Where to get F10 31/2" X 6" Negatives Scanned: I uncovered a treasure trove of my grandfather's F10 format negatives dating from the Panama Canal construction through the early 1940s.

Grigio

I uncovered a treasure trove of my grandfather's F10 format negatives dating from the Panama Canal construction through the early 1940s. He used a Kodak Autographic, which I inherited (it's in great condition!)

Is there a scanning service that will scan large, obsolete formats?

Thanks in advance!

(If only I could find F10 film somewhere!!)

Steved3604

Interesting question! Flatbed scanner could work. The biggest light source (enlarger color head) I have is 5 inches square. On a light table with a 35mm digital SLR (or other) could probably make a digital file. (I'm presuming B&W negs?) Would have to cut a cardboard (or other) mask for the 6 inch negative to work on a light table or on any flatbed scanner.
Do you have a supply/take up spool and any backing paper? (My total guess is that F10 film is probably 88-92mm wide film stock -- and that the F10 cameras used film with backing paper -- like 120/620/616 etc.) Check "Film for Classics.com" to see if they can make up a roll that would work in your camera. Wish you luck.

therwol Loc: USA

Grigio wrote:

I uncovered a treasure trove of my grandfather's F10 format negatives dating from the Panama Canal construction through the early 1940s. He used a Kodak Autographic, which I inherited (it's in great condition!)

Is there a scanning service that will scan large, obsolete formats?

Thanks in advance!

(If only I could find F10 film somewhere!!)

Epson V700, V750, V800, V850 are flatbed scanners that can scan without negative holders on the glass. Only the V850 is currently in production, and it costs around $1100, but the others can be found used for less. The only potential issue I see would be that the film may not lie flat. I seem to recall that someone makes oddball size negative holders for these scanners, but I don't remember who they are. You can also photograph them with a macro lens over a light box. People have even used cell phones for this. The black and white negative images can be reversed in a photo editor. There have been many threads on this forum about photographing negatives.

David283 Loc: Duluth,GA

Take a look at Legacy Box. My wife had them scan about 200 old pictures and negatives and the results were very good. They send you a shipping box then return it with your pictures and your choice of media, a thumb drive or a DVD. My wife chose a DVD as thumb drives tend to get misplaced (LOL). I own Epson V600 scanner, but the cost of Legacy Box was darn reasonable.

ELNikkor

An Epson scanner could scan those negs. Years ago I rigged my Autographic to shoot 120 film by cutting some 35mm film cans in half and putting them bottom-up in the bottom of the spool chamber so the tops of the 120 spool would fit into the winding nub. I wasted one roll of 120 film so I could measure how many turns of the winder it took to advance the film for each frame, wrote down the results, and kept it with the camera when shooting. Also had to compose with the knowledge that the bottom of the frame was not where the film was. This made some nice panoramic format 120 negatives!

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

Grigio wrote:

I uncovered a treasure trove of my grandfather's F10 format negatives dating from the Panama Canal construction through the early 1940s. He used a Kodak Autographic, which I inherited (it's in great condition!)

Is there a scanning service that will scan large, obsolete formats?

Thanks in advance!

(If only I could find F10 film somewhere!!)

If I am reading it right, you have 31 negatives that are 2 x 6 Inches.
For those a flatbed scanner should do just fine.
I have scanned many, many negatives, both colour and B/W on my Epsonperfection v700Photo.
They all turned out very good.

I was hesitant to spend the money for that scanner, but it had a high recommendation from another owner of that model scanner, any my piggybank was fat enough at that time, so I splurged. It's been a number of years now (I think maybe 7 of 8), but I've never regretted this purchase.
The scanner stands within arm's length of my computer and I still use it several times a week, never had a problem.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

You can make negative holders for the Epson Flatbed scanner out of heavy cardboard cut to any needed size. I bought a scanner at a flea market that didn't have the holders so had to make some.

Grigio

Thank you for the tip! It’s worth a try.

Grigio

The negatives are 3 1/2 inch wide and 6 inches long. It’s pretty big.

therwol Loc: USA

CPR wrote:

You can make negative holders for the Epson Flatbed scanner out of heavy cardboard cut to any needed size. I bought a scanner at a flea market that didn't have the holders so had to make some.

The only thing I want to point out is that the Epson flatbed scanners don't have autofocus. The thickness of the cardboard would be critical. I have the V800. The film holders have an adjustment for focus, and I can tell you from experimenting that if it isn't right, it shows in the output. The test for me was how well black and white grain shows up. Using my scanner with an oddball film size, I'd scan it on the glass. My scanner has two lenses, one for scanning with film holders and one for scanning on the glass. Roll film may not sit flat. That would be the challenge.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

therwol wrote:

The only thing I want to point out is that the Eps... (show quote)

Regarding that challenge: I purchased a piece of non-glare glass from a framing-shop. Place the film on the scanner glass place, then the piece of non-glare on top of it. Set the scanner for scanning on the glass.

If you want to go that route, may I suggest that to prevent cutting yourself on the glass, you put packing tape around the edges of the non-glare glass - the kind of packing tape that looks like silk threads have been woven into it over the length.
On the corners, leave an inch or so of packing tape, folded double - easy handles to lower the non-glare on top of the negatives and to pick it up again, without getting finger prints all over.

therwol Loc: USA

Morning Star wrote:

Regarding that challenge: I purchased a piece of n... (show quote)

Good to know. Thanks.

Grigio

Thank you for this! Question, do you still have the spool set-up in your Autographic? Could take a snapshot and post it? Thank you!

Grigio

Thank you! I have an Epson V600. If this method works, maybe I can scan the 6X9 negatives. My father kept all of his 6X9s from the 30s and 40s taken with a foldout Wirgen. I just sold my Beseler and dark room. I had a 6X9 negative holder.

Grigio

These F10 neg/images were cut so they could be printed as contact prints. They are pretty limp and not curled. So, my concern would be that film would sag to scanning glass. Thank you so much for responding!