Old84

After several (read many) years of film photography I have amassed a huge volume of color negatives (mostly Verichrome) for which most of the prints have either been lost or given away. I would like to prevail upon the UHH wisdom and experience for the best way to digitize the best pictures from these negs. I will probably keep only about 20% of these pictures but even so the sheer volume of negatives would most likely make commercial processing cost prohibitive. Is there a device that would allow me to review these negatives and save only those pictures I want to keep?

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

Honestly, I would use a loop and lightbox and mark off the frames I want.
If you identify a few hundred I would think that a reasonable number to
scan individually over a few weeks. If you're in the thousands, well, you
do the math.

Old84

Thanks for the quick answer, however, I am not familiar with a loop and lightbox. Where would I get additional info about them?

ricardo7 Loc: Washington, DC - Santiago, Chile

https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-slides-light-box-loupe-image2473152

Just a frosted glass box illuminated from below and a magnifier.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Get a Loupe (not a loop) as ricardo7 suggested.
Verichrome was a black and white negative film.
Perhaps you meant Vericolor?

Old84

You are probably correct about the name. These are strips of 4 or 5 negative pictures and, in many cases, hard to identify faces in group shots. Thanks again for your help.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Some ideas -

https://petapixel.com/2012/05/18/how-to-scan-film-negatives-with-a-dslr/
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/scanning-without-scanner-digitizing-your-film-dslr
https://fstoppers.com/education/how-use-your-dslr-scan-negatives-137248
http://www.mfphotography.ca/michael-fraser-photography/category/the-definitive-guide-to-scanning-film-with-a-digital-camera

jim in TC Loc: Traverse City, Michigan

I have scanned some negatives on an older Epson Photo scanner, with admittedly mixed results. But the newer Epsons, I have read in this forum, have far better ability to 'capture' and process slides, so I assume also negatives. Look for a thread on copying slides for more.

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

I have an Epson 750Pro scanner and I used it to do a few thousand slides, both 35mm and 6x6cm. Just as you say, only about 20% were worth the effort, but since I could scan a film strip at a time, it wasn't any extra effort.

Jeffers

You should use a good scanner with a broad resolution range. I use an Epson V550, capable of scanning from50 to 12800 dpi ($163 at Amazon today). Don't get an inexpensive scanner with limited dpi settings. With the Epson, you can set the dpi from 50 to 12800; preview as many images as will fit on the image area (6-8?), then scan in those that you want to keep, one at a time by changing the scan footprint. You never know which ones you'll eventually want to enlarge. As a matter of course, I scan at 600 dpi.

Scanning in is easy but tedious. But your film images start deteriorating the day they are developed, so this is job 1, don't put it off. Cleaning and repairing the photos and ridding them of ageing redness if they are really old, takes time and experience. I'm writing a book that focuses in part on doing this with Photoshop Elements. Don't let this part of the task daunt you. Get those photos scanned in as soon as you can to stop the deterioration. And make three copies of all of them. One set for your computer, another set for home storage, and another set for off-site storage. Data gets stolen or destroyed all the time and most of it can be replaced, however painful. Your images are your life story. They cannot be replaced.

SS319

I went to google, and found a site that will digitize for $.50-$.90/frame, then I found this site:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/scanning-without-scanner-digitizing-your-film-dslr

I am not only passing it on to you, but I am saving it and may end up using it myself if ever my list of Things-to-do-today dwindles.

whitewolfowner

Get a good photo scanner; best way to digitize them.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

For 4x5 negatives, any of the larger Epson scanners would be a good choice - V700, V750 or V850. The only drawback is that you can only scan two sheets at a time.

That's going to make very slow going so try to isolate your best images to do first (once you get the hang of it).

You can pick your resolution but I suggest not going beyond 2400 dpi or your files will get too big.

I have the V750 and use it regularly. The Epson Scan software is perfectly fine so don't feel you need to use the more exotic third party software like SilverFast.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I was amazed by the amazing quality I got from a 35mm Tri-X neg scan from the V700.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

Agree with Jeffers. I scanned 50 years' worth of family negatives in both BW and colour using the Epson V550. I got excellent results. You will need to do some post processing but that's to be expected. And you'll need quite a bit of time.