Self-contained (no PC) print scanner

[akptc]

Hi,

A friend of mine has discovered a treasure throve of old photo prints in a remote part of Poland that I would like to get scanned. Since it will be a few months before I can travel there, I’d like to ship the folks who have the prints a scanner. The problem is they do not own or know how to use a PC, so I am hoping to find a scanner with an LCD preview screen and some on-board storage capacity. I wonder, has anyone seen such an animal or am I dreaming? Advice much appreciated.

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[jtzordon]

That would be a very interesting device. Never heard of anything like it myself.

 

[payasam]

Perhaps a mythical creature, Andy. One option is to re-photograph the prints that make up the treasure trove. SLR with macro lens or plain old lens and extension tubes.

 

[Trius]

I doubt you'll find anything like that; it sounds more like a high-end mutli-function device. I.e., a machine that does copy/print/scan, etc, and those are typically network devices intended for workgropu or departmental use. It would have to have sufficient storage and/or removable storage to accommodate all the image files.

It is, however, an interesting scanning application!

 

[Carlos Cruz]

Maybe I could help you somehow, I live in Poland, have laptop could borrow a scanner from a friend and scan it and send it.

 

[akptc]

I was afraid of that, i.e. this being a concoction of my imagination... thanks a lot for you replies and setting me straight.

 

[akptc]

Cruz, thanks a lot, that sounds like a possibility. The location is near Ilawa, would that be too far for you to travel?

 

[ZorkiKat]

A DSLR + copy stand + good close focusing lens with flat field. I have 'scanned' pictures (both prints and bw negatives - with extension tube and lightbox) using a Fuji or Canon DSLR with an adapted M42 mount Industar-61 L/Z. This is as close as you get to a pc-less 'scanner' - a DSLR certainly has an LCD viewer.

 

[Carlos Cruz]

Cruz, thanks a lot, that sounds like a possibility. The location is near Ilawa, would that be too far for you to travel?

It will take some time to accomplish my mission, I lead highly irregular life, I study in the city on the south, living in the city in the middle, there's not a thing you could call regular in my life, (that's why I want to be a DP). At least I know I won't be able to do it this weekend maybe next week. I'll call my friend tomorrow about the scanner, I hope the regular A4 sized flatbed will do. I'll try to contact you when I'll be ready with scanner.

Cheers

Karol

 

[akptc]

Hi Karol, I followed up on your idea with an old friend of mine who lives in the nearby Olsztyn, looks like he might be able to do me this favor, so it seems I am set. Thanks again for your offer, it is very much appreciated.

 

[Keith]

There is such a beast and I have one. I haven't used it for ages but it is very good and from memory I think it's an HP ... I'll check when I get home. It scans up to 5"x 7" prints ... at varying resolutions and stores the images in an SD media card. It is battery or mains powered and does a very good job and not much bigger than a paperback novel. I bought it about three years ago as I was travelling to NZ to see family and wanted to scan some of my sister's photographs from her numerous albums! 🙂

One of the interesting things about it was that you could scan a much larger print than would fit in the scanner by doing it in sections and then using the provided software to stitch it together on your PC later! It allowed you to scan A4 in quarters!!

Keith