slides. He wants to be able to do
> this with Ubuntu, instead of having to boot to Windows. Within reason,
> price is not a concern.
>
> I have no experience scanning slides, so what hardware do the experts
> recommend for this? (My scanner is an elderly HP Scanjet that works fine
> with Xsane.)

I would have three recommendations: Epson, Epson and Epson. You might want
to check specific models as ayasys.jp (click on english in upper right) -
they have Epson Linux drivers for printers and scanners. I can also
recommend looking for a refurb unit at the Epson online store.

On Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:50:24 +0000, Robin T Cox wrote:

> Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:
>
>> I recently set up an old friend's new computer with a dual-boot of the
>> included Windows XP and Hardy Heron with GNOME. He actually
>> straight-away preferred the Heron ("It doesn't look like a cartoon!").
>>
>> Now he is wanting to get a flat-bed scanner that is capable of copying
>> his extensive collection of old 35MM slides. He wants to be able to do
>> this with Ubuntu, instead of having to boot to Windows. Within reason,
>> price is not a concern.
>>
>> I have no experience scanning slides, so what hardware do the experts
>> recommend for this? (My scanner is an elderly HP Scanjet that works
>> fine with Xsane.)
>>
>>
> I recommend the Canon CanonScan LiDE 25. Having recently bought one
> myself. It works straight out of the box with Ubuntu, just plug in and
> go. Also amazingly inexpensive, and gives fantastic quality to old
> slides. I have been recovering old family photos from the 1930s with no
> trouble at all.
>

That is truly remarkable. The last time I tried anything canon under Linux
it made a passably good boat anchor but that was all (well, maybe a
doorstop too).

> Just remember to remove any slide frames before you do the scan.
>
> Quite compatible with Xsane, which is what I use, and it also doubles up
> as my photocopier.

ray wrote:

> I would have three recommendations: Epson, Epson and Epson. You might
> want to check specific models as ayasys.jp (click on english in upper
> right) - they have Epson Linux drivers for printers and scanners. I
> can also recommend looking for a refurb unit at the Epson online
> store.

Epson, Epson and Epson, eh? Okay!

I see in your other post it is aVasys.jp which I found, and yep lots
of drivers. Investigation begins. Thanks.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows

On Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:32:04 -0500, Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

> ray wrote:
>
>> I would have three recommendations: Epson, Epson and Epson. You might
>> want to check specific models as ayasys.jp (click on english in upper
>> right) - they have Epson Linux drivers for printers and scanners. I can
>> also recommend looking for a refurb unit at the Epson online store.
>
> Epson, Epson and Epson, eh? Okay!
>
> I see in your other post it is aVasys.jp which I found, and yep lots
> of drivers. Investigation begins. Thanks.

OK, so maybe that's a little strong. I've heard that HP scanners work
fairly well also. But I have found the avasys 'iscan' software to be
pretty nice.

Beauregard T. Shagnasty schreef:
> I recently set up an old friend's new computer with a dual-boot of the
> included Windows XP and Hardy Heron with GNOME. He actually
> straight-away preferred the Heron ("It doesn't look like a cartoon!").
>
> Now he is wanting to get a flat-bed scanner that is capable of copying
> his extensive collection of old 35MM slides. He wants to be able to do
> this with Ubuntu, instead of having to boot to Windows. Within reason,
> price is not a concern.
>
> I have no experience scanning slides, so what hardware do the experts
> recommend for this? (My scanner is an elderly HP Scanjet that works fine
> with Xsane.)
>

I have a flatbed Canon scanner that does transparencies and it works
really well but only in Windows.
Although there is the odd exception Canon stuff does not work under Linux.
Because Canon has in the past made noises they don't intend to change
their ways I would leave them alone.

So you are much better off going with either HP or Epson.
With them it's the exception when they don't work under Linux.

On 2008-11-03 18:01:59 +0000, "Beauregard T. Shagnasty"
said:

> I recently set up an old friend's new computer with a dual-boot of the
> included Windows XP and Hardy Heron with GNOME. He actually
> straight-away preferred the Heron ("It doesn't look like a cartoon!").
>
> Now he is wanting to get a flat-bed scanner that is capable of copying
> his extensive collection of old 35MM slides. He wants to be able to do
> this with Ubuntu, instead of having to boot to Windows. Within reason,
> price is not a concern.
>
> I have no experience scanning slides, so what hardware do the experts
> recommend for this? (My scanner is an elderly HP Scanjet that works fine
> with Xsane.)

If you are just looking to scan slides and film at high quality then
you can't beat a dedicated film scanner, the best being a Nikon
Coolscan. It doesn't need to be brand new, ones going back several
years are excellent quality and well-built so they should be good
2nd-hand options. Mine is a Super Coolscan 4000 and the detail
available from good slides is quite a shock.

For running them under linux you will need the excellent VueScan from here:

http://www.hamrick.com/

Free for a perfectly usable version or cheap for the full-featured pro
version with a lifetime license and it will run almost any scanner
(slide or flatbed) ever produced!

Slightly clunky interface, but apart from that highly recommended and
his support is also good. On a Mac where I could compare with the
Nikon software I was getting as good or better results from VueScan on
Kodachrome 64 where the emulsion is a real tester for dealing with dust
spots etc.

Michael
--
______________________________________________

Hopkins Research Touch the Future
______________________________________________

On 2008-11-04 11:16:48 +0000, Michael Hopkins
said:

> Free for a perfectly usable version or cheap for the full-featured pro
> version with a lifetime license

oops apparently not free for basic version anymore but still cheap at $40

M

--
______________________________________________

Hopkins Research Touch the Future
______________________________________________

Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:

> I have a flatbed Canon scanner that does transparencies and it works
> really well but only in Windows.

Therein lies the rub. :-)

> Although there is the odd exception Canon stuff does not work under
> Linux. Because Canon has in the past made noises they don't intend to
> change their ways I would leave them alone.

One exception is my recent gift of an EOS 10D camera. First time I
plugged in the USB, the Heron asked me if I wanted to download the
photos.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows

Michael Hopkins wrote:

> If you are just looking to scan slides and film at high quality then
> you can't beat a dedicated film scanner, the best being a Nikon
> Coolscan.

While he and his wife said slides were the primary goal, she also has
shoeboxes full of old prints that they also want to work with at a later
date. I emphasized slides in my original post 'cause all regular flatbed
scanners will do prints, but not vice-versa. Thanks for the advice,
though.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows

Beauregard T. Shagnasty schreef:
> Dirk T. Verbeek wrote:
>
>> I have a flatbed Canon scanner that does transparencies and it works
>> really well but only in Windows.
>
> Therein lies the rub. :-)

Indeed, quite a rough rub.

>
>> Although there is the odd exception Canon stuff does not work under
>> Linux. Because Canon has in the past made noises they don't intend to
>> change their ways I would leave them alone.
>
> One exception is my recent gift of an EOS 10D camera. First time I
> plugged in the USB, the Heron asked me if I wanted to download the
> photos.
>
Same here with a G7.
But it's not, as one would expect, recognised as a mass storage device
but as a PTP/MTP device.
Digicam does recognise it but communication is dog slow.
So it works much better to just take the chip out and put it in a reader.

My GF's Nikon P5000 and my D80 are recognised as mass storage devices
and everything is that much smoother.

clay wrote:
> Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:
>> clay wrote:
>>...
>>
>> Maybe I could google as well if I had the model ...
>
> I'll post it tonight. As I said, probably obsolete now. The peripheral
> people seem to phase out models monthly any more...

Epson Perfection 3170 Photo.

clay wrote:

> clay wrote:
>> Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:
>>> Maybe I could google as well if I had the model ...
>>
>> I'll post it tonight. As I said, probably obsolete now. The
>> peripheral people seem to phase out models monthly any more...
>
> Epson Perfection 3170 Photo.

Ok thanks. That gives me a good starting point for looking for info -
which series and so forth.

--
-bts
-Friends don't let friends drive Windows