Scanner File Size and proof of concet?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Fox
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Mike Fox

We got 9 guys at our place to go in on a Nikon 5000 with bulk loader.
Now we need to work on the rest of the gear. We're thinking of an
external DVD burner and hard drive. We'll keep the scanner and other
gear in our computer room and use it there on a USB 2 hub and lock it
up when not in use. We'd scan 50 slides to a hard drive and then burn
them to a DVD. We'd take the DVD home and work on the images there,
or do this in the computer room, and then do a final burn to DVD. Are
archival DVDs worth the cost?

From the excellent discussions in a previous posting, we think it
makes sense to scan at 4000 dpi for archival quality images and save
them to DVDs and then resample the images for various applications
(prints, Slide show, etc.). How big a file is created from a 35mm
color slide at 4000 dpi? 50 slides at that resolution would take what
size hard drive? Is one hard drive of the same size better than
another?

We know it's not a simple process of loading 50 slides, pushing
'start', and coming back in an hour. But how much more complicated is
it? That we don't know. Assuming there are no jams and the slides
are clean, the same thickness, and the same film batch (in other
words--no problems), how long would it take to scan 50 slides?

In the automatic scanning mode, does each image come up on the monitor
so we can watch for problems?

Is this really going to work?

Thanks

Mike
 
Mike Fox said:
We got 9 guys at our place to go in on a Nikon 5000 with bulk loader.
Now we need to work on the rest of the gear. We're thinking of an
external DVD burner and hard drive. We'll keep the scanner and other
gear in our computer room and use it there on a USB 2 hub and lock it
up when not in use. We'd scan 50 slides to a hard drive and then burn
them to a DVD. We'd take the DVD home and work on the images there,
or do this in the computer room, and then do a final burn to DVD. Are
archival DVDs worth the cost?

From the excellent discussions in a previous posting, we think it
makes sense to scan at 4000 dpi for archival quality images and save
them to DVDs and then resample the images for various applications
(prints, Slide show, etc.). How big a file is created from a 35mm
color slide at 4000 dpi? 50 slides at that resolution would take what
size hard drive? Is one hard drive of the same size better than
another?

We know it's not a simple process of loading 50 slides, pushing
'start', and coming back in an hour. But how much more complicated is
it? That we don't know. Assuming there are no jams and the slides
are clean, the same thickness, and the same film batch (in other
words--no problems), how long would it take to scan 50 slides?

In the automatic scanning mode, does each image come up on the monitor
so we can watch for problems?

Is this really going to work?

Thanks

Mike
Click to expand...

I can answer one of your questions, filesize for 4000 dpi scan of full frame
35mm will get you around 51-52 Megabytes in an Uncompressed TIFF file. LZW
compression in a Tiff is lossless and makes smaller files. How much smaller,
you never know, but about 10% smaller is not bad.
 
In message <[email protected]>, Mike Fox
From the excellent discussions in a previous posting, we think it
makes sense to scan at 4000 dpi for archival quality images and save
them to DVDs and then resample the images for various applications
(prints, Slide show, etc.).

How big a file is created from a 35mm
color slide at 4000 dpi? 50 slides at that resolution would take what
size hard drive? Is one hard drive of the same size better than
another?
Click to expand...

This depends what file format and colour depth you use. If you save as
TIFF (my recommendation as when you save in JPG some information gets
lost) then it's 64MB or 128MB.
We know it's not a simple process of loading 50 slides, pushing
'start', and coming back in an hour. But how much more complicated is
it? That we don't know. Assuming there are no jams and the slides
are clean, the same thickness, and the same film batch (in other
words--no problems), how long would it take to scan 50 slides?
Click to expand...

Over an hour, though it depends a bit on if you are using Digital ICE
and what specification the computer the scanner is plugged into is.
In the automatic scanning mode, does each image come up on the monitor
so we can watch for problems?
Click to expand...

Not really, but my view is that once they are scanned in the first time,
I'll have another go on specific slides if I think it's really worth
doing. Also I like to look through the images in the 'filmslide' view
in XP to see what I do and don't like, and what has possibilities.
 
This depends what file format and colour depth you use. If you save as
TIFF (my recommendation as when you save in JPG some information gets
lost) then it's 64MB or 128MB.
Click to expand...

So if we scan at 4000 dpi and 16 bit color, it would come close to
filling a double layered DVD for 50 slides.
Not really, but my view is that once they are scanned in the first time,
I'll have another go on specific slides if I think it's really worth
doing. Also I like to look through the images in the 'filmslide' view
in XP to see what I do and don't like, and what has possibilities.
Click to expand...
Then, we'd have to go to the hdd to check out the images, do cropping
and renaming before burning, but still it would take only a modestly
sized hdd.

So 1000 slides is about 100 GB of images. A a really big hdd would a
lot of images.

Mike
 
Mike Fox said:
So if we scan at 4000 dpi and 16 bit color, it would come close to
filling a double layered DVD for 50 slides.
Click to expand...

Possibly - I haven't done the sums!

Then, we'd have to go to the hdd to check out the images, do cropping
and renaming before burning, but still it would take only a modestly
sized hdd.
Click to expand...

If you don't do what I do - keep your images on HDD. I think you said
there were several of you all in this together. I feel that if I was
doing this kind of thing, I'd get my own external USB HDD to store my
own images on.
So 1000 slides is about 100 GB of images. A a really big hdd would a
lot of images.
Click to expand...

If 1 slide = 128MB then 1000 slides = somewhat more than 100GB IMHO. My
own external HDD is 250GB (unformatted I think) and should hold all my
old photos in 64MB images. However I am still taking slides and still
scanning...
 
So if we scan at 4000 dpi and 16 bit color, it would come close to
filling a double layered DVD for 50 slides.
Click to expand...

It's more like 38 pictures per DVD i.e. one film (~36-exposures) fits
neatly on a single DVD with a little room left over (for JPGs?).

A full frame (unmounted!) film at 4000 dpi and 16-bit color will
produce a file of about ~130 MB.

Do note, however, that mounted slides will be smaller (how much
smaller depends on the mount) and you may be able to fit about 40 per
DVD!

Don.
 
We got 9 guys at our place to go in on a Nikon 5000 with bulk loader.
Now we need to work on the rest of the gear. We're thinking of an
external DVD burner and hard drive. We'll keep the scanner and other
gear in our computer room and use it there on a USB 2 hub and lock it
up when not in use. We'd scan 50 slides to a hard drive and then burn
them to a DVD. We'd take the DVD home and work on the images there,
or do this in the computer room, and then do a final burn to DVD.
Click to expand...

Another option may be to store the images on the external USB drive
(presumably each person will have their own) and take that drive home
for editing. Afterwards you may able to fill a DVD with both the
archive (TIF) and the end product (JPG). A 36-shot film fits very
nicely on a single-sided (4.7 GB) DVD. At ~130 MB per TIF image you
can fit 36 shots on a DVD and have about ~200 MB left over for JPGs.
Are archival DVDs worth the cost?
Click to expand...

Of course it's better to get good quality media but whatever DVDs you
get you will have to check them at regular intervals to see if they
have deteriorated. Most burner software has a "scan DVD" tool
(although it may be called something else) to do this automatically.
When it becomes difficult to get the data out (the DVD drive starts to
struggle and reads repeatedly) it's time to "freshen up" your archives
by making another copy.
From the excellent discussions in a previous posting, we think it
makes sense to scan at 4000 dpi for archival quality images and save
them to DVDs and then resample the images for various applications
(prints, Slide show, etc.).
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the best option. That way you can also resample images
later on when the prints fade (and they will!) or you get a new
monitor with a higher resolution, etc.
How big a file is created from a 35mm
color slide at 4000 dpi? 50 slides at that resolution would take what
size hard drive? Is one hard drive of the same size better than
another?
Click to expand...

Not really. For practical reasons get a drive that can store all your
images. That way you can even store the drive in a safety deposit box.

Do note that data on hard disks doesn't last forever either! So, it
will need to be "refreshed" at regular intervals as well. There are
many programs which do this automatically (read a sector and then
write it back) but you can also do it manually by re-saving all files.

Don.
 
If 1 slide = 128MB then 1000 slides = somewhat more than 100GB IMHO. My
own external HDD is 250GB (unformatted I think) and should hold all my
old photos in 64MB images. However I am still taking slides and still
scanning...
Click to expand...

I'll get a really big hdd. Should I get a 500 GB hdd at 70 cents a
Gig. See http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=224

or get two 250 GB drives at 50 cents a Gig. See
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202423963&adid=17070&dcaid=17070

Also, I already own a single layer multi-format DVD burner. With
single layer media at 10 cents a Gig and two layer at 35 cents a Gig,
does it make sense to buy a two layer burner?

Also, aren't the majority of the movie DVD players that I'll use to
show my slides on TV a single layer player?

Thanks

Mike
 
I'll get a really big hdd. Should I get a 500 GB hdd at 70 cents a
Gig? Or get two 250 GB drives at 50 cents a Gig?
Click to expand...

Depends on a lot of other things. For an inexperienced user, one large
disk is often more manageable than 2 smaller disks.
Also, I already own a single layer multi-format DVD burner. With
single layer media at 10 cents a Gig and two layer at 35 cents a Gig,
does it make sense to buy a two layer burner?
Click to expand...

Changing media too often is a pain. $0.43 per DVD-+R sounds like
bargain-basement material. When you buy the cheapest possible stuff, it
usually causes problems later.
Also, aren't the majority of the movie DVD players that I'll use to
show my slides on TV a single layer player?
Click to expand...

No. Many commercially-produced DVDs are dual-layer; look closely at a
DVD movie and you'll probably see text like "this DVD is dual-layer;
there may be a slight pause on some DVD players during layer
transition".
 
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