Sad day

[overall]

I am a little late with this but Kodak announced back in September that they would stop production of slide projectors effective June 2004. In my view, to show a slide of a train, or any other subject for that matter, in a darkened room up on a large screen is a rich visual experience that the digital format cannot match. An image that size draws the viewer into the time and place where the slide was taken. To my knowledge, a digital image must be viewed on a computer monitor or printed out. If there is such a thing as a digital image projector, I am not aware of it. Maybe some of you who are on the cutting edge of this format might shed more light on this. If there is such a thing, it is probably very expensive. I took a lot of slides during the eighties, but got away from it in the nineties, now I’m sorry I did. If the day has now come where we can no longer project images on a large screen because of everybody’s mad ru***o embrace digital photography, that to me is a huge step backward. If you want to read more about it, here is a link to Photographic Magazine;

http://www.photographic.com/news/10282

[Anonymous]

InFocus is one company that comes to mind for digital projectors. You connect your computer to the projector via the video out on the computer. I've seen them go for as little as $900, but who has that kind of money when you're trying to get that new Lionel Challenger in HO.

[JoeKoh]

Well its like any technology.Look at dvds and vcrs.when they first came out they were hundreds of dollars. Now you can get them for 50 bucks or less? I am waiting for a good price on a digi cam.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain, however, I don't think it's a "sad day". It just boils down to the fact that digital pictures are more versital than photos or slides. Digital pics can be used anywhere! You can print a digital picture, project a digital picture, send one in an email or post a one on a website.

I still have all my slides and photos and don't plan on getting rid of them any time soon. I keep them as an archive. I am currently scanning in my photos. You could have your slides scanned, but it still costs a bit much. I'm doing like Joekoh and waiting on the price of slide scanners to drop, then I will scan those in too.

[tree68]

There are most certainly projectors that will handle a digital image, with a wide range of prices. Without those projectors, Power Point wouldn't be anywhere near as useful. Some of the newest ones are very compact, and have excellent image quality. They are essentially a slide projector in that light is directed through an LCD lens (sort of a transparent computer screen) instead of a slide.

While slides definitely have value, and film can still do some things that digital cameras can't, the gap is closing. A multi-megapixel photo projected on a screen will give you as good an image as any slide. Add to that the portability of digital images (Like that picture? Here, let me send it to you!) and you begin to see the value.

My flatbed/slide scanner (Visioneer One Touch 9220 USB) was less than $100 at Staples. They had quite a selection of different brands with similar features. I've been happy with the results so far.