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Digitalizing old slides, prints, and negatives
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Jun 17, 2017 08:52:34   #
wbauknight Loc: Buda, TX
 
What is the best way to digitalize old photos, slides, and negatives. I am new to the Hog so I know it has been asked before but I missed it. Is there a way to scan the negatives and convert them to files to develop? If so what software do your use? Any suggestions as to the best scanners available for digitalizing? Sorry for the repeat!!

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Jun 17, 2017 09:17:11   #
SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer
 
I had many years of travel slides/negatives to convert so, after listening to the folks here at UHH, I bought a refurbished Epson V600 scanner for $149.00 on the Epson site. It does both 35mm and 6x6cm, converts black and white and color neg's to positive and is relatively fast doing it. It will also digitize old photos, or any other documents. There are newer versions of this scanner but I believe the V600 is still available. Google "refurbished Epson scanner" and see what's available.

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Jun 17, 2017 09:17:30   #
Lazy J Loc: Pacific Northwest
 
Use the search feature above with various phrases.

This unit has been highly recommended:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/647187-REG/Epson_B11B198011_Perfection_V600_Photo_Scanner.html

Good luck!

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Jun 17, 2017 09:25:40   #
Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)
 
wbauknight wrote:
What is the best way to digitalize old photos, slides, and negatives. I am new to the Hog so I know it has been asked before but I missed it. Is there a way to scan the negatives and convert them to files to develop? If so what software do your use? Any suggestions as to the best scanners available for digitalizing? Sorry for the repeat!!


Depending on how many you have, how much time you have on your hands, and what shape they're in and how much cleanup you'll need to do before scanning and afterwards in post processing, and how good your PP skills are, you might be better off picking out the important ones and sending them out for scanning. The best scans are from dedicated film scanners, though you can get decent results with regular scanners that offer film scanning. But if you have the time patience and perseverance, go for the DIY solution.

As far as a device, I am partial to the Canon 9000F but I am sure the Epsons are just as good.

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Jun 17, 2017 10:19:28   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
wbauknight wrote:
What is the best way to digitalize old photos, slides, and negatives. I am new to the Hog so I know it has been asked before but I missed it. Is there a way to scan the negatives and convert them to files to develop? If so what software do your use? Any suggestions as to the best scanners available for digitalizing? Sorry for the repeat!!


I've done it with a scanner and with ScanCafe. ScanCafe is better, but $$.

Some links -

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/nikon-products/product/slide-copy-adapters/es-1-slide-copying-adapter-for-52mm-thread.html
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-448681-1.html#7548235
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-457230-1.html#7687881
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos.scanner&hl=en
http://opteka.com/slidecopier.aspx
https://smile.amazon.com/Wolverine-Super-20MP-Digital-Converter/dp/B00GIDADP0/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g2609328962?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&ie=UTF8
http://www.scancafe.com/services/slide-scanning
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/08/30/copy-slides-and-old-prints-a-really-easy-way-to-digitize-your-archive/?hootPostID=62f2fdd01fc0980aa97cd08f86b5d4e3

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Jun 17, 2017 11:05:24   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Two methods: Scan and Copy

Scanners are slow, and quality ranges from awful to pretty fine. A popular film and print scanner is the EPSON V600.

Copy rigs generally include (from top to bottom):

Camera
Macro lens (or enlarger lens on a bellows)
Film/slide holder
Highly diffused, photo quality light source

The copy method is fastest. Quality ranges from poor to excellent, depending on all the variables.

Do a UHH search on this topic to find reams of information on it.

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Jun 17, 2017 11:37:46   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
burkphoto wrote:
Two methods: Scan and Copy

Scanners are slow, and quality ranges from awful to pretty fine. A popular film and print scanner is the EPSON V600.

Copy rigs generally include (from top to bottom):

Camera
Macro lens (or enlarger lens on a bellows)
Film/slide holder
Highly diffused, photo quality light source

The copy method is fastest. Quality ranges from poor to excellent, depending on all the variables.

Do a UHH search on this topic to find reams of information on it.
Two methods: Scan and Copy br br Scanners are slo... (show quote)

Sorry, my experience was just the opposite. I had many years worth of media, most of which had been moved many times, so I was dealing with scratches and fungus as well as dust spots. Copy rig copied everything perfectly, including scratches. My Nikon LS-2000 scans each spot 16 times, using parallax to eliminate most surface issues, and gives me a scan minimizing post-scan editing.

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Jun 17, 2017 12:01:15   #
WayneT Loc: Paris, TN
 
Love my Epson V-600 and the best part of it is the software you get with it.

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Jun 17, 2017 18:28:44   #
wbauknight Loc: Buda, TX
 
Thank you so much for all the input! Does anyone scan the negatives and convert? If so what software? I have 35mm up to 4X5 negatives.

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Jun 17, 2017 18:35:23   #
WayneT Loc: Paris, TN
 
I believe the V-600 software will do that for you.

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Jun 17, 2017 18:47:17   #
rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA
 
wbauknight wrote:
Thank you so much for all the input! Does anyone scan the negatives and convert? If so what software? I have 35mm up to 4X5 negatives.
Both Nikon and Plustek scanners have "negative" settings which instruct software to convert negative.

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Jun 17, 2017 18:56:53   #
WayneT Loc: Paris, TN
 
The V-600 has negative settings as well with lighting in the lid.

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Jun 18, 2017 06:01:46   #
lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA
 
SonyA580 wrote:
I had many years of travel slides/negatives to convert so, after listening to the folks here at UHH, I bought a refurbished Epson V600 scanner for $149.00 on the Epson site. It does both 35mm and 6x6cm, converts black and white and color neg's to positive and is relatively fast doing it. It will also digitize old photos, or any other documents. There are newer versions of this scanner but I believe the V600 is still available. Google "refurbished Epson scanner" and see what's available.
I had many years of travel slides/negatives to con... (show quote)


I have a V500, works well for what it does, but I'm not happy with it not being able to scan 4x5" films. The much more expensive V800 does. Most if not all scanners come with the software to scan and create Positives from the scanned negatives, both B&W and color. That is the best way to go. Or you can go nuts trying to invert and color correct with Photoshop a "naked" scan. And in any case you can fine tune your scanned image with Ps or Lr.

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Jun 18, 2017 06:14:03   #
lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA
 
burkphoto wrote:
Two methods: Scan and Copy

Scanners are slow, and quality ranges from awful to pretty fine. A popular film and print scanner is the EPSON V600.

Copy rigs generally include (from top to bottom):

Camera
Macro lens (or enlarger lens on a bellows)
Film/slide holder
Highly diffused, photo quality light source

The copy method is fastest. Quality ranges from poor to excellent, depending on all the variables.

Do a UHH search on this topic to find reams of information on it.
Two methods: Scan and Copy br br Scanners are slo... (show quote)


I've done it many times for copying films using a light box and digital camera, tripod with side arm, macro lens, etc.
Works pretty well for B&W, I can invert the image to a positive with Ps. Not so well for color negatives. I have not been able to figure out the correct filtration with Ps to remove the Red Mask before inverting. Any ideas? So I normally copy with a scanner and its software that takes care of those issues. But I need the copy camera method for 4x5" and larger films. Or save my pennies for a Epson V800 (List $800).

I also have a disassembled huge 4x5" Polaroid Copy Camera (it can shoot conventional 4x5" sheet film as well as I'd use it). This can be good for copying prints to film.

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Jun 18, 2017 06:15:55   #
FotoPhreak Loc: Whittier, CA
 
I started out using a Canon 9000F film/print scanner with SilverFast scanning software and was generally happy with the results until I started making large prints (11x14 and larger). The large prints were not as sharp as I felt they should be, particularly for prints made from scans of medium format slides. I eventually purchased a Plustek 120 film scanner and I am very happy with the results. I have had very large prints printed by a professional printer and the prints are very sharp. Unfortunately the Plusktek 120 scanner costs about 2 grand. In your case, it may be simpler (and cheaper) to start out with a flatbed scanner (such as the Epson V600) since a flatbed photo scanner will handle all your prints and slides. It will will give you very decent scans. Depending on what you do with your scans, you might feel it necessary to purchase additional hardware. For example, if most of your slides are 35mm, you might want to look into a 35mm film scanner. I know that Plustek manufactuers several 35mm film scanners. But starting out with a flatbed photo scanner is probably the least expensive way to start scanning all your prints. For software, I use the SilverFast software that came with the Plustek scanner. But VueScan is a popular scanner product and it costs a lot less than SilverFast.

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