Viewing the Slides and Negatives

I had a wonderful day, out and about in the perfect weather. I picked up the slide and negative viewer, came home and installed it. Then I spent a couple enjoyable hours looking at slides. Ah the memories!

I've only made a dent. I estimated I had 300 but 500 appears to be more likely. So far I've found some slides which I believe my college roommates would pay to have destroyed. :)

I'd say the device works pretty well. The slides are old and definitely have deteriorated to some extent. But I can view them and determine if I want to save the picture or toss with ease. It comes with photo editing software called Photo Impression, version 6. I am not a photo editing expert, looks decent.

Negatives are a different story. Pre 35mm negatives come in an assortment of sizes. The plastic negative holder is designed for 35mm negatives both in size and spacing. This can probably be overcome with some dedication. The bigger problem is while I can see the negative on my screen the software often gives error messages trying to copy the negative. I don't know enough about the software to determine why but I will see if I have the same problem with another software.

Instructions are minuscule but the device is fairly mechanical -- you put the slides or negatives into the appropriate holder and manually push it through. I can hear a little click when it is centered over a slide. Presumably that is true for the negatives too although I haven't gotten to any negatives that are really the "right" size so I haven't used that notification. You have to give it a minute to provide a digital image on your computer screen. You can push a button on the device to save the image. After that it is all up to the software -- this is where it says it can't get the image on many of the negatives I've tried so far.

Slide and Negative Converter

Turns out if you ask enough people one of them will be the right one with the right answer.

Slide and Negative Converter

Take all those old 35mm slides and film negatives out of storage and share them with family and friends. This film scanner makes it easy. Simply load negatives or slides into this compact scanner to transfer to digital files. Once scanned, share them and save them. Scans images at 5.0 mega pixel quality. Auto color balance and exposure. Films color, monochrome film and mounted slides. Built-in back light. 2.0 USB interface. Outputs to JPG or TIF formats. Compatible with Windows Vista and Windows XP. (Converter is not compatible with MacIntosh computers.) Model #FS-C1-VP.

The irony here is I saw this item less than a week ago, laughed and said, but who has slides and negatives anymore.

Tomorrow I will be having another look at this product. Stay tuned!

Negatives, Slides - Now What?

This morning, in a box I probably haven't opened in more than 20 years and at least 6 moves, under a collection of my published newsletter articles from long ago, I found envelopes full of negatives and a box full of slides. I thought I was done with pictures except for the two boxes sitting at my feet in preparation for Scanfest October 26.

1. How do I look at these things to determine if I want to mess with them? They could date back to about 1960 so I must look.
2. How do I scan those I want to keep? Would it be easier to scan first and then decide -- would they be more viewable, better able to manipulate size, etc. if I scan first and ask questions later?
3. Are there web sites, books, etc. I should be looking at? I have Maureen Taylor's book as well as a couple others but they are geared to identifying rather than scanning.
4. Who would know about this?

Tag - You're It!

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings started a game of tag. I was tagged by Libbi Crowe.

10 Years Ago I

# was involved with ILGenWeb
# was living in Tennessee
# foolish believed they got all of Michael's cancer
# was plotting a move to the Emerald Coast
# had just gotten my Caravan -- which I still have

5 Things on Today's To-DO List

# get the HBTS newsletter done
# finish several pleadings
# find out about a couple genealogy programs
# think about how I am going to fix my LAN
# answer some genealogy email

5 Snacks I Enjoy

# fruit
# Chex Mix - but I avoid it
# cheese
# most anything that goes crunch
# fresh brewed unsweet iced tea


5 Places I Have Lived

# Mt. Pulaski, Illinois
# Chicago, Illinois
# Oak Park, Illinois
# Birchwood, Tennessee
# Navarre, Florida

5 Jobs I Have Had

# Editor
# Reporter
# Paralegal
# Freelance Writer
# Caseworker

5 Blogs I Tag to Play

# Tina Sansone of BellaOnline
# everyone I know has been tagged!

Genealogy Photo Album

One of the things you can do on Facebook is upload photos and, frankly, it is a lot easier than creating a web page. Now you can share the photo albums with people who aren't on Facebook.

You can find my first venture into a shared genealogy photo album at:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8670&l=0a9c1&id=1035780550

I'm learning as I go. I just realized there is a continuity with the pictures I picked at random. They are all related.

Facebook Genea-Bloggers

A month or so ago, at the request of a friend, I did something I never thought I'd do -- joined Facebook. A lot of genealogists seem to think it is something we will find useful. I find it a bit confusing. Is there a manual???

I see a lot of people I know. There are various things that might be useful to genealogists, groups to participate in, etc. It's yet another learning experience.