VuPoint 35mm Film Scanner to Digitize Old Film and Slides

February 6th, 2008 by Carolyn in Miscellaneous Gadgets, PC Gadgets, Photography

If you’re like me, you have taken photographs with film cameras and have tons of negatives cluttering up your photo boxes. Or what happens when you find a box of old slides in your parent’s or grandparent’s attic and you can’t view these photos? I had that happen to me once and the process of going out, finding a service who can scan in slides and negatives is a time-intensive and very expensive process - and you’re at the whim of the people who run the service.

The National Geographic store is selling the VuPoint 35mm Film Scanner. Now you can scan your negative and slides to digital files quickly and easily so you can share them with others on online services (like Flickr) and email or print them on your PC. Old slide scanners used to be very expensive and very slow and the alternative of hiring a service to do it is even more expensive. This Stratford Labs scanner has a 4-element glass lens, a 5.0 megapixel CMOS CCD and can scan and preview an image in just 5 seconds. From the website:

This easy-to-use, compact USB scanner allows you to load a strip of negatives or a color slide, and with the push of a button, transfer it to 5.0 megapixel digital files. Automatic color balance settings help correct negatives that have degraded over time, bringing new life to faded exploration memories. Outputs to JPG or TIF formats.

* Required: USB port and Windows® XP
* 3 1/2”W x 6 1/2”H x 3 1/2”D

I’m a bit bummed that this is a Windows only product, but hopefully there is a similar Mac version out there on the internet. Includes 35mm film strip and slide mount holders and image editing software, all for $99.95. A bargain compared to the alternatives. So go dig out all those old negatives and slides and get them preserved on your computer!

[The National Geographic Store]

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17 Comments on “VuPoint 35mm Film Scanner to Digitize Old Film and Slides”

mike sapienza Says:

February 20th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

I purchased the Vu-Point digital film scanner and am, having trouble downloading. Plse. contact me with help. I have windows XP and enough memory in my computer but a window keeps popping up saying can’t download—

Steve Says:

March 4th, 2008 at 7:52 pm

Google “Stratford labs scanner”. PC Tools Community Forum say’s
You probably need USB 2 card. Your PC may only have a USB.

Gary Kava Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 2:43 pm

Will the VuPoint scanner work with a Macintosh computer?

john lincoln Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Does this transparency scanner neutralize the orange mask for color negatives? I haven’t found the right setup yet to make this work on my HP6300C scanner; close but not close enough.

Larry Says:

April 26th, 2008 at 4:14 pm

Using the Stratford Labs 35mm slide scanner Model IS-505, I can scan OK and the slide shows up in the preview window, but when I hit TRANSFER to store in MY PICTURES, it takes 2-3 minutes to transfer each picture. Any suggstions or hints?

Steve Says:

April 28th, 2008 at 10:51 pm

I bought the VuPoint scanner. It does a great job on my 35 MM slides but I have a lot of 16 MM slides that I want to scan but they are washed out, like too much light is coming thru. Any suggestions? Also the color negatives come out hazy blue. Thought this was supposed to reverse the color.

Steve Smegner Says:

May 3rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm

Can someone post the link to the Stratford Labs website to download updated Vista drivers?

Ann Toner Says:

June 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 am

Is this scanner compatible with Vista?
Thanks.

Stan Metts Says:

June 10th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

I bought the scanner, but as of now only get a tv type snow screen on the output. Occasionally the actual picture pops up in various ways, but only for a couple of seconds.

Paul Says:

June 12th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

I bought the same scanner - but having problem with the driver. I have windows XP second - and the software that came with the machine did not help me to upload the driver… Anyone, any ideas??

June Says:

June 26th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

to Paul…I have the scanner…used it successfully in January…came back yesterday and will not work…have uninstalled and reinstalled…no good…have you had any new ideas or success…I cannot find any help from manufacturer…seems the driver is a big problem

Kathy Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 3:58 pm

I cannot get my Dell Dimension 8400 to accept the device. I have 2.0 USB and that’s what it takes but I’ve tried a number of things and it says the device has malfunctioned and Windows will not recognize it. I have XP. The software downloaded with out problem. Any ideas?

June Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

I found a way! I have been trying since 12/07. I went to My Computer and right clicked to go to Properties and then clicked on Hardware and then into Driver Signing and clicked Ignore………..THEN I uninstalled anything that had been installed from the CD received with the VuScanner. I then (without the scanner plugged in) Installed the Driver from the cd…Then I rebooted…Then I installed the software…Then I rebooted…THEN I plugged the scanner into my USB2 port…(without the slide holder inserted)…I received a ‘cannot recognize new hardware warning’ I unplugged and replugged and now everything is working great. Downing loading slides from 1971 right now and loving’ life!

June Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 6:07 pm

Failed to mention I have a Dell Dimension with Windows XP.

June Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 6:08 pm

Failed to mention I have a Dell Dimension with Windows XP Pro

June Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 6:09 pm

Failed to mention I have a Dell Optiplex with Windows XP Pro

June Says:

June 27th, 2008 at 6:18 pm

Now I guess I have to learn to use this site without repeating myself. Sorry. Couldn’t get my act together. But I hope I helped someone.