Jim Martin Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have a number of old (1980s, I imagine) negatives which I've just turned up while sorting out a load of boxes from my loft. They're a mix of colour and black & white; mostly 35mm, although there may be a few 126 (? the cassette things that fitted in the back of small cameras) in there as well - I wouldn't know how to tell them apart from the 35mms, to be honest. What I was wondering was, can these be scanned directly from the negatives into digital format and, if so, is it a service commonly offered by photographic shops? All the scanning I've done in the past has been of existing prints but I don't seem to have prints of most of these. I suspect that most of them are of little value, but a couple of them look quite promising, if holding them up to the light and squinting is any guide. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold colin penfold Posted July 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2012 I used this company to scan 4500 slides onto digital media and they were very good. They advertise a service for negatives. http://www.revivestu...8631_87490.aspx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 You can buy scanners which will do this however you may well need to purchase a copy of Photoshop Elements to clean the photos up etc.. XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted July 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 29, 2012 Photoshop Elements comes bundled with some scanners capable of doing negatives and transparencies. It's amazing what you can recover from old negatives which seem to have a very thin image on them, are over-exposed or over developed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Martin Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Thanks to everyone for their help. I don't really have enough negatives to justify the expense of a scanner, so I'm going to contact Colin's company in Cardiff and talk to them. At the moment I think I've got about 40-50 railway photos from locations dotted about all over the place. If any of them turn out to be any good, I'll post them on RMWeb. Thanks again Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJones Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 It's more likely to work out more cost effective and just outright better quality to buy a decent neg scanner, do them yourself then sell the scanner on. a Plustek OpticFilm 7200 is a bare minimum kit for a new scanner, but will do the job. (depending of course what your film actually is) Although I would recommend an old Minolta Scan Dual III which is far superior for colour work, although is slooooow. Both these scanners can be had circa £100 on ebay. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted August 1, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 1, 2012 It's more likely to work out more cost effective and just outright better quality to buy a decent neg scanner, do them yourself then sell the scanner on. a Plustek OpticFilm 7200 is a bare minimum kit for a new scanner, but will do the job. (depending of course what your film actually is) Although I would recommend an old Minolta Scan Dual III which is far superior for colour work, although is slooooow. Both these scanners can be had circa £100 on ebay. The Minolta isn't supported by Windows 7, I have to use my old Mac laptop for mine. Since Minolta pulled out of the photographic market no updated drivers have been produced AFAIK. As you say they were very good for colour work, especially recovering faded transparencies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Martin Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Interesting idea, although I suspect that I'd end up keeping it, which makes the economics go a bit iffy! I'll have to see exactly how many negatives I have: I found some more yesterday. Jim Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Every now and then Aldi do a scanner for about 30 pounds. They may only be cheap and cheerful but they do work and you can do about three or four films in the time taken by a Minolta to do one (except my Minolta won't talk to my newer computer). You pays yer money and takes yer choice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Every now and then Aldi do a scanner for about 30 pounds. They may only be cheap and cheerful but they do work and you can do about three or four films in the time taken by a Minolta to do one (except my Minolta won't talk to my newer computer). You pays yer money and takes yer choice. I'm quite pleased with mine, although I was after quantity rather than quality. It's certainly quite fast, I'm satisfied with the quality, and I worked out a routine that suits me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Every now and then Aldi do a scanner for about 30 pounds. They may only be cheap and cheerful but they do work and you can do about three or four films in the time taken by a Minolta to do one (except my Minolta won't talk to my newer computer). You pays yer money and takes yer choice. Are you running Windows 7 by any chance?Minoltas will only work up to Windows XP. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clecklewyke Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Do any of these scanners do larger negatives from size 120 films? I have a lot of these and no 35mm. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted August 2, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 2, 2012 Are you running Windows 7 by any chance? Minoltas will only work up to Windows XP. Invisible ink? See post 7 Do any of these scanners do larger negatives from size 120 films? I have a lot of these and no 35mm. Ian My Canon flatbed can take film up to 120 size at least. I have also used it down to negs from a 110 pocket camera. It will do a scan up to 9600 resolution on small formats, but is restricted to about 1200 or possibly 2400 on large formats using the bundled software. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 Every now and then Aldi do a scanner for about 30 pounds. They may only be cheap and cheerful but they do work and you can do about three or four films in the time taken by a Minolta to do one (except my Minolta won't talk to my newer computer). You pays yer money and takes yer choice. Are you running Windows 7 by any chance? Minoltas will only work up to Windows XP. I'm using Vista. I got my new(er) box of tricks a few weeks before Windows 7 was introduced. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Invisible ink? See post 7. I was answering a question in post 9, why would I look at earlier posts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
royaloak Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 I'm using Vista. I got my new(er) box of tricks a few weeks before Windows 7 was introduced. Aparently your answer is in post 7 above. Windows XP is the "newest" that the Minoltas will work with, you are too modern with Vista unfortunately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted August 4, 2012 Share Posted August 4, 2012 Aparently your answer is in post 7 above. Windows XP is the "newest" that the Minoltas will work with, you are too modern with Vista unfortunately. Thanks but I had managed to work that out myself, that's why I got one of Aldi's Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
merryhampton Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 There is software available to allow scanners to be used on more modern computers where the manufacturer or takeover company doesn't upgrade the software. It's called "Vuescan",and is available as a download for $40.00. Just Google Vuescan for more info. Hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danemouth Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 There is software available to allow scanners to be used on more modern computers where the manufacturer or takeover company doesn't upgrade the software. It's called "Vuescan",and is available as a download for $40.00. Just Google Vuescan for more info. Hope this helps. I've used Vuescan with a Nikon scanner for several years - far better than the Nikon supplied software - http://www.hamrick.com/ Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium dmurrell Posted December 16, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2012 I agree with you about Vuescan - have been using it for a couple of years now with both Nikon Coolscan 9000 and an old EPSON 3200 on Windows 7; much better interface than the original proprietry drivers and supports scanners no longer supported by the vendors. I've just checked and there's along list of Minolta scanners as well. Well worth the cost. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Downendian Posted December 16, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2012 Another Vuescan user here too. The images obtained are much better than the supplier Canon software (using CoolscanV). I have some 126 size negs too- haven't yet managed to scan but will try soon. Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted December 16, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 16, 2012 It looks like the Aldi Scanner mentioned above is available again in stores from today http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/special_buys3_28296.htm Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 It looks like the Aldi Scanner mentioned above is available again in stores from today http://www.aldi.co.u...buys3_28296.htm Mike That's different to the Aldi slide scanner I have, that was £30 and just does slides and negatives. I've got a separate one that came from Maplin that scans prints. I notice that this Aldi one has several holders for prints, which is what my print scanner has. I've found it pretty quick to use, and got through lots of prints in no time. But, the holders only hold certain size prints, and I have lots that won't fit. I used to use Bonus Print, who kept offering larger sized prints, but they seem to have been in a variety of sizes. Some fit, some I have trimmed slightly to fit the holders, while some are too big and I'll lose too much if I trim them. I also have lots of prints that are too small, and I'll have to adapt the holders, or use a flat bed scanner. So if the print scanning facility appeals to you, you've been warned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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