from D70 to F50 (N50)

K_Pugh · Apr 16, 2008

Well i had to sell my beloved D70 a little while back due to limited cash flow etc.. but i've decided to get back into photography again. I've decided to go film and after asking around i managed to get my hands on a Nikon F50 (N50) with the, what i'm assuming is the kit lense 35mm - 80mm.

I'm assuming 99% of labs now process film digitally?, well, digital prints? i'm not too sure i'm into that idea but i was wondering if anyone had any examples of scans taken from a negative scanner (i'm assuming i can scan the negs that i get back with the prints) or even any examples of photographs taken with the F50 would be good.

I've taken around 15 photographs so far and it's quite good in a way not knowing if i got that photo i was looking for - the anticipation of it all. I just thought going film would make me take more time and care over my shots and perhaps sometimes get the lucky accident.

I don't suppose there's a fairly simple way of getting the photos straight off the spool onto a digital format?

Smith2688 · Apr 16, 2008

Well you could have the local lab just process the film and scan the images for you onto a CD without getting prints. That's what I do, but I'll be investing in a cheap negative scanner to cut the scanning cost soon.

BradUF · Apr 16, 2008

I send mine off to snapfish for 2.99 a roll and they upload them to my account.

Smith2688 · Apr 16, 2008

BradUF, do they send you back your negatives and how high resolution are the images they give you downloadable access to?

Renair · Apr 17, 2008

If you go to any decent photo lab, tell them your NOT a novice photographer and that you want the images scanned at the max res when processing the film and they can do that, otherwise they just do the same low res for joe public. I did it once before with my Canon Eos 33 when I used film and the scan as its being processed is just as good as any digital camera I used. Best of luck.

bhop · Apr 17, 2008

I don't think there's an "easy" way to get your film digital other than paying someone to scan for you. I scan myself because it's cheaper and because I have control over the final look of the image, but it's time consuming. B/W film I develop myself at home, on the rare occasion I shoot color film (i usually just use my d70 for color) I get the roll developed only with no prints at the local drug store lab for around $2.50. I use an epson 4490 scanner.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/sets/72157604468568939/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/sets/72157604198989598/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bhop73/sets/72157604203467163/

K_Pugh · Apr 17, 2008

thanks for the replies guys.

yeah i think i'll just get prints and the negs back of course.. and probably invest in a scanner at a later date. I would rather have a print anyway as i lost all of my digital photos from before. Managed to find a few on websites that i had posted, found a few on here, too so that was a nice surprise!

BradUF · Apr 17, 2008

How much are scanners?

Smith2688 · Apr 17, 2008

From $100 to several thousand dollars, depending on what you want in terms of quality.

bhop · Apr 17, 2008

For reference, mine costs around $150 now.. there are probably some better scanners as far as quality goes (although I am ok with this one), but I don't have a big hobby budget. Plus most dedicated film scanners only scan 35mm and I shoot 120 film in my holga sometimes.

K_Pugh · Apr 24, 2008

yeah i'll pick one of these scanners up at some point.

I had my film spool developed the other day and the print i got back were awfully pixelated. I'll need to try find somewhere else that can provide better quality prints.

I posted the pics in the General section.. they were scanned from the print so you can probably see the pixelation on them.

AluminumStudios · Apr 25, 2008

K_Pugh said:
thanks for the replies guys.

yeah i think i'll just get prints and the negs back of course.. and probably invest in a scanner at a later date. I would rather have a print anyway as i lost all of my digital photos from before. Managed to find a few on websites that i had posted, found a few on here, too so that was a nice surprise!

I develop my own B&W film and scan with a Canon flatbed scanner that I bought. I'm at work right now and don't remember the model off-hand, but it is one of the USB-powered ones and has a light-bar attachment for scanning 35mm film. It does a pretty decent job for 20,000 Yen (about $200) I'm quite happy with this solution, although it is a little time consuming. I had a photo CD made once at a lab and was rather disappointed with it.

As far as loosing digital photos - don't let that put you off of digital. It's a given that you MUST back up computers. If you don't you will lose stuff at some point. If you do digital and burn a cheap DVD each month or buy a cheap USB hard drive for backups, you'll be golden

Anyway, bottom line, if you don't want to drop big bucks into a dedicated film scanner, Canon has some feasible flatbeds.