120mm Scanning/Developing

[joel_warburton]

As a complete ignoramus when it comes to film developing I'm hoping someone

might be able to help me.

I have obtained the negatives and copyright from my wedding 10 years ago and

am told it is on 120mm film. I want to print the odd picture at various sizes

and would wish to obtain a good quality end product. I am thinking that

getting the negatives professionally scanned would offer me flexibility but

was wondering about the quality of output. If the way to go is getting them

developed, is anyone able to advise me of a good place in the Las Vegas area

that I could take them to? If scanning is the way to go, would the same

company provide that service too? Many Thanks in advance.

[anupam]

It's not 120mm - just 120 film. If you already have negatives then your film has already been 'developed'. So I am not sure what you are asking. Scanning and developing are not mutually exclusive processes - the film needs to be developed first before you can scan them. If you have negatives, just get them scanned from a shop.

[joel_warburton]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess what I am asking is what quality can I expect from scanning? Will any prints taken from the digital images suffer from having been scanned? Also, if I choose to get some prints straight from the negatives (without scanning), is there a particular place in the Vegas area that someone would recommend, as I understand 120 film is not taken everywhere.

[anupam]

Ah! You mean whether a traditional 'wet' print will be better than a digital print. Others on this forum will be better placed to answer that question. I'll only venture that a good professional lab should be able to produce very good scans without any quality problems. Not sure how many good places for wet prints are still around.

[t_nonstick]

Photographic prints do have a nicer feel to them, but the professional standard today is

digital prints. I'd say get them scanned, but whichever way you go, use someone that deals

with professional photographers on a day to day basis.

[zml]

Joel - Hit the LV phone book, call wedding photographers and ask which lab they use for high-quality scanning of 120 film, AKA "roll film" (you don't have to get into the gory details of why are you asking, etc.) Chances are you'll get pointed in the right direction. Don't rely on just one opinion, call a few of them and pick the lab with the most recommendations and reject any photogs who offer to do it for you :-)

Get high quality scans only from the negatives you want to print (high quality = $$$.) Once in the scanning lab, don't be afraid to ask questions - if they are pros, they'll answer all your queries honestly. Otherwise - look for a different lab.

[custom film holders for fl]

>>I want to print the odd picture at various sizes and would wish to obtain a good quality end product.<<

<p>

Since the end result you want is a high quality print, I don't think you want a scan. A scan would require you to then edit and print from a photo editing application. It doesn't sound like this is your forte. My suggestion is to get the negs professionally printed. If you later want scans for emailing or screen display on your computer, you can manually scan the actual prints using a simple flatbed scanner.

<p> Doug<p>

<a href="http://www.betterscanning.com">BetterScanning.com</a>

[paul_neuthaler]

I hope you're still happily married!

[ronald_moravec1]

Nothing wrong with scanning and having a laser print made on photopaper. Very little optical printing is being done.

 

Mail order to AIProlab.com. I use them for all my serious work and they specialize in Wedding and Event Photography. They take pride in being the best.

[dave_redmann]

You've been given some good advice and some bad advice. In short, it sounds like digital photo editing is not one of your strongest skills either, in which case by all means just hand the negatives to a good lab and tell them what you want in the way of prints. Don't get too hung up on the internal workings of a good lab. They may well scan the negatives and make digital prints, especially if the film is color (instead of black and white); if they do it that way, they will probably sell you a CD-R of the scans for a low price (just ask in advance). Anyway, to elaborate:<P>

 

<I>I want to print the odd picture at various sizes and would wish to obtain a good quality end product.</I><P>

 

<B>You</B> want to print the pictures, i.e., do the printing yourself on at home? Or do you mean you want to pay somebody to make prints for you? If you really insist on printing at home, then scanning is far easier than creating and using a color darkroom. But again, if you want good results, it sounds like you will need a pro lab to do the printing.<P>

 

One aside: in general, at any given price point, traditional-type B&W film is something of an exception to the digital rule: getting a really good B&W print may be easier with optical enlargement. It avoids both the (relative) difficulties of scanning film that contains grains of silver instead of dye clouds and the (relative) difficulties of getting archivally-stable B&W prints with no color cast and good tonal gradations.<P>

 

<I>Photographic prints do have a nicer feel to them</I><P>

 

This is a very silly, totally subjective, non-quantified statement. I think it refers to prints made directly from the negative with an optical enlarger, as opposed to a scan-and-print process. Nicer how? I suspect that, all else being equal, few people could tell the difference, especially without a strong magnifier. And at least for color, digital prints will often look better (better controls and less to go wrong).