Convert old photos/negatives into digital

[Irrotational]

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been asked before but I tried searching with a few different phrases and couldn't find anything....

I have quite a few old photos and it suddenly struck me that I should get them converted into digital format (for various reasons).

These are "just" snaps of family and friends, so I'm after something that's relatively cheap, but will give reasonable picture quality.

1. Have any of you used a company to do this and if so which one would you recommend?
2. Is it better to get the photos scanned in, or get it done via the negatives?

[LuS1fer]

I bought a Canon 5600F last yuear and scanned in the negatives. You think you're going to get better quality photos and you don't to any great degree but you avoid the wear and tear. However, even negatives seem to discolour to some degree. It was good fun finding those "end" negatives often under a sticker which the printers never bothered with and discovering a hitherto unseen photo from the past.

[simer553]

Funnily enough, my missus was researching this exact thing yesterday. Apparently Max Speilman do this. Don't know if they're any good but we've a load of old negatives and some undeveloped 35mm films that we want in digital format.

Let us know how you get on?

Cheers

[Deluded]

Any lab or shop that can print from negs will be able to stick them on CD for you. If they can't then they are missing a trick (or using some seriously out of date equipment).

You can do it at home though but it's a time consuming process only being able to scan one 4 or 6 at a time (and depending on the res, can take a mins per frame...). Plus, buying a scanner that is up to producing decent, high res scans of negs can be expensive. Flatbeds are the cheaper option but not really designed for the job. You can get dedicated neg scanners that feed the neg through. They are much quicker but much more expensive.

If it's only for a one off job, it's worth atleast getting a quote from a good, independant lab (don't take them to Asda...) to get them put onto CD.

Negs do fade over time but any good lab will colour correct as they go to eliminate any fading, something a scanner wont do. You would be suprised just how quick a lab can speed through negs, colour correcting as they go. Lab equipment is lightyears ahead of home tech.

Edited by Deluded on Wednesday 27th June 10:40

[The Don of Croy]

I periodically look at Ebay listings for Nikon Coolscan negative scanners. New they were in the 000's but now they come up for £150 and up.

Just google the specs and find a review online to see if it'll do what you want.

Ideal past-time for those long winter nights (in the UK summer).

[Number31]

I've been going through the family archives over past few years and have tried various different techniques. The fastest way I use is to use extension tubes or a macro lens and a negative/slide holder to take copies with a digital camera. The results are OK and I have printed at small sizes with no issues. The quality is better from slides than negatives.

For better quality I use a Nikon Coolscan 5, slides have to be done individually but negatives can be batched from a strip of negatives (up to 6 at a time).

I used to use a flat bed scanner (Epson Perfection 2450) which did a good job but gave softer results with less dynamic range than the Coolscan.

Here is a comparison between the flatbed and the Nikon


Epson 2450



Nikon Coolscan 5

Here's one using the extension tube method, not bad for the age of the slide!


Canon EOS 7D 24-105mm @ 70mm + extension tube, original Vito B, Kodachrome 64

[Irrotational]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I wasn't sure about doing this myself versus a company, but based on these replies I'd rather a company take the strain....

I was hoping to send off say 100 sets of negatives(i.e. 3,600 photos assuming 36 per film)

Plus I also want to send off photos where I don't have the negatives to get a scanned copy.

I can obviously google to find people that do it, but I was wondering if there were any favourites.

I suppose I thought it was a bit more specialist than a normal lab, but I guess on reflection it is just the same as sending them off to get developed in the first place?

Any good bulk processing places?

[Deluded]

Your profile doesnt have a location but if your anywhere near north/east London, the lab I used to work for comes highly recomended. Established over 40 years, independantly run and the sort of thing you want is what we used to do a lot of.

Forest Photographic Co Ltd on Hoe Street, Walthamstow. http://www.forestphotographic.co.uk/

Edited by Deluded on Wednesday 27th June 17:00

[Irrotational]

I am just north of glasgow - but I assumed I was posting stuff, wherever it goes!