Important photos taken with 110 film. What would you do?

[AngieJ101]

Almost 40 years ago I took photographs of famous musicians with my 110 camera. I want to sell my photos on eBay or at the very least provide some prints for my buyers of my rock music memorabilia to prove my autographed items are authentic but I don't know how to develop film.

I'm apprehensive about sending my 110 negatives in the mail to be developed into prints. What if they're lost or stolen?

I've read a little about scanning negatives but I wouldn't know how to modify after scanning.
Is it better to print from 110 negatives or better to scan into digital?

Would you send your important negatives to someone to develop?
Would you send your important negatives to be scanned?
How can I find someone I can trust to scan or make prints at a cost I can afford?

Thank you for your help with this.

 

[john.margetts]

Unless you set up your own darkroom the negatives will need to be scanned.

If you send the negatives by registered post they are unlikely to be lost. I cannot image anyone stealing them as they will not be worth much as 110 negatives will be rather low quality.

 

[AngieJ101]

The photos are of Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart, Journey, etc... The quality may not be good but the fans are willing to pay for this stuff. So, they are worth something. Do you think I should really not be concerned about theft?

 

[john.margetts]

How would anyone know what was on the negatives? Lab staff will (hopefully) have a look at the technical quality of what they are doing but they cannot study every photo that passes through their hands - I doubt they would be aware of who the faces (or even Faces!) belonged to. Printing is almost entirely done by machine.

 

[AngieJ101]

Oh, I didn't know that. OK, I won't be concerned about theft. Thanks.

 

[Designer]

Oh, I didn't know that. OK, I won't be concerned about theft. Thanks.

You just never know if and when someone wants to steal something, so don't let the worry get the better of you.

I would worry a lot more about damage to the negatives.

Damage from improper storage (that is; they may already be dusty or possibly scratched in spite of your best efforts at keeping them safe.)

Damage in shipping (pack them VERY carefully for USPS or UPS, or FEDEX), and bump up the insurance a bit. You can probably get them insured for a few hundred dollars for an additional few dollars of insurance.

Damage from careless printing (Try to vet some labs and get some customer references before you decide which lab to send them to. Not all labs are staffed by their best technicians at all times.)

 

[denada]

running 40-year-old film through a machine might not give the best results, as the machine is calibrated to develop unexpired film. there are labs that will hand develop, and there are labs specialize in developing old film. i have no idea if they are worth the extra expense or if a machine does just as good of a job, but other posters might.

 

[Dave442]

I would have them scanned. I've scanned a number of color negatives from that time period and generally have good results. There should be a place locally that does scanning services/restoration of old photos. A basic scan and the color correction should give you something that will work for what you want (proof for your signed memorabilia).

If you do scan the negatives then I would not post them on the internet, or only very low quality versions.

 

[The_Traveler]

Totally agree with Dave442.
Find somewhere that does high quality scans.
Put the negatives away safely and use the scans to print.

 

[limr]

Another vote for scanning. Remember that 110 negatives are tiny, though, so your prints aren't going to be very big. Ask for a higher resolution - there is a point of diminishing returns but I'm not sure where that point is with 110.

Also remember that you'll probably need to also ask for color correction, as negatives that old will certainly have experienced a color shift.

 

[limr]

Almost 40 years ago I took photographs of famous musicians with my 110 camera. I want to sell my photos on eBay or at the very least provide some prints for my buyers of my rock music memorabilia to prove my autographed items are authentic but I don't know how to develop film.

I'm apprehensive about sending my 110 negatives in the mail to be developed into prints. What if they're lost or stolen?

I've read a little about scanning negatives but I wouldn't know how to modify after scanning.
Is it better to print from 110 negatives or better to scan into digital?

Would you send your important negatives to someone to develop?
Would you send your important negatives to be scanned?
How can I find someone I can trust to scan or make prints at a cost I can afford?

Thank you for your help with this.

Let me clarify - when you say "developed into prints," do you mean the film has already been developed and you just want prints? Or does the film itself still need to be developed?

 

[vintagesnaps]

I would suggest using a reputable lab. I agree, older color film can shift in color so there might need to be correction done.

If you have the negatives already then professional scanning might be still worth having done if these have value and importance to you. Usually when labs develop film they can scan to a CD or their website, etc. at the time of development so the cost may vary just for scans. Labs may have different pricing for standard and higher res scans.

Be careful about posting them online, and look at the Terms & Conditions as some sites have terms that allow the website to use photos posted by site users.

I find that I have to work quite a bit to get a really lousy low quality copy of 35mm photos to post online (which I don't do very often). As already mentioned, the 110 negatives are small enough it can be hard to get a good enlargement so it might be easier to make a low res copy to use online. I'd watermark across the image in a way so that at least it's harder for someone to use it (which is just my opinion and what I do to protect my work as much as possible).

I don't know offhand which labs do 110. I've used The Darkroom (San Clemente), Dwayne's (Kansas). There's also Blue Moon Camera (Portland)), Richard (California), and Film Rescue International ® | Revealers Of Lost And Found Treasures which might be worth a look.

 

[480sparky]

.......... Ask for a higher resolution - there is a point of diminishing returns but I'm not sure where that point is with 110...........

Probably 4x5 is going to be the maximum sized print.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

This depends on how many you have, if you have the time, and have a lot of negatives it may be worth it just to buy a scanner and do it at home. If you don't have that many sending it to a commercial lab may be cheaper and will save you the time. Depending on where you are located there may be a local lab that can scan them for you. You mention doing so at a price you can afford, what is your budget for this? How many negatives are there? What size do you want them printed in? As mentioned earlier in this thread due to the small size of the negative you wont really be able to print them that large.

Regards
Dave

 

[PhilW]

I would suggest trying TheDarkroom.com for 110 developing. I have used them several times, and they do great 35mm and 120 processing. What is nice is that they will post the images on their protected web site usually two or three days after the film is sent out. They also return the negatives in sleeves and a CD with the images on them. The processing cost is $11.00 for 35mm and I believe 110 has an additional $4 or $5 fee. There are 3 levels of scan on the images, so with 110 it may be advisable to go with the higher resolution.

Good luck,
Phil

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