g.a.williams

After my wife's mother died, we went through some of the stuff that had been stored away for years. My wfe's father was a photographer during & right after WWII. He photographed some of the Art Treasures the Nazis stole as they were recovered, & photographed Nuremberg. There was a lot of stuff, some old cameras that were just crumbling apart from being stored in an unseated breezeway closet, but I did find a small box of negatives - I think they were 4cm x 6cm - that were in remarkably good shape. The enlarger, though, was beyond repair. I don't know what's on all the negatives (hesitant to handle them much), but would really appreciate some advice on the best way(s) to print these old negatives in the digital age. There could be some things of historical significance.

chase4 Loc: Punta Corona, California

I suggest you contact our member RichardQ who has been there and done that. Use the User List to search for him. chase

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

You would either need to scan them, or send them to be scanned. Tempe Imaging Center does that sort of work, plus some. In order to scan them yourself, you'd need to purchase a scanner suitable to the size negatives you have. I'd recommend Epson products, as they are superior. I'd also recommend purchasing some protective sleeves to store those in. These are specifically made for film. Again, you'd need the sleeves of an appropriate size.
--Bob

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

There are film scanners that can handle 120 film (the likely format your negs are) as well as 35mm film. Or you could farm the job out. There's still plenty of photographers using 120/220 (medium format) film today.( I shoot some 120 myself a few times a year) Getting these digitalized shouldn't be to hard or expensive. It would be nice to have them preserved! Good Luck.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Very good advice. These appear to be a potentially important resource. Unless the OP wishes to do all the work himself, including dust removal and so on, sending them out, or at least making inquiries would be a good idea. A phone call to Tempe Imaging Center perhaps. Is this the place you mean? : http://www.tempecamera.biz/Map_to_Lab_s/695.htm

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I second the motion for Tempe Imaging Center - they are a reliable, highly professional team with great customer service. /Ralph

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

I have scanned a bunch of WWII negatives my Day took in Europe during WWII with a Leica Rangefinder. Despite the excellence of this camera and lens, the pics don't have the sharpness of my ordinary digital pics today. I scanned them myself with a Canoscan 8800F scanner which has holders for 120 size and 35mm slides and negatives. You can do this yourself or send them out, but you may not get the detail and clarity you hope for.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

That is exactly what I would expect. Before I moved to digital, I had a professional scan some 35mm Kodachrome slides; when I compare his 3000x2000 scans to my original slides, I discovered that just a 6MP image gave me all the detail Kodachrome had given me. I am quite convinced that most of us don't realize how much tighter our expectations have become in the small number of years since we transitioned from film to digital.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

True enough, Although these medium fomat negatives should yield more "resolution" than the Leica 35mm negs.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Yep!,the "great megapixel war" is long over. I once said that I would only get a digital camera when I could get at least the quality of a 4x6 print from 35mm film. At 3Mp, that was passed. Hell even old 640x480 jpegs surpassed the stuff we put up with from 110! Now we have 16mp cameras on even moderately price phones! I still shoot 35mm and 120 film for "sport" and the pure fun of using vintage gear. But yeah, were "spoiled" by the quality and price of digital photography!

cthahn

We are about to throw away all evidence of the Civil War in this country, so I am not sure about the significance of anything from WWII.

1963mca

Close to 20 years ago I was asked by a family friend if I could develop some film for them. They didn't know anything about it other than they found it in their fathers attic along with a camera that still had film in it. As I recall it was a Leica, I think a III, with some German brand film, unusual name, which included a translation to black and white. They told me to do what I wanted with it so I took a gamble and developed one roll as if it were equivalent to Kodak Plus-X using HC-110 (taking into consideration it might be decades old) . I was really shocked when the images came out reasonably well. I used the same technique to develop the other 7 rolls, including the one in the camera. The photos all appeared to be WW-II vintage taken most likely by one or more German soldiers. The scenes were mostly of "after the battle" images of soldiers going about their daily routines, plus pictures of after battle damage like downed aircraft, damaged buildings, armored vehicles etc. I was thrilled to think that I was the first person to view these pictures after, at the time I did this, 45-50 years. Based on signs included in some of the images, these were most likely taken in multiple countries, or at least locations where signs in various languages, would be included images from at least France, possibly Belgium, Germany and maybe Russia based on some photos of farm vehicles with Cyrillic writing on them. While I did return the camera and negatives, along with a set of photos I printed up, to the family, I did with their permission, scan all the negatives to keep. Unfortunately, 20 years ago my scanner technology was pretty poor so the negatives did not come out real well, low scanner resolution, but they are pretty much all viewable.

donrosshill Loc: Delaware & Florida

If these negatives are potentially important historically as you have indicated, I would not attempt to do anything that may destroy them. May I suggest you contact the Smithsonian museum and offer them the opportunity to exam them for there Historical value. I am sure that they will be more than willing to consider restoring and filling them. 'Good Luck.
Don H

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Not sure about historical value, but if they aren't super delicate and brittle, there are many here that can still develop those for you if you just want prints.

I know (and trust) Tim Stapp (a member of the wedding photography forum) that still uses a 4x5 film camera for special events/shots. I would trust him to make enlargements to be both more than fair, and also more than careful.

jackinkc Loc: Kansas City

Scan the negs, by all means!!!!