I didn't see this thread until yesterday, but I figure I'd give it a try. I went through 2 old shoe boxes of prints and negatives, and pulled out all the negatives and I'm shipping them out today.
I don't mind sending these negatives, but I'm not sure about sending them some old (80+ years old) family pictures to scan.
I got my dvds a week ago and even then they were sitting at UPS since I missed all three attempts for delivery. So I'm pretty sure they just processed the whole order, versus less the 10% I weeded out. It came out to just over six gigabytes for the 508 pictures. The photos varied in size according to how they were cropped, ranging from (more or less) 10-15MB each. I didn't have an issue with the cropping.
This sure beats the heck out of doing it myself, and at .19/neg is nothing to sneeze at. I copied all the photos to the hard drive for redundancy. My only gripe is seeing the picture of the ex on the dvd label... Doh! :uhoh I guess I can't blame Scancafe for that, they just picked two photos with people... but I can still gripe at having to look at her each time I pick up each dvd
No more photosharing site uploads (for now...)
I just got the following response from scancafe about to my quesiton about photosharing uploads...
Dear Mr. Gorohoff,
We stopped offering the upload service early this year due to the time it was taking to upload high resolution scans (each file being 15-20MB in size). We are working with the photo sharing companies to make this a faster process. It will take at least 3-4 months to re-launch this service. Until then, we are not offering uploads and have updated our website correspondingly.
You may, however, once you receive your images on a DVD or CD-R upload them to the photo sharing site of your choice. You will have to save your images onto your hard drive, then upload them as you please.
Thank you for your inquiry!
Got my 2nd set of DVDs back from Scancafe. This time I sent them ~3000 negative strips. What I liked most was the amount of manual re-touch work they put in to restore my B&W negatives since the automated digital ICE does not work on silver halide coated films.
love it. I am all digital now...all my old pics are archived.
I got my scans
3 DVDs worth of scanned 35mm negatives. Unfortunately the majority of the images are larger than the smugmug limit of 16MB for Pro Accounts (a limit I thought I would never hit).
16mb?
I am just getting my first 1000 scans back from scancafe, and I sent off another 3000. I'm a little nervous now that greenpea has said that his are 16mb? I'm surprised that they are that large, but didn't put much thought into it. Will I need to resize all of my scans in order to upload them?
As far as the quality goes, they looked great online, and I will let you know how they look when I get them. I had bought a scanner and was going to do this myself, but found that it is no easy task, and at 19C had to go with scancafe. I'll have some uploaded in a week and will post the link.
Rufus
Maybe I missed it in this long thread, but can someone post a gallery of the results from these guys?
I'm posting this for you to check out what I got back, but please no comments about the quality of the subject matter. These are random negatives I found in a shoe box, I wasn't even sure what was on a lot of these negatives. The pictures span 20+ years and are in no particular order.
3 comments about scancafe: It takes a while for them to complete the scans (couple months), the files are really REALLY big...I had to downsize a few in order to be able to upload them to smugmug, they use to offer a direct upload to smugmug service, but at the time I had my pictures completed that service was no longer being offered.
Hi. Checking in about ScanCafe - still positive experiences out there? Has anybody used the tiff option, the hard drive option, or the 4000 dpi slide option?
I am getting ready to send batches of slides and thought I would see how it's been going.
I have just received my order back from Digital Pickle. They are officially part of our ClubSmug program. www.smugmug.com/clubsmug
I would like to personally try out BritePix as well, but Digital Pickle is right here in the Bay Area and it is very convenient.
I had them convert my miniDV's to DVD and I had them scan 1000+ photos and put them on a CD. (Since I work for SmugMug, I didn't use their auto uploading to SmugMug feature, but I would have if not)
Anyway, everything was very slick and quality is great. I choose only 300 dpi scanning and it was cheap (9 cents) and I am not planning on doing much with these old photos.
I dropped off the photos at a local PostNet and when they were done, they emailed me and I went and picked them up!
Maybe I missed it in this long thread, but can someone post a gallery of the results from these guys?
Here are a few examples of some of ScanCafe's excellent work. I received my first 2,000 (of approx. 50,000) images back on an external hard drive in TIFFs. You can check out my galleries at http://photos.smugmug.com for more examples. The scans came back even better than I was expecting. I haven't seen any color stuff yet, but as I get deeper into the digitization process, I'll have some color images coming back my way and I'll post them.
By the way, they have been extremely communicative throughout the entire process and are very prompt at answering all of my questions. For the price and the level of customer service, these guys can't be beat.
Just to keep this on the level, I should disclose that I have been so happy with their service and the quality of the people at ScanCafe, when they asked me to participate in an advetorial for October's issue of Popular Photography, I took them up on it. The skeptical amongst you might say, "Well, of course then he's going to say great things about them!", but I can honestly say that I was going to post a positive review before they asked me to participate in the Popular Photography ad.
Regardless, the proof is in the pudding and you can see that proof above. Regarding the image restoration, the "befores" might be simple fixes for some of you PS whiz-kids, but because of my day job and my lack of PS skill, I am simply amazed with the "afters" and am happy they supply this value-added service.
Good experiences for me with ScanCafe. Just got a small batch back this week. Turnaround is a bit slow, but quality and price are good. SmugMug discount code is SMUG15.
Good experiences for me with ScanCafe. Just got a small batch back this week. Turnaround is a bit slow, but quality and price are good. SmugMug discount code is SMUG15.
Cool - on a similar note does anyone have any suggestions about getting some old 8mm / Super8 and VHS and DV tapes converted over to digital? preferable to high def
Are there still good reports or are some other companies taking over and doing the same sort of work, but faster? I see prices have increased a bit since they first launched -- mostly I've 120 and 35mm used in a Holga (so it's exposed beyond the reel holes), and need/want them scanned in for later printing. But waiting a few MONTHS to get stuff back? I totally understand this for older archival stuff, but not newer 'this is how I gotta post-process from the camera' steps.
Our turnaround time for an average order is about 1 week for photo orders and 2-3 weeks for film and video. Larger orders do take more time, but you are welcome to call our customer service team who will be happy to quote you a time deadline.
ScanDigital does offer the option for TIFF or JPEG files at no additional cost. Only difference I should note is that TIFF files are returned unedited. You can also request both file formats if you'd prefer.
Please let me know if you have any questions- I'm happy to help!
Pamela
Pamela Weiss
Director of PR & Marketing
ScanDigital
Comments
I don't mind sending these negatives, but I'm not sure about sending them some old (80+ years old) family pictures to scan.
initialphotography.smugmug.com
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange
This sure beats the heck out of doing it myself, and at .19/neg is nothing to sneeze at. I copied all the photos to the hard drive for redundancy. My only gripe is seeing the picture of the ex on the dvd label... Doh! :uhoh I guess I can't blame Scancafe for that, they just picked two photos with people... but I can still gripe at having to look at her each time I pick up each dvd
I couldn't figure out how that worked.
It would sure save me some time if scancafe uploaded the 800+ scanned images to smugmug for me.
initialphotography.smugmug.com
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange
I'm working with them right now and although I haven't used this feature, I may soon. I'll report back with my experience when it happens.
Scan Cafe: let the pros do it
So it looks like they won't do medium & large format.
This is odd that we don't have more feedback on that company
BP
I just got the following response from scancafe about to my quesiton about photosharing uploads...
Maybe they should buy a copy of starexplorer
initialphotography.smugmug.com
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange
Or perhaps a sitewide license.
Swim for Them | WellmanHouse.net | AlbumFetcher | SmugShowBuilder
love it. I am all digital now...all my old pics are archived.
3 DVDs worth of scanned 35mm negatives. Unfortunately the majority of the images are larger than the smugmug limit of 16MB for Pro Accounts (a limit I thought I would never hit).
The scans look great though.
initialphotography.smugmug.com
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange
I am just getting my first 1000 scans back from scancafe, and I sent off another 3000. I'm a little nervous now that greenpea has said that his are 16mb? I'm surprised that they are that large, but didn't put much thought into it. Will I need to resize all of my scans in order to upload them?
As far as the quality goes, they looked great online, and I will let you know how they look when I get them. I had bought a scanner and was going to do this myself, but found that it is no easy task, and at 19C had to go with scancafe. I'll have some uploaded in a week and will post the link.
Rufus
facebook
photoblog
Quarks are one of the two basic constituents of matter in the Standard Model of particle physics.
I'm posting this for you to check out what I got back, but please no comments about the quality of the subject matter. These are random negatives I found in a shoe box, I wasn't even sure what was on a lot of these negatives. The pictures span 20+ years and are in no particular order.
Here ya go
3 comments about scancafe: It takes a while for them to complete the scans (couple months), the files are really REALLY big...I had to downsize a few in order to be able to upload them to smugmug, they use to offer a direct upload to smugmug service, but at the time I had my pictures completed that service was no longer being offered.
initialphotography.smugmug.com
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange
I am getting ready to send batches of slides and thought I would see how it's been going.
thanks.
Hey everyone,
I have just received my order back from Digital Pickle. They are officially part of our ClubSmug program. www.smugmug.com/clubsmug
I would like to personally try out BritePix as well, but Digital Pickle is right here in the Bay Area and it is very convenient.
I had them convert my miniDV's to DVD and I had them scan 1000+ photos and put them on a CD. (Since I work for SmugMug, I didn't use their auto uploading to SmugMug feature, but I would have if not)
Anyway, everything was very slick and quality is great. I choose only 300 dpi scanning and it was cheap (9 cents) and I am not planning on doing much with these old photos.
I dropped off the photos at a local PostNet and when they were done, they emailed me and I went and picked them up!
Markham
www.twitter.com/markhambennett
Here are a few examples of some of ScanCafe's excellent work. I received my first 2,000 (of approx. 50,000) images back on an external hard drive in TIFFs. You can check out my galleries at http://photos.smugmug.com for more examples. The scans came back even better than I was expecting. I haven't seen any color stuff yet, but as I get deeper into the digitization process, I'll have some color images coming back my way and I'll post them.
By the way, they have been extremely communicative throughout the entire process and are very prompt at answering all of my questions. For the price and the level of customer service, these guys can't be beat.
Just to keep this on the level, I should disclose that I have been so happy with their service and the quality of the people at ScanCafe, when they asked me to participate in an advetorial for October's issue of Popular Photography, I took them up on it. The skeptical amongst you might say, "Well, of course then he's going to say great things about them!", but I can honestly say that I was going to post a positive review before they asked me to participate in the Popular Photography ad.
Regardless, the proof is in the pudding and you can see that proof above. Regarding the image restoration, the "befores" might be simple fixes for some of you PS whiz-kids, but because of my day job and my lack of PS skill, I am simply amazed with the "afters" and am happy they supply this value-added service.
Thanks,
Scott
Scan Cafe: let the pros do it
I'm probably getting ready to send them a few batches...
I guess they never decided to re-launch the auto-upload-to-smugmug feature, but do we still get a discount there?
edit - found some updates here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=77599
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
Good experiences for me with ScanCafe. Just got a small batch back this week. Turnaround is a bit slow, but quality and price are good. SmugMug discount code is SMUG15.
Swim for Them | WellmanHouse.net | AlbumFetcher | SmugShowBuilder
Cool - on a similar note does anyone have any suggestions about getting some old 8mm / Super8 and VHS and DV tapes converted over to digital? preferable to high def
I started a new thread about it here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=96701
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
bueller?
What's the turnaround these days?
Is the TIFF option or the pro res option worthwhile?
Thanks.
Hi Asaf,
I'd like to introduce ScanDigital, SmugMug's new service partner for photo conversion and video and film transfers to you. We're thrilled to be a part of the SmugMug family and encourage you to read about us here: http://blogs.smugmug.com/release-notes/2009/11/13/utf-8-keywords-scandigital/
Our turnaround time for an average order is about 1 week for photo orders and 2-3 weeks for film and video. Larger orders do take more time, but you are welcome to call our customer service team who will be happy to quote you a time deadline.
ScanDigital does offer the option for TIFF or JPEG files at no additional cost. Only difference I should note is that TIFF files are returned unedited. You can also request both file formats if you'd prefer.
Please let me know if you have any questions- I'm happy to help!
Pamela
Director of PR & Marketing
ScanDigital
888.333.2808
www.scandigital.com
Twitter: @PamelaSD and @ScanDigital
Facebook: Become a fan!