There is a very minor problem insofar as I can't put my PC into standby, it throwing up a box saying something about incorrect drivers preventing it from doing so, but I went into file mangler and updated the errant drivers by clicking on the relevant question mark displayed there. So we'll see tonight if it's made any difference. Even so, all my other peripherals work, and I can live with it. ISTR from 'Black Widow' flatbed SCSI Win 95 / 98 days there were issues with order of power-up on SCSI-driven equipment.

Indeed... It's a bit like copying gramophone records onto CD, in 'real-time'. Got to do the job when in the mood, but at least the scanner is sitting there now ready to play. It's no good scanning when it's a chore.

Got five full A4 slide files and a couple of Agfa 175 rotary magazines, but just pick them out as required. Boxes and boxes of negs and prints from years ago! Current Pentax MX work gets scanned to CD at source (as discussed earlier, with negs identified for future scanning!

Only one external HDD so far, but yes... I'm sure they will

Sorted...

I discovered that my Domex DMX3191 SCSI card now has drivers available for WinXP, as does the 'Scanwit'. Resignedly dubious, I installed the drivers I'd downloaded, got the SCSI to play, plugged in the scanner, installed the scanner drivers and wa-hey!

Works a treat with VueScan... Many thanks for encouragement.

John,

Thanks for the info. I was given the Acer Scanwit for nothing; immaculate as well! It works fine, as I say, on my 'shed' PC. From what's been said already, Adaptec is the way to go re: adaptors, so I'll look around.

I suppose if all else fails I could seek out a USB scanner, as you suggest.

I don't know. If it were possible to run my Domex SCSI card on my XP PC, then I'd do it. The Domex is pretty old now, as I was using it ten - twelve years ago to run a 'Black Widow' flatbed scanner!

I guess if I could find a SCSI driver that would allow use of my SCSI card (or any SCSI card) on my WinXP machine, then I'd do it. Maybe the Adaptec 1540/2940 will run happily on XP? I prefer the USB adaptor route as I'd have to make time to muck around with fitting a SCSI card to the PC and deal with any subsequent problems it throws up.

Thanks for the info, though.

I'm posting this here because it's to do with film and the transferral to digital media, but please feel free to move it if it's in the wrong place.

Does anyone have any experience of running a SCSI neg / slide scanner on PC running XP via a USB - SCSI adapter? I have a 'Domex' SCSI card that will run my Acer Scanwit scanner without any problem whatsoever on my 'shed' PC - but it runs WinME. I would like to run my Acer on my XP machine, and SCSI - USB adapters are available to enable this.

I would like to learn more before committing myself to seventy quid and a lot of footling about, though, and, to this end, seek to draw upon the experience of anyone who has such a set-up.

All info gratefully appreciated!

Incidentally, I bought - on the strength of resolution of a particularly stubborn FP4 negative - a copy of VueScan and it's brought a new life to my Primefilm 2700 scanner. What a difference!

I understand that it might work on my SCSI Acer Scanwit connected to my XP-running PC via a USB - SCSI adaptor. I shall write a new post about this.

John,

I also use a 'Heath-Robinson' arrangement which works reasonably well, and which I mentioned in another post a while back. I use my Canon Ixus 750 digital compact to photograph a slide in one of those viewers you hold up to the light, but placed on a lightbox. Used on 'tulip' (close-up) mode, the resulting images are suitable for the web, but odd slides have aberrations visible.

I have experimented with bits of cut-down loo roll and various lenses and magnifying glasses, and I can copy about 80% of a 35mm slide without any chromatic aberration, bottom-up as follows:

Lightbox > Cut-off bog roll > 50mm PK lens with K-bayonet in bog-roll and filter uppermost > skylight filter > Canon Ixus 750 digital compact on close-up mode, set to 50ASA and on self-timer to minimise shake. The auto-focus seems to take care of this combination!

Copying 6x6 negs (or slides) is easier: 9 or so CD cases + 1 DVD box each side (one less CD case each side for 127 negs!), camera pointing down between them on the light-box - no need for extra glass in the way!

The only problem I have is copying colour negs and inverting them afterwards; the colours require great amounts of fiddling to get right, so I usually desaturate and do them as B&W.

I get my negs put onto CD at 'Cumbria Photo', King Street, Penrith. I always ask for 'hi-res' images (around 5 - 6 Mb per image) and a full scan costs around eleven quid without prints, but with an index sheet.

I have a Primefilm 2700 and an Acer Scanwit slide/neg scanner, but the Scanwit is SCSI and I have to nip down the shed with it to connect it to my old PC, as I can't get it to work on XP!

I've found the odd dynamically-challenging shot comes out better on the Scanwit, but most of my stuff transfers well to CD at the lab. I get the impression that many independent labs offer this service; probably a function of the processing equipment?

FWIW, here's my two penn'orth:

1) Plastic camera, blue top, black body, 127 roll-film, make unknown, aged 5. Purchased at a toy shop in Keswick. Still remember the smell and the little red aperture in the back for the exposure number.

2) Bakelite Kodak Brownie, 127 roll-film, given by a friend of parents when I was 10 - this is what first got me interested and I used to rattle off all eight(!) shots then dash down to the chemists to get them developed. Could never load colour film properly (not dark enough under bed)! I still have some negs and prints from this camera somewhere...

3) Was also given an Ensign (Ilford?) with a look-down 90 degree viewfinder at similar time.

Would list other cameras but getting a little OT here!

Another 'Heath-Robinson' method I have used successfully was to place the slide on a light-box, then, using a cut-down toilet-roll set on top of the slide (you'll have to experiment here), I sat my Pentax M 50mm f1.7 lens with the outermost element and skylight filter facing upwards on top of the cut-down toilet roll - a snuggish fit around the bayonet.

I then balanced a C*non Ixus 750 digital P&S set to 'macro' (well, 'Tulip') on top of this lot and used the zoom to frame the slide and the self-timer to fire. The results, I would say, were good.

I have experimented with several lenses, but settled on the 50mm f1.7 simply because other lenses tended to give chromatic aberrations around the fringes of the image. One of those little 'HAMA' slide-viewers that one holds up to the light was nearly as good, though!

This might well work with other digital P&Ss, but you may have to grasp the extended lens if the camera doesn't balance. Lumps of 'Blu-Tak' are handy here...