Fast Scanning of photos?

[John]

Hello.

I just wondered what scanner people would recommend for fast auto
scanning of old photos without breaking the bank?

I don't fancy putting all my photos on a flatbed scanner manually. If
you know of any flatbed scanners that have some sort of automatic
facility to feed in photos like a printer does with paper and scan
quite a lot in one go I'd be grateful for your recommendations. Or if
you know of any sheet-fed scanners that will do the same job without
destroying the photos I'd also be grateful.

I am looking to pay up to £200 ($350 US app)

Thanks

John

 

[Charlie]

Hello.

I just wondered what scanner people would recommend for fast auto
scanning of old photos without breaking the bank?

I don't fancy putting all my photos on a flatbed scanner manually. If
you know of any flatbed scanners that have some sort of automatic
facility to feed in photos like a printer does with paper and scan
quite a lot in one go I'd be grateful for your recommendations. Or if
you know of any sheet-fed scanners that will do the same job without
destroying the photos I'd also be grateful.

I am looking to pay up to £200 ($350 US app)

Thanks

John

John,

I'd recommend that you forget about scanning the photos. If you're
more interested in speed than quality, then it's really not worth the
effort it will take. For any old photograph, it takes lots more time
in an image editor "touching up" the image than it will take to scan
the image.

Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

 

[Roger Halstead]

Hello.

I just wondered what scanner people would recommend for fast auto
scanning of old photos without breaking the bank?

I don't fancy putting all my photos on a flatbed scanner manually. If
you know of any flatbed scanners that have some sort of automatic
facility to feed in photos like a printer does with paper and scan
quite a lot in one go I'd be grateful for your recommendations. Or if
you know of any sheet-fed scanners that will do the same job without
destroying the photos I'd also be grateful.

I'd have to agree with Charlie.
With old photos (prints) you are likely to spend far more time in
Photoshop or what ever image program restoring, retouching, or
whatever than you are scanning.

I have an HP 5470c and it'll scan prints about as fast as I can stick
them in there. Certainly faster than I can scan a strip of negatives
in my LS5000ED and I believe it's rated as one of the fastest, or the
fastest scanner of its type. The HP will also scan legal size
documents.

When it comes to photos and document feeders I don't think you are
going to find a setup near your price range. Also many automated
feeders are not a load 'em and forget 'em type of appliance.
Typically photographs require personal attention as they tend to vary
in shape, thickness, and rigidity.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

 

[Jens-Michael Gross]

Hello.

I just wondered what scanner people would recommend for fast auto
scanning of old photos without breaking the bank?

I don't fancy putting all my photos on a flatbed scanner manually. If
you know of any flatbed scanners that have some sort of automatic
facility to feed in photos like a printer does with paper and scan
quite a lot in one go I'd be grateful for your recommendations. Or if
you know of any sheet-fed scanners that will do the same job without
destroying the photos I'd also be grateful.

I am looking to pay up to £200 ($350 US app)

The old Agfa SnapScan 600 was available with an (optional) auto sheet
feeder.
It's a SCSI scanner with only 600 DPI (real, not interpolated), but good
overall quality and performance.
Maybe you can pick up one at eBay for much less than $200.
You'll need a SCSI card anyway since the included ISA card won't fit in
any newer computer.

Grossibaer