Negatives on a disc, now what?

[xjken99]

First off I don't have a lot of money for this hobby so I usually take my film to Walgreens for processing. I know most of the people there and they will usually reprint something at little or no cost. Yesterday the clerk asked me if wanted the pictures loaded onto a disc for a dollar. I figured for a dollar why not. I know I can go to their web site and order prints and enlargements with the disc but, is this disc good for anything else? Also, is this the same as having your negatives scanned or is that something totally different?

 

[JimmyO]

I barely ever get prints done when i get film developed now I just get a disk. Its easier for me to store/archive and I can post it online without using my crappy office scanner.

 

[Torus34]

Once your prints are digitalized and stored on disk, you can use the disk for prints.

And [and this is a big AND,] you can load them into your 'puter and 'Photoshop(r)' to your heart's content.

Hint: If cash is short, do explore the free procesing program called 'The Gimp'.

 

[usayit]

Question... how is the quality of the digitized frames? TIFF? or JPEG?

 

[den9]

my local camera shop does 5 dollar cd's and 12 dollar high res scans.
the regular resolution, is jpg.

 

[Vautrin]

You know it all depends on the quality of the scans. If you get a really cheap scan you won't be making any prints.

If you are short on cash try to get your hands on a used film scanner -- you should be able to find one on ebay for 100 - 200 maybe.

Even if this seems like a lot think about how much film printing / scanning costs. If you're paying just $5 extra to get the film scanner or printed all you need is 40 rolls for it to pay off...

Also, if you're shooting 35mm look at bulk film loading and doing your own developing. Again, it'll cost you some money up front but you'll save a lot long term

 

[Sjixxxy]

Try it once, but make sure to complain if this is what they give back to you.