B&W 4 x 5 negatives: Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints. Any...

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

rcarol

Tony R wrote:

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

Please give us more information about the equipment and technique that you used in your attempt to scan these negatives.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Tony, I regularly scan my 4x5s. If you provide some information as to the hardware/software you're using in your attempt, I might be able to provide some assistance. If not, I'd be happy to discuss (PM) scanning them.
--Bob

Tony R wrote:

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

therwol Loc: USA

Tony R wrote:

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

You need a scanner that can scan film. It has to be backlit. I have scanned many 4x5 negatives with my Epson V800 scanner. If you don't want to spend a thousand bucks for one, then consider putting them on a light box and photographing them, but you will need to reverse the photos after the fact. This can be simple with black and white or complicated with color. You could look at a refurbished V700 for much less. You could borrow a scanner that can do the job. You could have someone do the scanning for you.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Don't know what scanner you have, mine has a white backing that has to be inside the lid in order to scan negatives or slides. Might the lack of that be the problem? It isn't needed for documents or photos.

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

Using Lightroom, using a Canon printer/Scanner. Imac computer. I get a very faint image but nothing usable.

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

[quote=rmalarz]Tony, I regularly scan my 4x5s. If you provide some information as to the hardware/software you're using in your attempt, I might be able to provide some assistance. If not, I'd be happy to discuss (PM) scanning them.
--Bob[/quote

Thanks Bob, I'm using a Canon printer/scanner. It works well on printed items. I think the problem is the scan is not back lit and light is not going through the negs.

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

Backlighting sounds like my problem. I'll try your other suggestion.

Thanks for recommendation.

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

rmalarz wrote:

Tony, I regularly scan my 4x5s. If you provide some information as to the hardware/software you're using in your attempt, I might be able to provide some assistance. If not, I'd be happy to discuss (PM) scanning them.
--Bob

Tempe, AZ? Used to live in Phoenix. Is Tempe Camera still around?

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Tony R wrote:

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

Do you have a transparency scanner or are you using a flat bed, you need a light behind not in front front of the negative. Light needs to shine through.

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

wmurnahan wrote:

Do you have a transparency scanner or are you using a flat bed, you need a light behind not in front front of the negative. Light needs to shine through.

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, my scanner won't scan a transparency. Back to the drawing board....

wmurnahan Loc: Bloomington IN

Tony R wrote:

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, my scanner won't scan a transparency. Back to the drawing board....

Make a holder that will hold the transparency far enough away to fill the frame, hold it up to the light. Transparency taped to glass with light behind, camera on tripod and macro/close focus (with a 4x5 you are not going to get to 1:1) lens

Tony R Loc: Westport, CT

Thanks, a great project for us covid shut-ins!

therwol Loc: USA

wmurnahan wrote:

Do you have a transparency scanner or are you using a flat bed, you need a light behind not in front front of the negative. Light needs to shine through.

My Epson V800 has a removable white backing on the lid. Removing it exposes clear glass with a light source behind it that back lights film. I have a 4X5 film holder that sits on the scanner. The Epson software activates the back light when you choose film as the source. If you choose negative film, either black and white or color, the same software will reverse the image for you. Most people buy similar scanners like the V600, but the inexpensive scanners cannot handle large format film. The current Epson scanners that can handle it (V800 and V850) cost either side of $1000. I took a lot of 4X5 pictures back in the day, and I had to put out the bucks. I've photographed negatives as well, but I find a scanner to be more convenient when dealing with multiple film formats and types of film, negative and positive and in large volumes. As I previously suggested, you could hunt around for a refurbished or used Epson V700. By the way, I find resolution beyond 1200 dpi to be unnecessary for my purposes when scanning 4X5 film. Beyond that, the files can be huge.

ecurb Loc: Metro Chicago Area

Tony R wrote:

Found some 4x5's my father shot back in the 40's. Tried to scan them but nothing of use came out. They are very well exposed and should make some great prints.
Any suggestions who might be able to transfer to digital?

If you don't have a film scanner, try Duggal lab in NYC.