Hi from Oklahoma everyone,

My reunion is fast approaching and we're still working on our slideshow. A classmate gave me a bag of about 300 slides (you remember those little square white things with photo negatives inside of them?) that she has from our class.

I checked into getting them converted to a DVD so I can incorporate them into our slideshow on smilebox.com but it was going to be more costly than what we had anticipated.

Has anyone else out there had any success with or know of a program, piece of equipment, etc. that's not too expensive and where I can get the information?

As always, your help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Andrea Patterson Holcomb
Catoosa Class of 1990
www.catoosa90.com

Hi fellow Oklahoman!

Here is a cheap way, but depending on equipment may not be the top quality. I just googled '35 mm slide to dvd'. You might try google a little more, and perhaps there is equipment to do this.

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tep 1

Display your slides in the way you normally would. For many, this means projecting them onto a screen. The clearer the picture and the smoother and whiter the surface, the better the end result will be.
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Step 2

Use a digital camera. Many consumers already have them, but if you don't you can borrow one from someone that does or even find an equipment rental house and rent one for a day.
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Step 3

Place the digital camera on a tripod. You can also put it on a table or any other smooth surface, but a tripod will work best for framing of shots as well as stability during picture taking.
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Step 4

Cycle through your slides, and as you get to each new one take a picture of it. This is just a quick way of turning your slide into a digital image on your camera.
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Step 5

Transfer the digital images to your computer. Once there, you can load them into any DVD burning software, use the "slide show" feature and create a digital presentation of all your slides. You can pick transitions, the lengths of time they'll be on screen and even what order you want them in. Once done it's only a few clicks in your burning software to burn a DVD

Read more: How to Convert 35MM Slides to DVD | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4473624_convert-35mm-slides-dvd.html#ixzz0sXjg1MjD

Got a slide projector? Check with your reunion group and if not you might be able to buy one at Goodwill or the Salvation Army store. Make sure it has a bulb (The projectors will be cheap; the bulbs can be expensive and hard to find now.)

Dust off each slide with a camel's hair brush or "canned air".

Project the pictures on a white wall and use a digital camera to capture them. Might be helpful to have a tripod. Much faster and cheaper than using a slide scanner or sending them out.

Derrell: Not only are our school logos, similar, but our great minds work together -- and at almost the same time!

This technique will also work for photo prints -- if you want to add them to a slide show for projecting. Faster than scanning. Helps to have your camera on a tripod here also.

Good one John....LOL. Yep, that solution would be way cheaper, but got to thinking afterwards might not have a projector.

Thanks for the great responses guys...why didn't I think of that! Ah, how the memory starts going

And, check out my logo too...that's too funny!

Andrea

Check Best Buy or Staples. They have a gadget to take your slides and transfer them to a computer file. Cost under $100. When you are done, you could then donate it to the high school and be a hero.

Rather than buying a special purpose machine, the Epson Perfection V series can scan photos up to 14 inches wide, negatives and slides, and can do multiples at the same time...the cost is just under 100 dollars, and is much faster than the all-in-one copier/printer/scanners. I did my family photos and scrap books, etc, over 18,000 images, and it's still working like a pro.

Good Luck!

Check out this site for ideas and optionsbhphotovideo.com
The scanner is on sale with free shipping!
They are out of NYC and offer excellent service!
Thanks again for the suggestions!
kris

Hello from Hot Atlanta,

I just purchased VuPoint FC-C-520-VP (slide to digital converter) from http://www.bhphotovideo.com. The retail for new was $100 + shipping from other sites. I purchased a referb unit (90 day warranty) for $71.20.

While looking at multiple converters, the one above had the best reviews.

I ordered on June 30th and it was delivered via UPS Ground this afternoon. I have not tested the unit at this time. However, I will be doing the conversion next week.

More to follow by then.

This is an update to my earlier posting. The "slide"converter worked great. I am very pleased with the outcome. I converted apps. 200 slides in about 2 hours. You need to be careful that you place the slides in the converter correctly. For example "Hello" does not read "olleH" (or something like that).

However, I attempted to convert some negatives to digital format. The outcome was not as good. I will continue to work with the negatives.

I hope this helps.

This is an update to my earlier posting. The "slide"converter worked great. I am very pleased with the outcome. I converted apps. 200 slides in about 2 hours. You need to be careful that you place the slides in the converter correctly. For example "Hello" does not read "olleH" (or something like that).

However, I attempted to convert some negatives to digital format. The outcome was not as good. I will continue to work with the negatives.

I hope this helps.

UPDATE 6:20p Tuesday July 6th.
Buy.com has the unit above for $40 + shipping
http://www.buy.com/prod/vupoint-film-and-digital-slide-converter-fsc1vpbx2/q/loc/111/212651540.html?adid=17070