# Which photo scanner to get, to archive old photos?



## LoneReaction (Jan 8, 2012)

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this.

I have dug up a huge load of photos that belongs to my mother, taken in the 70s and 80s. I also found photos of my childhood in the early 90s.
The total count at the moment is 27 'rolls' of 35mm negatives, and about 5000 prints, mostly in 4"x6".

I have spent a day reading online about photo scanners, but most of the time people talk about scanning negatives, and not prints. So far I've seen that the Epson v600 and Epson v700 have great reviews. (They cost about 300+USD and 700USD where I live, a bit more expensive than in the US.)

Would the V600 be sufficient for my needs? Or would the v700 be significantly better to justify the added costs? I am open to other brands and models too.


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## unpopular (Jan 8, 2012)

I'd have the negatives scanned at places like Wal-Greens or whatever one-hour photomat you have.

For the 5000 prints the only option is to get something like this:

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 - 600 dpi x 600 dpi - Document scanner

With 5000 images, make sure it has automatic skew adjustment, otherwise you'll be well into your next life deskewing your photographs. You won't get huge resolution, but making enlargements off the print isn't necc a good idea anyway and 600x600 is more than enough resolution for archive.

When you're done, you could either resell it or use it to organize your bills and stuff.


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## LoneReaction (Jan 9, 2012)

That is a great idea . I did a little more internet research, and found someone offering scanning services for negatives, using a nikon coolscan 9000. Rates are at about 10USD a roll. Maybe I'll go that route for the negatives, it will save me a lot of time and probably end up with a much better photo.


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## djacobox372 (Jan 10, 2012)

The quickest way to make copies of prints is to photograph them with a quality camera on a copy stand.  

Negs need to be washed and then scanned, with that many I'd likely send it out.  If you want to do yourself, a large flatbed (like an epson 700), can scan 24 negs at a time, which really speeds things up.


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