Can digital photos be created from 35mm negatives?

Question

I have scanned my pictures in, but the quality is somewhat diminished this way. I was hoping to have high quality digital photos of my photos.

Answer 1

Call your local imaging stores and ask if they have a drum scanner.

It's expensive but it wrings every last piece of information out of your negs.

Answer 2

I am sure you heard the saying,"if you want something done right it is best that you do it yourself." Any of these high volume photomats don't have the time or the ability to pay special attention to each photo to ensure that the image prints properly. Furthermore, the scans that you get from most of these photomats are low quality scans. The solution is get yourself an Epson flatbed scanner with 35mm film scanning capabilities, and a copy of Photoshop. You don't have to learn every single aspect of photoshop, just the basics in terms of color and tonal correction. Actually some Epson scanners do come bundled with Photoshop elements, so you can kill two birds with one stone if you go this route. Really it is not that big of an investment, and in the end you will be a lot happier.

Answer 3

Ordinary scanners will do slides and film with a back lighting head as on my cheap Microtek and will scan them as positives and negatives. Special side scanners that put all the resolution into the small area of the 35mm negative are available for a not outrageous price ($200-350) and most professional photo processing places will scan them (you may find their price outrageous, while their quality should be terrific.)

Answer 4

Yes it can be done from 35mm negs (also color slides)

You need a scanner that is equipped to scan in these things, they need to be back lit by a white light. Your never going to get 7mp quality but the ones I've done have been really clear - as good as the original photo.

Answer 5

I use the Epson 3200 scanner and it is able to scan prints, negatives, or slides. Whatever you use for a scanner make sure you set the options for the highest resolution the scanner is able to give you and this will enable you to get the highest quality scan.

Answer 6

Best results for scanning negs is with a special negative adapter on a desktop scanner. If you are thinking about purchasing one, you will need one with the highest optical resolution you can find.

Of course, you can have optical prints made from your negs and scan these.

Answer 7

You can digitize anything, but if the negatives are of poor quality, so will be the resulting digital photo.

Answer 8

You have to invest a lot into a good scanner to get the same quality as film.