Negative Scanning

[rp1600]

Okay, where goes what might be a no-brainer, but i'm shooting both digital and 35mm film. With film, I'd like to be able to work with the images in PS but not from a scanned print. I'd like to have the lab process and scan the negs directly to CD/DVD so i have the digital file. Has anyone worked with any labs that offer this. Is it very pricey? My local pro lab does it here at a reasonable cost, but they only scan the negs to 300 dpi, meaning I don't have much room for enlargment once I bring them into PS.

 

[Big Mike]

I did that for years, before I got my DSLR. The price was reasonable, usually only a couple of bucks extra with the developing costs. Sometimes I didn't even bother getting prints...but in most cases...if you are getting development and a CD...then it worked out that getting prints didn't really cost any more.

The problem, as you see, is the resolution (actual size) of the digital file. Most places would give me a 4X6 @ 300 PPI. I could make 8x10 prints with those files...but that's about the limit. Also, the files were grainy/noisy and often had scratches or other stuff that needed to be cleaned up.

The best solution would be to get yourself a negative scanner and scan them yourself. It is time consuming but with patience and good technique you can get great digital images. Although, once I started shooting with my DSLR...all thoughts of getting a negative scanner went right out the door.

 

[rp1600]

How did i know you'd be the first to respond. HA. HA. HA. and glad you did. Same thing for me. Offering 4x6 at 300 dpi for just a few more dollars but the same problem. limited to 8 x 10 max size.
I agree with getting the negative scanner but money tight at the moment. And yes, i'm still learning my way around digital. Have a canon dig. reb xt but my old school way of thinking has it taking forever to learn the camera. But i'm slowly getting there.

 

[fmw]

You can buy a flatbed scanner with photo scanning capabilites for very little money and they work reasonably well. As Mike says, they are tedious and slow to use. Here's an image made with my 5 year old Epson flatbed scanner. The original was a Velvia 100 35mm transparency. The digital file is a 400 dpi TIF which makes a very nice 8X10. The JPEG you see below is just 63 kb in file size.

 

[Alex_B]

I always was quite happy with my 4000 ppi film scanner from Nikon (5000 ED), and they are much cheaper over there in the US. It gives some nice results from both negative and slide film.

Below is a scaled down version of a 20 MP sample image with a 100% crop in the lower right corner. In the image, the magnified crop is marked by a red square. I did switch off the scanner's GEM algorithm and applied some 40% NeatImage instead.

 

[airgunr]

If you are going to do a lot of them I would suggest a dedicated scanner like the Nikon Coolscan V or Coolscan 5000 ED (I've got the 5000 ED). Excellent results from them.

I don't know the prices but A&I in California www.aandi.com does several levels of scanning at the time of development or you can send specific pieces in for scanning (at a much higher price). Go to the web site for their current prices. I am sure there are others that do it too, I can only speak to A&I as they are the only ones I've used.

 

[cosmonaut]

Scanning your own negs is neat, I got an older Olympus scanner on e-bay for thirty bucks. K-mart will develope your film and put them on cd for $4.00. Just thell them CD only. This way you can edit your scans in PS.
Cosmo