pigpen

I have 18 years worth of pics/negs from all over the U.S., including 15 national parks. I'm looking for a solution to turn negs into digital files. I paid someone once to do one image, but wasn't thrilled with the results. Is it better to have the image scanned, or the negative? What type of questions should I ask the person doing it for me? What kind of resolution should I expect/ask for? I read somewhere of someone who puts his negs on a light table, and photographs the negs. Has anybody tried/heard of this? I have so many amazing pics, I'd hate to not be able to add them to my site. I wish I had the money, I would love to solve the problem by taking all those trips again. :D

Thanx.

JustBNme Loc: The Darkside...

HSN has a scanner that does real good at scanning photos...

http://electronics.hsn.com/vupoint-magic-wand-ii-portable-scanner-with-color-lcd-preview-screen-pewter_p-6631283_xp.aspx


Its a Viewpoint Magic Wand. It's about $100.00 but mine works great. I've had it for about three months and haven't had any problems.
You can also go to ebay and search in cameras for"negative scanners" and you will get dozens of hits. The prices range from about $50.00 and up past $500.00...
I have never used one of the negative scanners so I'm not sure how well they work. If you get a 30 day return then you could try one and if your not satisfied then you could always return it.

pshaffer Loc: Worthington, Ohio

I have a canoscan 900. At least I think that's the model. I am away from he right now. Specifically for photo scanning but does other scanning as well. It was around 250. Has things you will need to do a decent job. Such as special holders for negatives. Software also has color management and dust/ scratch removal. You need to do this right the first time because you want a good product and, trust me, you will not want to do it again.
This is a time consuming project. You will want to annotate your digital copies otherwise you won't be able to find them. This took as much time as the scanning.
Scan original negatives. The print scans don't look like photos, they look like scans of prints. You will be shocked at how much junk is on the negs, even ones that never left their protective sleeves, but any particularly precious photos can be fixed in PS in a matter of a few minutes

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

Check also on the Vu point on QVC as one or the other has the Vu point that will let you put the photos through the side or can be scanned by holding the scanner. I have both types. Love them.

NIKONUT Loc: San Diego

I did a lot of searching and found that JR Electronics in New York City Has a Bunch of Slide/Negative/Print scanners in their inventory. I bought 2 ION scanners. One is #PICS 2 PC (about $125) and #PICS 2 SD (about $145). You willl note one scans to your PC via a USB cable and the other using a SD card. They can scan slides, negatives and prints.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

take the negatives to a professional print service lab nearby - they will know what to do and once you leave the stuff with them they become responsible for the negs - safe hands - negs can be outputted to slides and from slides to digital. Might cost a bit but the alternative is mucking around on your own.....and these images are valuable.

rthurlow

I use an epson perfection photo scanner that does negatives and am happy with the results.

Meives Loc: FORT LAUDERDALE

I use an HP PhotoSmart scanner. Slides, 35 mm negatives, and 5 x 7 pictures. Slow, but great work. If you have a bunch, it's worth the cost to get a good one.

Shots Loc: Dillon, Colorado

www.bigskydigitalimaging.com...Very good at the quality of
work at a great price!!

Scubie Loc: Brunswick Georgia

Good question

I had the same problem and at the time I had a ton of slides and negatives. Here is what I did, I purchased a device that actually fits on the camera as does a lens. Then you start inserting the slides intu the front of the device and then start taking a picture of each one. Then I went to a quality lab and had the film turned into digital high resolution files. For pictures I scan them myself with a good quality scanner/ copier/ printer and I have the digital file saved to my computer. If you want to scan negatives, you must invest in a good HR scanner as some have recommended on this site.....

gilde Loc: La Grande, Oregon

If you have the time, patience, and software (such as Photoshop) you can convert all of your choice negs, transparencies, and prints by purchasing a scanner with a transparency scanning head (in addition to a Minolta dedicated film scanner I am using an Epson V750 Pro which is able to scan 35mm to 8x10 transparencies & negatives along with prints 8x12" or larger if scanned in sections and then reassembled in Photoshop). The alternative is to have it done by a competent outside source if you have the budget. Over the years I have scanned thousands of images for clients as well as from my stock file for various projects for publication, custom wall decor, and museum exhibits. I imagine there are all sorts of outside sources that can provide low-cost scanning; however, you need to determine the quality and adjustments needed for your planned use. My scanning projects for clients include image color correction (if needed), cleanup, and archiving usually at 8x10" - 300 dpi in Tiff format.Total price for quantity scanning and archiving usually averages between $6.50 and $8.50 per image, depending on the original image conditions. If you need any more guidance, please let me know. Samples of historic images and from my stock file can be viewed at www.gildemeister-usa.com. Image copy/restoration is located under the copy-restoration page link.

Regards, Jerry G

pigpen

Wow! That's some good work, thank you.

Thank you too, Scubie. I'll have to look into that.

The Watcher

I think your best bet and cheapest way to go is by finding a good used photo scanner that also does film, and learn how to use it. I use a ten year old Epson Photo 2450, it does a great job. My suggestion is to go on online and look for one that has photo in the name. Then look for reviews for the scanner. Reviews for older scanners are still out there. Once you decide on one, go to the makers website and see if they have a updated driver for your computer's operating system. I use my scanner with Windows XP and recently learn that Epson doesn't have a updated driver for use with Windows 7, but there is a after market one that you can try before you buy it. When I finished this post I went out to Ebay to see what they has for scanners. Right now there's a new Epson Photo scanner for seventy bucks. I know that scanner used to sell for over three hundred fifty bucks. Its a upgrade of the one that I use.

Scubie Loc: Brunswick Georgia

I got my slide copier online, I cannot tell you from whom since I have had it for twenty years, it is the best and least expensive way to copy slides.

PhotoGeezer Loc: North East Ohio

I have the same problem and am solving it with an HP4050 Scanner (about $200). In addition to scanning photos, it has negative carriers for 35mm, 127, 120 and 4x5's. There is also a carrier for mounted slides. It will hold 5 strips of 6 negs at one time (30 images) and 20 mounted slides. The beauty of it is that it separates each slide or neg. image into separate digital images/files. All you have to do is designate where to store them and what to call them and away you go. It names each image and numbers it consecutively. I am still finding negs and slides all over the place that need to be included. Looks like a full time job for a while.