Negatives to Digital Suggestions????

cakanode

Hey all,
I have only recently acquired a dslr and for several years before that used a 35mm slr. I am now interested in converting some of my better pictures from negatives into digital files. Has anyone used a company that they are very impressed with? or any that I should avoid at all costs? I have come across several on the internet, each boasting their own great qualities. Any suggestions or avoidances would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much for your time.

--CK

Higgmeister

Hi CK,
I too have many 35mm negatives. The cost of having many of them scanned prompted me to buy a negative scanner. The money spent is about equal to what the cost would have been, and I've only started to dent my collection. If you are going to do just a few, outsourcing is a good idea. If you are going to do a lot, then do consider doing them yourself. It does take a bit of time for scanning a quality shot so do take this into consideration as well.

Sorry I can't recommend a service for you,
Chris

colourbox

Higgmeister wrote:

If you are going to do just a few, outsourcing is a good idea. If you are going to do a lot, then do consider doing them yourself. It does take a bit of time for scanning a quality shot so do take this into consideration as well.

That is so true. If you don't want to be bothered, send them out. If you want to learn, get a film scanner.

I have a lot of negs and I decided to do them myself with a film scanner. The trick is not to learn how to scan - that's easy. The trick is to learn how to scan WELL. Color negatives are the hardest to scan due to color-correcting for the inverted orange mask. You must have a good scanner and good scanning software. I am using a Nikon film scanner with VueScan, which has profiles for common negative types and good balancing algorithms.

You must master exposure, resolution, setting black and white points and gamma, color management, and file archiving strategies, otherwise you'll just waste your time producing substandard scans and it would be better for you to send them out.

If you decide to do a large collection yourself, be aware of the time commitment. 100 rolls of 36-exposure film times 10 minutes a scan for setup and corrections (that's optimistic) equals roughly two weeks of full-time labor. If that's too much of your time, send it out. If you really do want to do just a few of your favorites, the time requirement is much more reasonable.

Sorry, since I've been a do-it-yourselfer I'm not able to recommend a service either.

cakanode

Thank you both for the great advice. However, I am only an amateur trying to get better and have it become my profession. Therefore, I dont have the money to buy a film scanner(especially since I just bought my D70s recently).
I will definitely take your advice once I am able to purchase a film scanner. Does anyone else that may read this have any suggestions on a good negative to digital scanning company?? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
CK

ChrisJ

When I lived in Seattle, it took several tries to find a local place which would scan slides to our satisfaction and within our budget (about $1 per slide, for future comparison sake). Then that place went out of business... I really never trusted sending out my negatives to anyone remote.

So I bought an Epson Perfection 4870 Pro. It's *not* a dedicated film/slide scanner ("only" around $500), but it does give adequate results for me.

I know, still not what your looking for... but it's another alternative!