Film scanners

Doesn't look half bad. But yes, after you finish the process, you can scan in your color or b&w negatives and then print them from your computer. The only down side i have seen with some of the lower end film scanners is that the film grain is very very appearant. SO if you scan anything over 200 speed, don't be surprised if one hour photo lab prints look better than what your printing at home. If you want one that will really be nice and take you the whole way, look into a nikon cool scan, or some of the micro tech flat bed style with the film holders will do a great job.
 
when you say print them you don't mean print the negatives do you? sorry i'm kind of new to this.
 
hmmm? i guess i'm not understanding completely what your trying to figure out. Once you scan in your negative, you will have an image file saved to your computer, either jpg, tiff, or a few other types. If you choose to, you could print off pictures with your ink jet or laser jet printer if you have one. The scanner it self won't print them out, and unless you have some really high end equipment, you won't print off duplicates of negatives i.e. the actual plastic negatives.

Hope that answers it!
 
no i meant like the actual colors of a negative. you know how color negativesa are really weird looking. i was thinking that that would be printed. apparently not though.

i'm also looking into flatbed scanners with the different film adapters.
 
Aahhh! The film scanners have built in software to make sure the image comes out corrected! The colors will be inverted if it's color film or b&w negs will also be inverted for correction.

Flat beds are nice if you want to be able to also scan in already printed pictures, which i do occasionally. I got the epson 4490 photo. it's about $250 and i can scan in my medium format film. Does a pretty decent job, however it doesn't handle the noise as good as i'd like. I'd prolly go with micro techs version of it for about the same price if you look for a flat bed.
 
yeah, i'm still looking for scanners in that price range.

how much would it cost to get film developed at like walgreens or someplace like that without getting prints? do they even give the option of not getting prints?
 
IIRC most 1 hour places will charge 5-$10 bucks to develop film with no prints. But then again.. .it depends on your area. Real B&W negative are sometimes more expensive as they have to send it out to get developed if they don't have the equipment specifically setup for B&W processing.
 
Hi all! If you are shooting B&W negs, you can for not too much money develop them yourself. Then scan and hey-ho you've got your files.

See the film section for info and to visit the nice people who know a lot more about this!

mike
 
Generally I've found that paying to have scans done at the time of processing has mixed results (sometimes only really good enough for a thumbnail) and is far from cheap. Unless you can find somewhere that scans high-resolution, good quality for a good price and preferably gives a discount for quantity, I would really consider getting a scanner, whether the Plustek or a flatbed with adapters. Personally I use a Canon flatbed, because this way I can scan 35mm negative film or slides as well as larger formats, while a 35mm scanner like the Plustek, Nikons or Minoltas limit you to 35mm. Obviously the quality is not as good with a flatbed as with a dedicated scanner - I expect the Plustek would do a better job, and it's not much more expensive. It seems like a great option if you intend to scan a lot of 35mm film but not medium format or prints.
 
Hi all! If you are shooting B&W negs, you can for not too much money develop them yourself. Then scan and hey-ho you've got your files.

See the film section for info and to visit the nice people who know a lot more about this!

mike

yeah, i recently found out that i don't even need a darkroom if i'm just going to be scanning the negatives. I can develop the film inside of this little canister thing right?

the only thing with that is that i kind of worry that if i don't time something right that the negatives will come out completely wrong.

how much would the loading bag, canister, and all the chemicals cost? And what chemicals would i actually need?
 
Developing my film at home was exactly what I did for quite a long time... then life got busy with 2 jobs, a family with new born child. It doesn't cost much to develop at home but keeping the chemicals fresh (they do have a relatively short shelf life after mixing and opening), preperation, cleanup, and time to develop the negative really adds up. Besides... developing negatives at home is about the most BORING thing about film photography.

The more interesting side of darkroom is the actual print whether digitally via scanner or traditional enlarger. Thats where I would spend my limited time. In my opinion, the cost of a local lab developing negatives only still is cheaper considering the time and effort. I just drop off the negatives on my way to work and pick them up on my way home.
 
Besides... developing negatives at home is about the most BORING thing about film photography.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way. I was starting to think there was something wrong with me. For awhile I had my negs sent away for developing (I read somewhere about a pro photographer who does that, and I thought if it was good enough for the pros, it's good enough for me), but the lab I used closed, so now I just keep the exposed rolls in the fridge until I feel like I can go a day without sunlight.
 
Interesting, I really don't feel that way. I mean it's certainly not the most exciting part of the process, but I still like it. With colour film, I can't develop it and I know if I could the lab would still do a better job. Black and white, I like having more control over the process.
 

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