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I'm Thinking About Getting My Film Scanned... Suggestions...?


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I have negatives all over the house, but I've never gotten any scanned at the time of development (via Dwayne's Photo Lab). I'd like to start posting photos on photo.net, so what do I do?

 

When I get my film B&W negs scanned, does that give me a "negative" digital image, or is it a positive image?

 

If a negative, how do I post a positive image here? (I don't need to know the whole step-by-step process yet... that'll come later when I actually have some scanned negs - another week or so...???

 

I'm sure there are a lot of other questions I should be asking, but I'm dreadfully ignorant of digital technology. It's all much too complicated for me and my 70 year old brain :confused:.

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I have negatives all over the house, but I've never gotten any scanned at the time of development (via Dwayne's Photo Lab). I'd like to start posting photos on photo.net, so what do I do?

 

A few choices:

1) Find a scanning service. Other will have to advise you about which service; I do my own, so I am not familiar with them,

2) Get a flatbed scanner. and scan your negatives. Epson scanners come with scanning software or you can buy VueScan when you want more control.

3) Use a flatbed scanner to scan your black and white prints. I assume that since you do not have scans you must have prints, especially of negative film.

4) Buy a used Nikon CoolScan V or CoolScan 5000 (An expensive investment)..

 

In your position, I would buy an Epson V600 scanner and try scanning the negatives. If that was unsatisfactory, I would scan the prints (which I think will give you the best results with the least amount of work).

 

When I get my film B&W negs scanned, does that give me a "negative" digital image, or is it a positive image?

 

Most scanning software will give you a positive image, if you tell the software it is scanning a negative. If you tell it you are scanning a slide but load a negative, it will give you a negative image. Your choice.

 

.

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Why not try scanning your prints if you have a regular scanner built into your printer - copier? For the web, it may turn out good enough. Color negative film is already "inverted" for you. Plus programs provided for these scanners may adjust colors and give you enough adjustments to satisfy your needs. Learning to use a scanner to scan film is - madness. :confused:
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When I get my film B&W negs scanned, does that give me a "negative" digital image, or is it a positive image.

Positive. Unless you specifically ask otherwise from a lab/scanner driver, but if you shot the negs using a camera, you'd have to do the inversion which isn't trivial.

Color negative film is already "inverted" for you.

Already inverted?

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Why not try scanning your prints if you have a regular scanner built into your printer - copier?

 

I don't have any prints made yet. I have thousands of negatives, though LOL. I'm a dyed in the wool luddite. My Brothers laser printer is over 10 years old, I think. The only modern item I use is a 1 year-old iMac desktop computer. Maybe I'm beyond hope! :eek:

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I don't have any prints made yet. I have thousands of negatives, though LOL. I'm a dyed in the wool luddite. My Brothers laser printer is over 10 years old, I think. The only modern item I use is a 1 year-old iMac desktop computer. Maybe I'm beyond hope! :eek:

I have to ask. Why do you shoot thousand of negatives and never print them or scan them? Wouldn't you be better off shooting digital? Then you could just upload them to the internet. Or print them if you desire.

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I have to ask. Why do you shoot thousand of negatives and never print them or scan them? Wouldn't you be better off shooting digital? Then you could just upload them to the internet. Or print them if you desire.

Vincent, I suggest you move on from this rabbit hole; no good can come from replying. Your original post was clear to most of us here as to WHY you need/want to scan negs:

I have negatives all over the house, but I've never gotten any scanned at the time of development (via Dwayne's Photo Lab).

 

image.png.d087f88686178891107990654144dc5e.png

 

image.png.2fe4064ecc1d21568b0ee4a4c32e59ec.png

 

image.png.f21e0a31ec9feaeadd904e5197b19a7c.png

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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Vincent, I suggest you move on from this rabbit hole; no good can come from replying. Your original post was clear to most of us here as to WHY you need/want to scan negs:

 

Yes, I think you're right. LOL

 

My main interest in scanning is to get scans I can post on photo.net and other photography forums.

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You can pay many, many dollars per scan (drum scans; I recommend Nancy Scans in NY from experience, very high quality and resolution) to as little as 25 cents per scan (Negative Scanning Services | ScanCafe) and I have never used them.

 

If your goal is to upload scans to the web or just view on screen, you go the latter.

Author “Color Management for Photographers" & "Photoshop CC Color Management" (pluralsight.com)

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For on-line posting such as here on P.net, you don't need full (ca 4000 pixels per inch) hi-res scans.

 

The ~1700 ppi scans (never mind what they claim) available from decent flatbed scanners like the older Canon Canoscan 9000 will serve. I'm not sure what current scanners have film/slide scanner capability, so investigate first.

 

Many scanners are $70-90 US and are certainly less than you'd spend on scanning service, even in the short term.

 

If you want truly archival scanning, it's getting hard to find appropriate scanners these days. Scanning film is so, well, 20th century.

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The whole scanning thing is so dreadful and time consuming. I just got a modern mirrorless to scan in camera only to find out that the Nikon ES-2 I planned to get, is back ordered most places in the world.

 

I so miss the days I lived in Tokyo where I could just dump a film off at BIC Camera on the way home, drink a cup of coffee and one hour later pick up film, prints and scans for the equivalent of $15.

Everyone says “commit to digital”, but it gives me absolutely no pleasure. My new mirrorless has a manual of 852 pages plus additional manuals for specific video features - what’s the fun in that?

 

Excuse the detour. I have an Epson V600, it works for web and small prints, but it is time consuming to do the scanning. As have been said already - whatever you scan comes out as a positive if you select the correct setting before scanning.

Sending stuff out for individual frames to be scanned is expensive.

Niels
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There are numerous places that you can get your negatives and slides scanned. There is ScanCafe that will bundle your negatives and positives with others and send them to India to have them scanned. I've heard they provide very good service and product for a relatively low price. The place I recommend is digmypics dot com in Arizona which I have had experience with since my brother sent them a ton of negatives, both Tri'X and color print negatives. They seemed extremely reasonable and did a very good job of providing digital images that he could hav printed or view online. Good luck!

 

ScanCafe - Photo Scanning & Video Transfer Services | ScanCafe

 

Awesome Service that Scan Slides and film to digital photos

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At 76 years of age I do all my own scanning using my SLR (Canon) with a close up lens (in my case extension tubes) and a home made light box. The light box uses a LED lamp and diffusers from a dismantled laptop screen. I have done hundreds of old negatives and slides and use Photoshop to crop and sort out any corrections including negatives.
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