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uccemebug · 06-05-2009, 01:47 AM

Originally Posted by ismaelg

Hello,

OK, I suppose this has been asked a million times before but I did a quick search and did not find much.
I don't shoot as much film as I used to, but I do occasionally. And I have old negatives I'd like to scan.
Any pros/cons of having this done by a pro lab vs do it yourself? I have seen some cheap scanners but the word "cheap" scares me. I have a scanner/copier/printer but it can not do this. Any guidelines on doing this?

Thanks,

I have both a flatbed scanner that's capable of scanning various formats (Epson GTX770) *and* an old (Minolta) dedicated film scanner. The dedicated film scanner does a much better job. It's not fast, but it reliably churns out images that capture that film feel.

With the Minolta, I produce ~4MB photos that are suitable for web and modest printing. I scan at 16bit, and only single pass, so each frame takes only a minute or so. If I want to print something larger, I'll set it to do multiple passes and bump up the resolution as high as it will go. The Minolta is great, too, in that I can just put it away when it's not in use.

I use the flatbed when I scan 645 negatives.

With the batch-processing capabilities in Photoshop and even Irfanview, handling the files is trivial (I do not do a lot of post-processing, mind you, just levels - contrast - smart-sharpen).

As far as cost is concerned, I look at it this way: I can get semi-tolerable TIF's scanned by the local DPE at something like $20 a roll. I scanned 150 rolls of film in 2008, meaning about $3000 in "savings" for that year alone.

06-05-2009, 01:47 AM	#11
uccemebug Senior Member Location: Tokyo Gallery Photos: 6 Posts: 179	scanning film Originally Posted by ismaelg Hello, OK, I suppose this has been asked a million times before but I did a quick search and did not find much. I don't shoot as much film as I used to, but I do occasionally. And I have old negatives I'd like to scan. Any pros/cons of having this done by a pro lab vs do it yourself? I have seen some cheap scanners but the word "cheap" scares me. I have a scanner/copier/printer but it can not do this. Any guidelines on doing this? Thanks, I have both a flatbed scanner that's capable of scanning various formats (Epson GTX770) and an old (Minolta) dedicated film scanner. The dedicated film scanner does a much better job. It's not fast, but it reliably churns out images that capture that film feel. With the Minolta, I produce ~4MB photos that are suitable for web and modest printing. I scan at 16bit, and only single pass, so each frame takes only a minute or so. If I want to print something larger, I'll set it to do multiple passes and bump up the resolution as high as it will go. The Minolta is great, too, in that I can just put it away when it's not in use. I use the flatbed when I scan 645 negatives. With the batch-processing capabilities in Photoshop and even Irfanview, handling the files is trivial (I do not do a lot of post-processing, mind you, just levels - contrast - smart-sharpen). As far as cost is concerned, I look at it this way: I can get semi-tolerable TIF's scanned by the local DPE at something like $20 a roll. I scanned 150 rolls of film in 2008, meaning about $3000 in "savings" for that year alone.