What's the quality of a photo CD from negatives?

I'm wondering just what kind of image quality I can expect if I get

a photo CD made when I get my roll of film developed at say a place

like Walmart. Are they just low resolution, low quality scans for

the average person to get their pictures on the computer? My aunt

wants me to shoot some candids of her 30th high school reunion.

Digital would be ideal, but alas I don't have a DSLR. So, my only

other option would be to shoot film and and get them scanned. The

end product is going to be a memory book of sorts. Would the scans

I got from a photo CD be sufficient enough to use for something like

this? Keep in mind we aren't talking full page color shots, most

likely just smaller shots scattered throughout the pages.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Most places can scan to multiple resolutions. Their basic level may not be good enough to go beyond 4x6, but they should be able to scan to higher resolutions. Best thing to do is test it before the event and learn what they're charging and whether it meets your needs. Good luck.

most depends on the machine. photoCD for me used to be scanned by noritsu-related machine, the quality is very good. however, since the switch over to some sort of Canon machine, and color is off balance, contrast beefed up, and worst of all, the scans aren't even oriented and not correctly cut-off.

Aaron;

 

I have seen some outstanding scans of negatives from EK, and some very poor scans from other places. I have read a lot of threads here that complain about poor negative scans.

 

It is my impression, or perhaps opinion, that scans of transparencies are more higly optimized because the software engineers have the slide there for comparison, but don't have an easy reference for comparison when they work with negatives. That may be totally incorrect, but in any event, I have some very good scans.

 

I also hear complaints about grainy negative scans. Negatives are as low in grain or lower than transparency films, IMHO, and should scan nearly alike. Therefore, logically, if they are worse, something in the scanning system is not doing justice to the negative.

 

Bottom line... A good negative scan should be as good as the original print, and should be enlargable to at least 8x10 or better. It should match what is obtainable from a comparable transparency material.

 

Ron Mowrey

If it's Walmart, then the scans will most likely be done on a Fuji Frontier. Stick to a low speed, high quality print film like Fuji Reala, and get the highest resolution scans they offer.

A terminology nitpick: the term "Photo CD" is a trademark of Kodak,

and refers to a specific type of CD with files in .PCD format

(not .jpg, .bmp, .tif, or anything else, just .PCD). They

used to be somewhat popular before home scanners were affordable,

and the quality of a genuine Photo CD is quite good. They

were expensive. The price, combined with the affordability of

reasonable quality home scanners, has made genuine Photo

CDs rather rare these days. Kodak also may have shot

themselves in the foot by keeping the .PCD format proprietary.

<p>

A CD with Photos on it may be almost anything. Usually, they're

in .jpg format. The resolution may be enough to produce high quality

8x10s, or it may be barely enough to do a decent web page. The

scans may be done with great attention to dust elimination, or

they may be covered with dust marks. The exposure may be excellent

or awful, and there may be lots of compression artifacts or virtually

none. It really depends on your photofinisher.

<p>

The nice thing about your strategy is that you can always re-scan

the negatives later if you're not happy with the quality of

the first outfit that scans them. But if you want someone to

produce a CD of scans for you, it's often cheaper to have it

done at the time the first prints are made, before the

negatives are cut into strips.

Best quality photo cd I've come across is from Dale Labs.

www.dalelabs.com

I just asked this very question last week at Walmart. They provide two scanning formats. I don't recall the exact answer because I did not give it another thought! They do scan the neg which surprised me but at very low res. The usual method is good only for emailing purposes so probably 75 dpi. The second was better at 300 dpi but again only good enough for a 4x6 print. I can do better (2800 dpi - 30 meg file) with my 6 year old film scanner that I picked up for $50 - just a painfully slow process. All in all the 300 dpi scan from Walmart would probably do for your purposes. Where ever you go be sure to find out exactly what you are getting and if they scan the neg or the final print so that, with respect to prices, you are comparing apples to apples. Good luck!