Large 40's Negatives

[franselkins]

I have a shoebox full of negatives that belonged to my mother. I'm in my 60's, and there are a lot of large (2 3/4" x 4 1/2") negatives from the 40's that I want to review and scan into my computer to print. I can't tell by the advertising writeups whether there are any such scanners that can work with negatives that large. I would like to have the names of any that can do that, but I'm not able to pay a really high price. I would prefer it to be below $300 at the very most. Can anyone help me?

 

[matfoster]

Film and Negative Scanners - Color Image Scanner - CanoScan 9950F - Canon USA Consumer Products

RRP USD$250

 

[the Virginian]

The Canon (I have one) that Matfoster recommends has an adjustable medium format film holder that will take 2 3/4 x 4 1/2. The image size is 2 1/4 x 3 3/4.

 

[Dwig]

I have a shoebox full of negatives that belonged to my mother. I'm in my 60's, and there are a lot of large (2 3/4" x 4 1/2") negatives ...

Your large negs are probably either 116 or 616 film; the two are identical except for the spool that they were on. Negatives this large will not fit any standard "medium format" carriers. It might be possible to scan them with medium format scanners, but doing so would crop the images substantially.

I've scanned quite a number of 616/116 and larger roll film negatives. To do this I use a scanner capable of scanning 4x5 sheet film (I use an EPSON v700) and create "adapters" out of black construction paper to support the negs in the 4x5 carrier.

 

[thoughtcryme]

How do you create the adapters from black paper?
If it's not too much to ask, could you describe the way that the scanner illuminates the negs?
I've been trying to understand this well enough to create something on my own.

 

[Dwig]

How do you create the adapters from black paper?
If it's not too much to ask, could you describe the way that the scanner illuminates the negs?
I've been trying to understand this well enough to create something on my own.

I use stiff "construction paper" and double-stick Scotch tape.

1. slip a negative into an oversized carrier (127 in a 120/620 carrier, 116 in a 4x5 carrier, ...) with the film against one side's edge guide (not the edge of the opening)
2. measure the distance from the other edge guide to the nearest edge of the image (not edge of film) to determine the width of the "adapter".
3.carefully cut two strips of paper the same length as either the negative or the longest the carrier can handle (varies with the carrier design) and somewhat wider than measured in #2. For 116 in 4x5 I cut them to the length of a 4x5 negative.
4. measure the typical width of the clear film along the edge of the negatives.
5. run two layers of double-stick tap down the length of the paper strip inset from one edge by the distance measured in #4 and then stack the second strip on top aligning it carefully to match the lower strip.
6. insert the edge of the negative between the two paper strips and place it in the carrier to see how much of the other edge of the paper assembly needs to be trimmed to get a good reliable fit.

These "adapters" are about as stiff as the film itself and thin enough to fit in the carrier the way film would. I've been quite successful using this method for supporting old Minolta-16 negatives in 35mm carriers, 127 negatives in 120/620 carriers, and 116/616, 122, and other odd sizes in 4x5 carriers for scanning with my EPSON v700. Even though 126 is 35mm wide and fits 35mm carriers, I've found it better to use this technique to fit the 126 negs in a 120 carrier to avoid the cropping that occurs when 126 is scanned using 35mm carriers.