Old negatives to Scan

  • Thread starter Thread starter mihunter
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M

mihunter

I recently inherit a number of old photographic negatives that are odd
sized. Several hundred.

I'd like to scan the negatives to see if I can use any of the photos
for genealogical research. The negatives are varying size, they aren't
35mm but much larger.

Can someone recommend a moderate priced scanner that I can get a
reasonable view of what these negative contain. If I decide that I
find worthy negatives I can always bring them to a professional studio
for replication.

I've seen lots of 35mm scanners but I need a special scanner for this
project.

Michael
 
If you want moderate price & quality, then go get an Epson 4870/4900 or
Canon 9950f.

regards.
 
I recently inherit a number of old photographic negatives that are odd
sized. Several hundred.

I'd like to scan the negatives to see if I can use any of the photos
for genealogical research. The negatives are varying size, they aren't
35mm but much larger.

Can someone recommend a moderate priced scanner that I can get a
reasonable view of what these negative contain. If I decide that I
find worthy negatives I can always bring them to a professional studio
for replication.

I've seen lots of 35mm scanners but I need a special scanner for this
project.
Click to expand...
Try an Epson 2990. It's moderately priced and for bigger negs you
don't need the extra "dpi" of the bigger Epson scanner.

--

Hecate - The Real One
(e-mail address removed)
Fashion: Buying things you don't need, with money
you don't have, to impress people you don't like...
 
I like the Epson 4180 flatbed.

It scans at 4800 dpi and it scans 4 slides or 8 negatives at a
time.

And it is much faster than previous models. Your preview is
available almost immediately.

Of course you have to clean slides regardless. And you have some
control over your environment. A hepa?? filter in the room will
remove virtually all the 'stuff' that falls on your equipment.
 
I recently inherit a number of old photographic negatives that are odd
sized. Several hundred.

I'd like to scan the negatives to see if I can use any of the photos
for genealogical research. The negatives are varying size, they aren't
35mm but much larger.

Can someone recommend a moderate priced scanner that I can get a
reasonable view of what these negative contain. If I decide that I
find worthy negatives I can always bring them to a professional studio
for replication.

I've seen lots of 35mm scanners but I need a special scanner for this
project.

Michael
Click to expand...
Depends on the size of the negatives as to what scanner is good and
economical.

If the negatives or no larger than 2 1/4 X 2 1/4 inches for the image area,
then there are several flatbed scanners that Canon and Epson make that will
work.

If the negatives are larger than 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 inches, then you would need a
more expensive scanner, that can handle 4 x 5 or 8 x 10 inch transparencies.

Again both Canon and Epson make flatbed scanners that will do the job.

Canon:
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=104

The CanoScan 8400F will do 2.6" x 9" (3 frames of 120 film).
The CanoScan 9950F will do up to 4" x 5" transparency.

Epson:
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductCategory.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=-8172

The Epson Perfection 3170 PHOTO will do
2.6" x 9" Transparency Adapter built-in lid, 12 negative, 4 slide, 1 2-1/4"
or 120mm (medium format) capacity

Epson Perfection 4990 PHOTO will do up to 8" x10" transparency.
There are others in the Epson line that work also.
 
I recently inherit a number of old photographic negatives that are odd
sized. Several hundred.

I'd like to scan the negatives to see if I can use any of the photos
for genealogical research. The negatives are varying size, they aren't
35mm but much larger.

Can someone recommend a moderate priced scanner that I can get a
reasonable view of what these negative contain. If I decide that I
find worthy negatives I can always bring them to a professional studio
for replication.
Click to expand...


For rough work, you can build a light box and use a digital
camera to photograph the negatives. It works good enough to help
you decide images' worthiness, and to catalog them.
 
tbl said:
For rough work, you can build a light box and use a digital
camera to photograph the negatives. It works good enough to help
you decide images' worthiness, and to catalog them.
Click to expand...

You could also put them in sleeves and use a flat bed to make "contact"
sheets. A bit more work, but easier to view in the end.
 
UrbanVoyeur said:
You could also put them in sleeves and use a flat bed to make "contact"
sheets. A bit more work, but easier to view in the end.

--

J

www.urbanvoyeur.com
Click to expand...

The light box is a good quick way to decide if the negative is worth the
trouble to scan and reverse into a positive image. (Which the scanner will
do for you).

Plans for building a lightbox for about $50.
http://www.carlmcmillan.com/light_table.htm

Commercial model.
http://www.adorama.com/VRPLB12142W.html?searchinfo=light box&item_no=7
 
I like the idea of a light box.
Come to think of it I still have an old one (aluminum on cardboard) that I
used to sequence my slides before inserting them in a carousel tray.
How do you use the digital camera to take a shot of the slide while it on
the light box?.
TIA
 
Why would you want to take a picture of the slide, it is a positive image.
If you want to digitize the slide you need a film scanner.
 
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