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Setting sun at Capri or mountain flowers while hiking in Tyrol.
Fortunately, hours of slide presentations are long gone.
But wait: slides can also be valuable memories of family or childhood.
So what do you do as a person without a projector and screen when you inherit, find or rediscover a treasure trove of negatives or slides?
First sort out, advises Margit Hofgärtner from the computer portal chip.de.
Many photographers find that difficult.
“But digitizing costs time and money, and every single photo pays off in the end,” she says.
With a magnifying glass or the naked eye, you can throw it away or pick it up.
"Anyone who only has a few slides or negatives should have them professionally digitized," advises Hofgärtner.
It is best to try out a few providers beforehand with test scans and then compare the results.
In the case of negatives, she recommends resorting to professional services because of the complicated color reversal.
Slide scanner: From 2700 dpi upwards
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There is no shortage of specialized companies.
They usually offer their services in different quality levels and at different prices.
The standard resolution is often 2700 dpi, about 3800 by 2500 pixels, a better resolution is about 4000 dpi, about 5600 by 3700 pixels.
“If you just want to digitize your archive, a low resolution is sufficient.
If you want to look at the photos later on a high-resolution 4K television or print them larger, you should choose at least 3000 dpi, ”says Margit Hofgärtner.
A guide price for scanning in standard resolution up to 500 slides can be based on around 15 cents per piece.
For higher resolution scans you have to add five to ten cents per slide.
Top scans can cost up to one euro.
Calculate costs before scanning slides
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For most family photos, a medium resolution is sufficient, which costs between 20 and 50 cents per slide, says Peter Nonhoff-Arps from the specialist magazine “c't Fotografie”.
In order not to get scared with the bill, it is advisable to roughly calculate the costs beforehand.
“With many slides, it might be worth buying your own scanner.” Or you can rent the scanner - there are suppliers here too.
Another option: Buy a used device and resell it after it has been scanned.
If you scan yourself, you should consider: "That takes a lot of time and requires at least basic knowledge of image processing," says Margit Hofgärtner.
Scanning negatives takes longer, mainly because of the color reversal
Source: dpa-tmn
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In addition to special film or slide scanners, universal flatbed scanners can also be provided with transparency units in order to carry out the digitization work.
Which guns you bring up depends heavily on the intended use.
"In order to look at a few photos afterwards on the monitor or television, a low resolution of a simple device is sufficient," says Nonhoff-Arps.
With slide scanners it starts with 100 euros
Users who place more value on high quality usually scan in high resolution themselves. Inexpensive slide scanners start at around 100 euros, but good quality is only available from devices from around 300 euros.
Anyone who values a semi-automated scanning process must invest up to 2000 euros and more.
Then slide magazines from the Universal, LKM or CS systems run through.
"In addition to a high resolution of at least 4000 dpi, I recommend automatic dust and scratch removal," says Peter Nonhoff-Arps.
"That makes work easier afterwards."
Alternatively, photographer Daniel Wollstein from Ingolstadt recommends removing dust and fingerprints from the negatives or positives before scanning.
This also saves work in digital post-processing.
This is how it works professionally: A frame holder is pushed into a slide scanner
Source: dpa-tmn
The biggest disadvantage with self-scanning remains the high expenditure of time.
"If you want to achieve top results, you have to scan individually, which can take between three and six minutes per scan," says Nonhoff-Arps.
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The work is even more complicated with negatives because the scanner still has to convert the image in order to display the correct color fidelity.
But some amateur photographers are just reluctant to give their originals out of their hands.
You have no choice but to scan yourself.
“Before starting work, it is crucial to be aware of what you want to do with the scan,” says Daniel Wollstein.
Then the set resolution and thus also the time required to scan an image are based.
"Scan" slides with smartphone and camera
There are even more ways to digitize slides: “The easiest way is certainly to take a picture with a smartphone or a digital camera,” says Peter Nonhoff-Arps from the “c't” specialist magazine.
You need a light table for this, or you can glue the slide to a pane through which even light shines, but no direct sunlight.
Nonhoff-Arps believes that if you work thoroughly, you will achieve good results.
If you want to spend some money, but not as much as you would for a scanner, you will also be able to get by with simple lens attachments for digital cameras, says photographer Wollstein.
However, one shouldn't be quite as demanding in terms of quality with such backlight attachments.
If necessary, a tripod and a lighting system can also help to achieve better results.
Slides on a light table: Often you can take photos quite well this way
Source: dpa-tmn