Re: filmscanners: Scanning negatives for archiving

["Alan Tyson" <AlanTyson@bknowl.freeserve.co.uk>]

Dear Arthur,

I've just experienced yet another photographic archiving
lesson, this time rather a painful one, with a lesson for
all of us about dependence on current technology.

I have thousands of colour slides, taken from approx
1970-1991, and about 7800 of these are stored in Hanimex
Rondex 120-slide round magazines. I have 'temporarily
archived' about 6yrs-worth by filming them onto VHS tape,
with commentary,  using a Video8 camcorder as camera on
small, bright projected images. I'm quite happy with these
results - they're mostly just holiday snaps, and I can
always filmscan the masterpieces if I want to.

On trying to continue the process, I now discover my Hanimex
slide projector has died, and such machines and their
magazines are extinct in the UK outside museums.

So, unless I can (a) repair the projector, I'm faced with
(b) transferring them to another projection system, handling
them one at a time whatever I do (I also have a 1-slide-at-a
time projector, which would be cheapest), (c) trying to find
a second-hand projector at reasonable cost, or (d) (the
correct solution for filmscanning folk), scanning the lot
with my Scanwit.

I estimate (d) will take a year's nearly full-time work, so
I'll take the projector to bits first.

At least our *digital* images will last a long time and are
transferrable onwards in principle. When VHS becomes
seriously endangered (not far ahead, I think), I'll invest
in two cheap VCRs and a current portable TV, and leave them
unused, so I can sit in my bathchair in future looking at my
holiday snaps & analogue home videotapes.

I'm not optimistic about my children being able in future to
derive the same pleasure from my efforts that I get from my
parents' B&W snapshots from my own childhood.

Regards,

Alan T

----- Original Message -----
From: Arthur Entlich <artistic@ampsc.com>
To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: filmscanners: Scanning negatives for archiving