What do I do with my film in 2015?

Ooops · Sep 8, 2015

I have been toying with the idea of getting back into film photography. I have a Fujifilm GA645i which I am enjoying using but my problem is I don't know what to do with the film.

Ideally I would like to view my pictures in a digital format first and then make larger prints of the ones that I like. What would be the best way to go about this? Would I have someone develop my film, scan the film and then make prints from the scans? Should I buy my own scanner?

I like to take shots of landscapes and like larger prints like 24x30.

Does scanning film degrade the quality of the picture such that it is on par with a digital picture taken with a camera with a similar size sensor?

Bebulamar · Sep 8, 2015

You should buy your own scanner because the lab is not you and can not do a good job for you. Having someone scan your negative is like having someone do the RAW to JPEG conversion for you. If you have a scanner with sufficient resolution (3000 DPI or more) then you do not lose quality. Using a 3000 dpi scanner and with your 6x4.5 film should yield about 36 MP.

480sparky · Sep 8, 2015

Scanning a negative does no harm to the image therein. This discounts poor handling technique that may scratch, damage or cover them with dust.

You can easily scan at a low resolution (600 or 1200 dpi) and use the results to rate your images. Then either scan the 'keepers' at the highest resolution necessary, or print the negatives directly using the old-fashioned methods.

Ooops · Sep 8, 2015

Is it the general consensus that I shouldn't let a photo lab scan my negatives (like North Coast Photographic Services)? If so which scanner should I buy? I was looking at an Epson v600. I know there are dedicated film scanners but I am not anywhere near ready to make that kind of commitment.

Peeb · Sep 8, 2015

Ooops said:
Is it the general consensus that I shouldn't let a photo lab scan my negatives (like North Coast Photographic Services)? If so which scanner should I buy? I was looking at an Epson v600. I know there are dedicated film scanners but I am not anywhere near ready to make that kind of commitment.

480sparky · Sep 8, 2015

V600 or CanoScan 9000F Mark II. Either will work just fine for you.

limr · Sep 8, 2015

I say Sparky's dead on in both posts. No need to scan at top res when you're just seeing what they look like. It will take foreeevvvverrrrrr and it will be like shooting a fly with a shotgun. Figure out which ones you're going to work on/print and just rescan those frames.

I've been using the CanoScan 8800 (an earlier model than the 9000) and it works just fine. Has masks for 35mm and 120.

vintagesnaps · Sep 10, 2015

I think most places that develop film will scan it; depends on what it is if I get low res or a higher res scan (which usually costs more). Seems to depend on how much time and money you want to spend on it if you want to do your own or have it done. Usually there are options if you just want it developed, or scanned, or prints, etc.

I've gotten good results, maybe it depends on the lab. I've used The Darkroom (in San Clemente), or try Dwayne's (Kansas), or Blue Moon (Portland).

If you send it out maybe start with one or two rolls that aren't anything crucial to see how it turns out.

Ooops · Sep 25, 2015

I got a couple test rolls back from NCPS and I notice some dust and some pure white marks
on my 120 B+W film which was scanned using their enhanced scanning service. They never seem to repeat in the same place and some frames came out completely clean. How do I know if this is a result of a dirty camera or a dirty scanning environment?

My budget 35mm scans are completely clean btw.

vintagesnaps · Sep 25, 2015

Sounds offhand like dust spots. How do the negatives look? If they look OK then I guess have them rescanned (and I'd hope they'd do that free of charge if the negs are fine and it was just the scan). And I guess I might bring to their attention that it was the advanced scan...

Although now that I think about it, it could have just been that those were done by someone else or at a different time and it wasn't noticed at the time that the scanner maybe needed to be dusted.

Ooops · Sep 25, 2015

I forgot about the negatives lol...I don't have them back yet. I just have the scans online I should get the negatives back in a day or so and I will take a look.

limr · Sep 25, 2015

If they're totally white, chances are it's dust on the scanner. I've always found dust to be more of an issue on 120 simply because of the size. And the higher res the scan, the more likely the dust is going to show up.