need a photo scanner

Time to digitize the family albums & send copies to the children. The
pics are assorted sizes, but no 8x10s.

We already have a couple of general purpose scanners but am willing to
buy one made for this task.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

tia & seasons greetings

 

How would one be "made for this task"? Assuming you have a color flatbed
scanner of recent origin, it should be up to the task - have you tried?

 

Personal scanners have had quite a development cycle. I still have a
logitech roller scanner. And there was the business card scanner. So
why not a specialized picture scanner, with a good feed hopper, and
some good software?

I googled around & found nothing. So thought I'd check with the
experts.

 

Have a look at the Canon 8400F and similarly priced from Epson, they are all
pretty bloody good.

 

I use an Epson Perfection 4490 Photo. Have no complaints.

Gerrit - Oz

 

Don: I've used Epson scanners for years with excellent results, given the
price of the desktop models. Not much automation is avaliable, but if
you're willing to work the process you can do a fine job. Look for the
Epson Perfection Photo models on the Epson.com web site. Happy scanning!
~Ray

 

I have both a HP multifuction printer/scanner/fax and an
Epson scanner. They both do a good job, but the Epson has
features that make it easier. It is the Epson Perfection
3490 photo, that cost under $100.

 

I can place several photos on my Epson 4490 at a time and the software scans
them as so many different files. (and also straightens them if they are a
little askew)

I use a standard setting of 600 dpi for scanning prints just in case I need
to crop them a little. Works well and does not slow down the process unduly.

Gerrit

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
Sorry to hear there is no scanner with a good feed mechanism for
prints but guess that time is now past.
The epson, which will handle multiple prints & straighten too, sounds
like the best option.

 

Speaking of the past, there's always the HP S-20 PhotoSmart USB scanner
which was around a few years ago. It will handle prints up to 5x7 as
well as doing strip negatives.

You feed prints into a slot in the front one at a time. Rollers pull
the prints through the scanner and eject them at the rear. It has a flat
feed path so the prints don't get bent. The print scan resolution is
only 300dpi though. Negs are scanned the same way, pulled through the
scanner by rollers but scanned with a special 2400dpi insert.

You can find them on Ebay quite cheap although you might have to hunt
around for software to drive them. Here's one I found for sale:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/36usm4

There was an earlier version, the S-10 which has an SCSI interface
which would be trickier to get working.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.
Sorry to hear there is no scanner with a good feed mechanism for
prints but guess that time is now past.
The epson, which will handle multiple prints & straighten too, sounds
like the best option.