Old negatvie scanning / processing

Howdy,

I've got some really old negatives that I've like to get processed somehow. Not sure what's best though, just scanned or old school photographic paper.

This I think is my dad, and would be about 95 years old.

In Melbourne, outer east. I've tried a place in Collingwood that I found recommended but they said they can't do it due to the size.



Anyone got suggestions? Thanks

Regards,
g@z.

 

I did something similar but more out ranging by scanning decades of family albums.

It looks like a 3x5 negative.

I used this thread and got an epson v700

https://www.thephotoforum.com/threads/negative-scanner-recommendation.159984/

 

Oh, that is AWESOME

 

Ok, spill the beans Vladdo!?

 

* Photoshop -> Adjustments -> Invert
* Adjust Colours
* Adjust Levels
* Profit...?

My non-pro attempt..

 

Inverting and auto adjusting in photoshop is ok but not very accurate particularly with colour negatives. I’ve seen mobil apps that do this if you place the negatives on a lighttable, For my dads large collection I bought a plustek optifilm scannerwhich is fantastic, I think the software it included allowed you to choose the negative filmstock (eg kodak kodachrome etc, its usually identifiable in the edge of a 35mm negative strip which mine are. The scanner uses a shuttle frame to hold the film flat and you feed into the scanner from the side, which keeps dust of the scanner lens and i think it can with frames for projector slides too and they had scanners with frame options for all sorts of negatives type and sizes. Some flatbed scanners use a lighttable approach where the lid has a white panel the illuminates. Being able to set the filmstock made a huge difference to the result quality as the software doesnt just invert and auto correct, it makes the correct adjustments needed to get rid of the tonality of colour negatives of old and then you adjust in photoshop from a better starting point. Its also best if the software can let you calibrate with an it8 target. I also use it8 target calibration for my photo and negative scanning, for photo it means my colours are far better than photoshop adjusted without needing to post process in photoshop unless i want to pretty a smaller image to share online, my needs are archival in nature so the file are large in pixels, bytes and bitdepth so any restoration work i need to do comes out much better.
I guess its up to you what you need,a lightable should be about $20 and you can find phone apps if you want the quick and dirty approach or you can spend the money on doing it right but some skill is involved and you need to start with taking an inventory of what you need to scan (sizes/formats etc then look into the filmscanners that can handle those formats ( you may need to get holders for stuff like 4x5 separate as the scanners usually come with just one or two common holders for common formats but extra holders are usually available depending on the scanner model. Don’t get too hung up on features like digital ICE, I’ve never used a system that worked better than doing repairs myself, i often would have to spend the time to repair the digital ice repair “smudges” anyway. So a graphics table for manually repairing the scan by hand i find essential (again as archival I’m looking for a quality result not an automated/quick one), plus a lot of storage space helps, I treat my scan as a RAW file and always keep it and work off a copy to process.
For mobile phone look into Photomyne which was developed to do this task. Just be aware a lighttable or light box really needs you to white balance from it while its one depending on the quality of the lighting it uses, plus its not likely to be evenly lit especially if it an ebay cheapie. So you should take a flat frame shot of the whole thing first to use in flattening the lightness gradient of your scans.

 

thought ill add to this thread since ive been looking for other ways to digitalise negatives instead of using my scanner. it seems like the cool thing to do these days is dslr scanning. so taking a photo of the negative on an illuminated white light source and then processed using software. essentially like a scanner, but youre using possibly better components to capture the negative. the results are pretty good and can even match lab results.

theres a lot of crap you have to gather or make. but most of it can done cheap if youre willing to spend some time diy and learning the process. and if you have a decent camera lying around doing nothing, then why not put some good use to it.