Want to scan old family photo negatives
in [Scanners]
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From: AJDupree on 12 Jan 2006 10:31 Hi. I would like to scan old family photo negatives. I have the photos themselves, but a lot of them are faded, creased, etc. I also have negatives for a lot of them, too, so was thinking of scanning the film negatives so I could get a pristine/new electronic file and print. The thing is, I don't know what sizes the films are. The photos date from the 1920's, up thru present day. A lot of the scanners I see specify "35mm", and I'm sure some of the film is not that size, but I don't know what size they are. I also don't know what product descriptions mean when they say "medium size" format, etc. Help! Should I start off by taking a variety of the negs in to a camera shop and ask them what size the films are? Or are there some affordable scanners out there that are very flexible as to the size of film you can scan (i.e. any size)?
From: Charlie Hoffpauir on 12 Jan 2006 10:50 On 12 Jan 2006 07:31:20 -0800, "AJDupree" <anjadupree(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >Hi. I would like to scan old family photo negatives. I have the photos >themselves, but a lot of them are faded, creased, etc. I also have >negatives for a lot of them, too, so was thinking of scanning the film >negatives so I could get a pristine/new electronic file and print. The >thing is, I don't know what sizes the films are. The photos date from >the 1920's, up thru present day. A lot of the scanners I see specify >"35mm", and I'm sure some of the film is not that size, but I don't >know what size they are. I also don't know what product descriptions >mean when they say "medium size" format, etc. Help! > >Should I start off by taking a variety of the negs in to a camera shop >and ask them what size the films are? Or are there some affordable >scanners out there that are very flexible as to the size of film you >can scan (i.e. any size)? Many of hte flat bed scanners can handle a variety of sizes, but a few can only handle 35mm negatives. Be sure to look at those that can handle "up to" 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 (6 x 6 cm). A lot of old negatives are basically 2 1/4 or smaller. I'd look at something like an Epson 3170 Photo, available refurbished from the Epson on-line store for a reasonable cost. Ordinarily, I'd recommend a true film scanner for scanning negatives. But for sizes larger than 35mm, the cost for a true film scanner increases rapidly, and the Epson does a reasonable job with Black & white negatives. I haven't used it much for color negatives, but it should do OK. Charlie Hoffpauir http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/
From: CSM1 on 12 Jan 2006 11:17 "AJDupree" <anjadupree(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:1137079880.080738.277500(a)g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > Hi. I would like to scan old family photo negatives. I have the photos > themselves, but a lot of them are faded, creased, etc. I also have > negatives for a lot of them, too, so was thinking of scanning the film > negatives so I could get a pristine/new electronic file and print. The > thing is, I don't know what sizes the films are. The photos date from > the 1920's, up thru present day. A lot of the scanners I see specify > "35mm", and I'm sure some of the film is not that size, but I don't > know what size they are. I also don't know what product descriptions > mean when they say "medium size" format, etc. Help! > You have ruler, do you not. Measure the frame size and look up the film type. Film is defined by the frame size. I have a PDF of the Color Processing services offered by Kodak in the 70's. It lists some film sizes and the film types. http://www.carlmcmillan.com/Pdf/KodakTableOfSizes.pdf This site has some info. http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa082602a.htm > Should I start off by taking a variety of the negs in to a camera shop > and ask them what size the films are? Or are there some affordable > scanners out there that are very flexible as to the size of film you > can scan (i.e. any size)? > Taking a sample of the negative sizes to the camera shop would be a good idea, but do not be surprised of the young guy behind the counter has never heard of some of those sizes. Medium format refers to mostly 120/620, 6 x 6 cm, and 6 x 7 cm size film. 120/620 is 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch film. Some of the older films were 120, 220, 620, 127 size film. It is very hard to find a consumer film scanner that will have holders for the older film formats such as 127. Flatbed scanners can be adapted by cutting your own frame out of black paper to fit the old sizes. I know of one flatbed scanner that has the ability to scan odd size film, up to 2 1/4 inch wide. The Cannon Canoscan 8400F can scan odd size film in the full manual mode. There may be other scanners that can. I know that the 8400F can because I own one. -- CSM1 http://www.carlmcmillan.com --
From: George E. Cawthon on 12 Jan 2006 19:54 CSM1 wrote: > "AJDupree" <anjadupree(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message > news:1137079880.080738.277500(a)g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... > >>Hi. I would like to scan old family photo negatives. I have the photos >>themselves, but a lot of them are faded, creased, etc. I also have >>negatives for a lot of them, too, so was thinking of scanning the film >>negatives so I could get a pristine/new electronic file and print. The >>thing is, I don't know what sizes the films are. The photos date from >>the 1920's, up thru present day. A lot of the scanners I see specify >>"35mm", and I'm sure some of the film is not that size, but I don't >>know what size they are. I also don't know what product descriptions >>mean when they say "medium size" format, etc. Help! >> > > You have ruler, do you not. Measure the frame size and look up the film > type. > Film is defined by the frame size. > > I have a PDF of the Color Processing services offered by Kodak in the 70's. > It lists some film sizes and the film types. > http://www.carlmcmillan.com/Pdf/KodakTableOfSizes.pdf > > This site has some info. > http://photography.about.com/library/weekly/aa082602a.htm > > >>Should I start off by taking a variety of the negs in to a camera shop >>and ask them what size the films are? Or are there some affordable >>scanners out there that are very flexible as to the size of film you >>can scan (i.e. any size)? >> > > > Taking a sample of the negative sizes to the camera shop would be a good > idea, but do not be surprised of the young guy behind the counter has never > heard of some of those sizes. > > Medium format refers to mostly 120/620, 6 x 6 cm, and 6 x 7 cm size film. > 120/620 is 2 1/4 by 2 1/4 inch film. > > Some of the older films were 120, 220, 620, 127 size film. > > It is very hard to find a consumer film scanner that will have holders for > the older film formats such as 127. > > Flatbed scanners can be adapted by cutting your own frame out of black paper > to fit the old sizes. > > I know of one flatbed scanner that has the ability to scan odd size film, up > to 2 1/4 inch wide. > The Cannon Canoscan 8400F can scan odd size film in the full manual mode. > There may be other scanners that can. I know that the 8400F can because I > own one. > I'll add a little and a correction. First, the OP needs to get a light source that is fairly large; some scanners come with an optional light source that is 4x5" or so. Second, film size is identified by the image size not the size of the backing. To measure film size you need to measure just the image (part with some gray) and not include the clear clear border areas. Third, negative size varies by camera even if the film sized used is the same. For example 620 film is not 2-1/4 x 2-1/4. The width is 2-1/4 but the length varies from 1-5/8" to a more typical 3-1/4" Medium format typically means up to 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 with larger format starting at about 4x5" but there are images sizes in between. I have a useful Kodak publication (an insert to the Kodak notebook) Kodak Pamphlet No. AF-2 which provides some information on film size and the negative size produced by various Kodak cameras. Since this publication is fairly old (1968) In any case you might be able to view #AF-2 pamphlet at the Kodak size. Of course all cameras were not Kodak. CSM1, I will e-mail a scan to you if you request it. To the OP. Old cameras often use 116 films e.g., No1A Kodak, No.2A Box or folding Brownie, and produced an image size of 2-1/2 x 4-1/4 inch. Another is 122 film with an image size of 3-1/4 x 5-1/2". Another film is 616 (up to 4-1/4" long and the common 620 (see above). Most store employees will have no clue about the film names and sizes nor will they know where to find the information. I will send you a scan of the pamphlet if you request it by e-mail.
From: theo on 12 Jan 2006 22:46
> A lot of the scanners I see specify "35mm", and I'm sure some of the > film is not that size, but I don't > know what size they are. I also don't know what product descriptions > mean when they say "medium size" format, etc. > Help! My experiences with film and flatbed scanners bring me to concluding that when the box says "35mm", the secondary light source for the trannys is just wide enough (<1 1/2") and perhaps long enough (<4 1/2") to iluminate perhaps 3 frames of 35mm film strip on the flatbed glass (any number of lower end Umax, Canon, Epson). 126, 127, as noted elsewhere in this thread, won't have factory-supplied masks for the glass. With meticulous care you can carve your own mask (been there,done that, still standing), but the arch of the strip is difficult to control and there will likely be some cropping edge-to-edge for which you have no control. Waiting on what flatbed and format will Doug Fisher <http://home.earthlink.net/~dougfisher/holder/mainintro.html> laser cut and t-bar next. > are there some affordable scanners out there that are very flexible as > to the size of film you can scan (i.e. any size)? Flatbed boxes which claim MF take your wallet way beyond the $100 price point. Some will handle many MF film sizes/ ratios by laying a mask over the film strip, image centered inside a large frame, for just one image at a scan (as do any number of film scanners e.g. Konica-Minolta DImage Scan Multi series). Some flatbeds on the $300-$600 shelf claim a 4x9" - 8x12" light bed and holders for different sizes of popular films (cf. Microtek i900, Epson 3200,4870) for multiple previews on a single scan. Flexibility always has a price... and a trade-away... Because the pro photo world is abandoning film for digital (cf. Nikon's anouncement this week), the scanner equipment folks must run after the "old family photos" hobbyist (yeah, me too) and the enterprises to cater to same. After you have sat for so many hours feeding the machine, do you still recall the names of your children's school teachers? There's a reason why these enterprises keep advertising; family time can be here-and-now and the opportunity cost of trading away family time is non-refundable. Speed,cost, precision: choose 2. Theo |