Scanning medium format slides – hardware recommendations?

This seems as good a place as any to ask…

I've got a boatload of 2 1/4" slides from both parents and grandparents – my Grandfather treated himself to a Rolleiflex 2.8F in the early 60s which was much used by him and my Dad on various rail safaris…

I've done very low res 'scans' with a light box and my phone (spot the lens reflections) to identify 'who, what, when and where', but for the particularly nice photos, I'd like to do hi-res scans as well.



Is there such a thing as an affordable scanner that will help, or alternatively any other hacks or fudges with phones or a DSLR that will get better results than my current heath robinson set-up?

 

Define affordable. I’ve used a range of Epson flatbed scanners over the years for my 645 negs and slides with good results. Have a look on the second hand market if you’re on a bit of a tight budget. I’m currently using a V850.

 

I digitised all of my 35mm slides some years ago and bought a cheap-ish slide scanner that I used to import directly into Photoshop / Lightroom on my iMac. Whilst the original slides haven't deteriorated as such, the exposure was poor on many and required greater attention once imported, something I haven't really attacked en mass. This scanner was reasonably affordable but more modern devices I see available online look much improved, some indeed having capability to copy-photograph directly by smartphone. I'm not sure what quality this might give however? I have no experience of the medium format you mention however.

What I've also done is scanned hundreds of 6x4 and 7x5 colour and B&W prints (and some negatives) using a flat-bad scanner that doubles as my wireless printer. Again once imported into Photoshop / Lightroom, colour repair then follows. This would likely work for slides also.

I recall trying to copy some slides many years ago before PCs were the thing, and this involved projecting each slide onto a white screen in a darkened room and then using camera on tripod situated alongside the projector, took copies using Fuji/Ectachrome slide film. Results make me cringe by modern standards however and film slide copiers in those days were very expensive from what I remember!