35mm Slide Transparancy Care & Storage

[obcbeatle]

Hello:

I picked up a few Marvin Newman 35mm color slide transparencies from the recent Henry Yee auction. These are my first vintage slide transparencies. While I was waiting for the slides to arrive I bought a Kodak Carousel 5600 slide projector from our local Salvation Army for $10. I cleaned it up and it works great with these Marvin Newman slides. When I was cleaning all the lenses and mirror in the projector I noted that one of the lenses is actually "heat absorbing glass" designed to protect the slides when the projector lamp is on and viewing a slide. It got me to thinking about long term use/wear of a vintage slide in a slide projector not only from the heat of the lamp, but the potential malfunction of the slide dropping into the viewing slot from the slide tray. Anyone have any experience in this area? Obviously I need to be careful when handling the slides ... and need to scan them for digitally archiving the image(s). Unfortunately, right now I can't afford one of the nicer scanners I want for scanning slides and negatives. As for storage ... I thought I would leave each slide in the thick plastic protector that Henry Yee shipped them in, and then slip each slide into an Ultra Pro 8 pocket page (like used for 1952-56 Topps cards) in a binder. The slides seem to fit snug in the 8 pocket pages as long as they remain in the thick plastic protector, but are not too snug. Anyway ... any comments or suggestions re: long term use of vintage slides in a slide projector, and their storage are welcome. Thanks!

[Griffins]

To start, I would not project the slide unless you absolutely have to. The dyes in the film are very stable (especially if it's Kodachrome) but why tempt fate? I have seen slides burn up in there and more often seen dust bake right on the image.
Second, I'd make sure the slide is clean and free of any finger prints. Storing it in an archival sleeve is a good idea
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.co...e-accessories/

Lastly, rather than buy a mediocre film scanner for one image, I"d send it out to a reputable service bureau for a repro quality drum scan. If you want a suggestion pm me your general area and I'll find one.

Congrats on your new acquisition.

[Frozen in Time]

Originally Posted by Griffins

To start, I would not project the slide unless you absolutely have to. The dyes in the film are very stable (especially if it's Kodachrome) but why tempt fate? I have seen slides burn up in there and more often seen dust bake right on the image.
Second, I'd make sure the slide is clean and free of any finger prints. Storing it in an archival sleeve is a good idea
http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.co...e-accessories/

Lastly, rather than buy a mediocre film scanner for one image, I"d send it out to a reputable service bureau for a repro quality drum scan. If you want a suggestion pm me your general area and I'll find one.

Congrats on your new acquisition.

Jerry,

I agree totally with these suggestions. It only takes one mistake with any slide projector and your "one of a kind" 35 mm transparency is gone forever.
I too was floored by the content and clarity of the Newman slides in Henry's auction, and find myself in the same situation. In particular, obtaining high resolution scans of the slides.

I'm new to all of this and, if I may, would like to add a few of my own questions on the subject. What are the advantages of a drum scan? Approximately, how much per slide or negative? If one was concerned about shipping out these slides, what are the alternative solutions? In my case, I would like to finally get a scanner - the best scanner I could afford to scan both my vintage photos, negatives as well as the 35 mm transparencies.

Thank you.

Craig

[thecatspajamas]

Wow Jerry, I gotta say, the thought of putting a high-dollar "slide" transparency in an old projector fails the "pucker test" for me (as in, if I find that my backside clenches at the thought of doing something, I try to go another direction rather than tempting fate). That said, they're yours now to do as you see fit with them, but you've got a bigger pair than I do, heat shield or no

Keep in mind that these were placed in slide mounts to facilitate handling when used in production, not with the intent that they would ever be placed in a projector. If that's your chosen display method, it would be advisable to have a duplication of each one made to project and keep the original stored away. As far as storing them goes, just think of it like a negative and use the same kind of procedures as were talked about before in a not-too-long-ago thread. What you described sounds very reasonable to me. There are also 20-pocket pages made specifically for slides available. I've also been known to place individual slides in a standard card toploader and store them that way right along with cards, though that can get cumbersome if you're dealing with a lot of slides, in which case I strongly recommend the pages.

Craig, if you're ever doing to be working with anything larger than 2.5" or so, there are only a couple of consumer-level flatbed scanners that I am aware of for films: the Epson V700 and Epson 4990 models. Both are out of production currently (I think. Definitely the 4990 is not currently being produced), but can be picked up on eBay pretty frequently in the $300 range. Finding one with all the original film carrier templates is a little tougher, and will probably cost you a bit more, but depending on what you're doing you may be able to get away without them. Other than those two, you start getting into professional-level scanners, and the prices jump dramatically.

[Frozen in Time]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Wow Jerry, I gotta say, the thought of putting a high-dollar "slide" transparency in an old projector fails the "pucker test" for me (as in, if I find that my backside clenches at the thought of doing something, I try to go another direction rather than tempting fate). That said, they're yours now to do as you see fit with them, but you've got a bigger pair than I do, heat shield or no

Keep in mind that these were placed in slide mounts to facilitate handling when used in production, not with the intent that they would ever be placed in a projector. If that's your chosen display method, it would be advisable to have a duplication of each one made to project and keep the original stored away. As far as storing them goes, just think of it like a negative and use the same kind of procedures as were talked about before in a not-too-long-ago thread. What you described sounds very reasonable to me. There are also 20-pocket pages made specifically for slides available. I've also been known to place individual slides in a standard card toploader and store them that way right along with cards, though that can get cumbersome if you're dealing with a lot of slides, in which case I strongly recommend the pages.

Craig, if you're ever doing to be working with anything larger than 2.5" or so, there are only a couple of consumer-level flatbed scanners that I am aware of for films: the Epson V700 and Epson 4990 models. Both are out of production currently (I think. Definitely the 4990 is not currently being produced), but can be picked up on eBay pretty frequently in the $300 range. Finding one with all the original film carrier templates is a little tougher, and will probably cost you a bit more, but depending on what you're doing you may be able to get away without them. Other than those two, you start getting into professional-level scanners, and the prices jump dramatically.

Thanks Lance. I'm way overdue in getting a good scanner for my prints, slides and negatives as I've promised several members too many times now that I would begin to post my Mantle collection.

[Griffins]

the problem I've found with consumer level scanners (the epson and canoscan being the best I've seen) is that the dynamic range (the range of light to dark at which it can hold detail) is much lower. You can fix that a bit in photoshop if you're pretty good, but for getting detail and contrast you really need a drum scan (as opposed to a flatbed like the scanners above). I've never had an image printed by a client that wasn't drum scanned.
The price for a drum scan ranges from $15 up to almost $100 last I checked, although it could've come down in the last few years.
The suggestion of making a dupe slide to project is an excellent one, and that should be $3 or less. Just make sure whoever is doing it is responsible in handling the original- scratching the film is all too easy, especially a slide that isn't sleeved in acetate.

[obcbeatle]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

Wow Jerry, I gotta say, the thought of putting a high-dollar "slide" transparency in an old projector fails the "pucker test" for me (as in, if I find that my backside clenches at the thought of doing something, I try to go another direction rather than tempting fate). That said, they're yours now to do as you see fit with them, but you've got a bigger pair than I do, heat shield or no

Keep in mind that these were placed in slide mounts to facilitate handling when used in production, not with the intent that they would ever be placed in a projector. If that's your chosen display method, it would be advisable to have a duplication of each one made to project and keep the original stored away. As far as storing them goes, just think of it like a negative and use the same kind of procedures as were talked about before in a not-too-long-ago thread. What you described sounds very reasonable to me. There are also 20-pocket pages made specifically for slides available. I've also been known to place individual slides in a standard card toploader and store them that way right along with cards, though that can get cumbersome if you're dealing with a lot of slides, in which case I strongly recommend the pages.

Craig, if you're ever doing to be working with anything larger than 2.5" or so, there are only a couple of consumer-level flatbed scanners that I am aware of for films: the Epson V700 and Epson 4990 models. Both are out of production currently (I think. Definitely the 4990 is not currently being produced), but can be picked up on eBay pretty frequently in the $300 range. Finding one with all the original film carrier templates is a little tougher, and will probably cost you a bit more, but depending on what you're doing you may be able to get away without them. Other than those two, you start getting into professional-level scanners, and the prices jump dramatically.

OK ... that is why I asked :-) I'm pretty old school and love old electronics. I occasionally still buy 8mm & 16mm film, clean it and run them on old projectors. If I find something cool enough I'll even digitize portions of the film. Anyway ... I'm probably a bottom feeder within this group in that I can't afford an original Mantle or Ruth so if I did lose one of these slides, it certainly wouldn't break the bank ... but it would be a heartfelt loss. That being said ... when I projected these slides on my family room wall it was a pretty amazing 30 minutes. I'm not sure they make a computer display that big :-) But ... I guess I'll flip this slide projector on eBay and save up for a scanner. Been down that road before when looking for something for some negatives I have. I think the Epson 4990 was what I was looking at and as Lance mentioned, the original film carrier templates are an extra cost unless you get lucky. At least that is what I seem to remember when I looked about 6 months ago. My problem is I keep spending what little money I have on old cards and photo's so I never have enough for a scanner :-) Thanks for all the replies, tips and especially the warning on using the slide projector. Much appreciated!