scanning lantern slides

[W K Longcor]

I have a good sized collection of historically interesting lantern slides. They date from the 1800's - about 3 x4 inches in side -- and though they are on glass -- they are not all completely flat ( I think some may have been coated on whatever was available in the way of glass) . I would like to scan them so that they could be "cleaned up" (spots, fly specs, scatches ad stains) on the computer. I have no idea as to what to look for in a scanner of this type. Also -- budget is very important - I had to buy a gallon of gas this week for my lawn mower -and that almost broke the bank!:D

[Mark Sampson]

A flatbed scanner with transparency adapter would do the job.

[Doug Fisher]

If you are on a really tight budget, you could look for a used Epson 3200 or 4870 scanner. Get some 1 mm thick pieces of shimming material to raise the corners off the glass.

Doug
---
www.BetterScanning.com

[W K Longcor]

Raise the edges 1mm --??? I'm guessing this is the thickness of the film carrier used on the scanner? Are all film scanners set up to "focus" at 1mm above the plate? If so, the lantern slide cover glass might be close to the correct thickness without shims???:confused:

[David A. Goldfarb]

Lantern slides are usually really contrasty for projection. Presuming you find some suitable way of getting sharp scans, they don't necessarily make great prints, even with digital controls, because the information often just isn't there in the midtones.

[W K Longcor]

You are quite right about the contrast. And, since some of these were not "professionally" made -- the exposure, development, and overall general care in production was lacking. But, they do have some (local) historical interest. My goal is to preserve the images, and make as good as possible a print as I can -- so that they can be easily viewed by interested persons. Years back, I had a similar project. I copied the slides using a Polaroid MP4 camera. I exposed and developed to end up with the desired contrast. Then did extensive manual retouching and recopying and printing. I'm older now -- not getting paid for the job -- and modern technology has its appeal.

[Leonard Metcalf]

I just threw mine on my Epson 3200, straight on the glass. I managed to get many acceptable prints. Mind you I had to spend many hours in photoshop with the clone & heal tools. They are so beautiful... And well worth the effort.

Regards, Len

[Tin Can]

May as well add to this thread

Just got an eBay Lantern Slide of my ancestors!

Lapp/Sami with their home.

Not a great scan

Sunday I will show it to my Sons of Norway club outdoors with masks on

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50359575956_04c2b8b255_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jJ6ZqY)SAMI Lantern Slide (https://flic.kr/p/2jJ6ZqY) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[sperdynamite]

I just scanned a bunch of these using my S1R set up with pixel shift. Correct me if I'm wrong but it sure seemed to me like these were dupes from some other original photographic process? Even for an old tech the resolution seemed generally lacking on a number of them.

[Tin Can]

Many Lantern slides were mass produced and copied forever

School used them in large auditoriums

I am 70 and dimly remember the horrible shows, yet crappy 35mm slides were used in many schools up to 20 years ago

Then they slowly moved to crappy digital projectors

Now we suffer with 4K TV burning our eyes blind

[Tin Can]

I bought this image copy for the CONTENT, not as fine art or esoteric reasons

It is how many lived and still do, they appear content with their main resource, a reindeer friend used for pelt, tools, food and labor. That is not a criticism

The guy on the roof appears to be an outsider, tolerated at arms length


May as well add to this thread

Just got an eBay Lantern Slide of my ancestors!

Lapp/Sami with their home.

Not a great scan

Sunday I will show it to my Sons of Norway club outdoors with masks on

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50359575956_04c2b8b255_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jJ6ZqY)SAMI Lantern Slide (https://flic.kr/p/2jJ6ZqY) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr