Quickly digitize the Dark Age with this DIY Automatic Film Slide Scanner

For those alive (or with family alive) during the days of film cameras, you have probably encountered the phenomenon of film slides (considered by some to be the precursor to PowerPoint, but Bill Gates refused to comment on where he originally came up with the idea). The problem with them, however, is moving them over into the digital era.

That is where photographer and DIY-er Stefan Lindgren took it upon himself to build a more-affordable alternative to the SlideSnap Pro, which weighs in at a hefty $3,395. (Heck, I don’t even spend that much on a car!)

Hacking an old carousel slide projector and USB relay board, and programming his own desktop app to automate the entire process, Stefan created an ingenious solution for rapidly and automatically digitizing his old slide collection. (We’re pretty certain it would digitize yours as well…)

Growing up, slides were all I knew for large-scale presentations until the mid- to late-90s. Having gathered quite a stockpile myself over the years from my own photographic endeavors as well as others, and wanting to digitize the countless slides my dad has of my early childhood overseas, I may just have to give it a shot (extra stroke of genius preferred).

Read all about Stefan’s project, including step-by-step instructions on building it, here.

[The D.I.Y high speed slide film scanner | Stockholm Views]

P.S. Want an easier (albeit, manual) method for digitizing slides and negatives? Check out our comprehensive DSLR scanning tutorial here for a full tutorial!