Saying that B&W or colour photos are best has no more validity than arguing that blue cars are better than red ones.

Presumably we are all members here because we appreciate photgraphy of all types in any medium.

We all have differing points of view, but it would be nice if we could all remain civil to one another. Some of the comments on this thread recently make me embarassed to be a member.

As you only have a few slides to do, a cheaper, and probably better, alternative might be these people.

http://www.mr-scan.co.uk

We went through the same process a couple of years ago and decided that it wasn't worth investing in a scanner because it's a very slow process on any home scanner unless you spend lots and the quality won't be anywhere near as good as a professional job.

We sent some 1960's colour slides to them to test the service which were in pretty poor condition. They scanned them and repaired them before sending them back on CD. They did a very fine job and it only cost a few pounds for half a dozen as far as I remember.

We keep meaning to sort through the rest and send them off, but haven't got around to it.

I can certainly recommend them, but there are bound to be other companies as well.

I can let you have one of the scanned images if that would help, but that won't show the original for comparison.

France

That wasn't too painful. Newly straightened photo on my portfolio!

Honest answer Hyram is that I don't know how to.

My post processing 'expertise' is more or less limited to cropping and basic stuff like enhancing brightness and contrast. I only returned to slr photography last year and have spent most of my time learning and refining techniques on the camera, not learning how to process afterwards.

That and the fact that I hadn't noticed the horizon wasn't level until it was pointed out on here

Mind you, given the state of the sea, the horizon level is pretty accurate. At least I was out taking photos - everyone else was being sick

Doesn't make any difference at all if these are buy it now items from a dealer, which I assumed from reading the OP. Few real bargains left on Ebay anyway, so I wouldn't worry about alerting anyone if it's an auction.

You will more than likely be advised to buy a Redsnapper one instead anyway

I was on a ship at 3.00am in the middle of a thunderstorm. I'd taken about 20 or 30 shots before this neatly managing to have the shutter closed every time there was a lightning bolt and open when it was pitch black. Under the circumstances I'm amazed there even is a horizon It gives added realism.....

Another take on the theme. Taken with the Pentax 18-250mm @ 18mmm, f11, ISO 320. Taken from the back of a ship with a 25 second exposure so some motion blur, unfortunately. Cropped from the original and magnified a few times.

[IMG]http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/pp15/chriseast/lightning.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks Simon. It was a pleasure doing business with you.

I had 'sold' the 1.4. The last message I had from the alleged buyer gave me his address and said the money would be transferred on Friday. I packed it ready, but haven't had the payment and he isn't responding to messages so it's still available.

Particularly frustrating as I put someone else off who has now bought elsewhere!

The point is these photos are not 'art'. They are records of historical figures or important moments in history.

I honestly can't believe that any of the photographers who took these would have made a conscious decision to use black and white film had colour been available. It's only those of us in later years who have the luxury of using colour and black and white who see black and white photos as somehow more artistic.

This perception is presumably in no small way due to seeing some of these iconic images in black and white as we grew up, but that doesn't mean that many of these wouldn't be better in colour.

I agree that a few of them don't work, but I think that is more due to the original image than anything else.

The portraits, in particular, are breathtaking and bring the subjects to life in a way that black and white never could. I'm saying this as a student of history, not art or photography. The power in the images is in the people and events portrayed, not the technique used to capture them.

Whilst artistic photos certainly have their place, I can't think of an 'iconic' photo that doesn't show a person or historical event.

My son is going to take them to his history and politics A level classes and see what reaction that brings. None of them have grown up with black and white photos, but will be aware of most of the images on the link.

What ever people feel, this is certainly one of the most interesting threads on her for some time.