Copying 35mm negatives to digital?

Question

What would give the best quality results to convert 35mm negatives to digital.
Time wouldn't be a problem as not that many would need to be done and I would like to do it myself rather than give it to someone else. The cost involved would not be a major factor to be considered.
I have the prints for the negatives but a lot are not printed on good quality gloss paper.

Answer 1

If you truly want the best quality way to get negatives into digital files, a dedicated film scanner is specifically designed for the job, and works better than a flatbed scanner. The Nikon Coolscan scanners are not mid-level, they are professional quality devices, yet not hard to use. They used to be very expensive, but not as bad now- search on-line. I have had both Minolta and Nikon film scanners, and they allow you to get great scans from either negatives or slides whenever you need them. As with so many things digital, the newer the scanner, generally the better the dynamic range, and the better scanners have Digital ICE, a feature that can automatically retouch out dust, scratches and fingerprints. I use it all the time and it really works.

If you don't want to buy a film scanner, another option is to send them to a pro, although you said you want to do your own scanning. Doing your own means you do not have to send your irreplaceable negatives out, and you have much more control.

If you already have a good flatbed scanner with the special attachment for scanning transmissive items, like slides and negatives, that will work and may be good enough, but it has to have the special backlighting device for scanning film, or the scans will not be very good. Most flatbeds are designed for scanning reflective items, like prints. Only the high end ones have anything like Digital ICE. I have an Epson Perfection scanner that has the special device and Digital ICE, but I still prefer the film scanner for negatives. It is easier in the end for me.

Whatever scanner you choose, good scanning software also makes a difference. While you can use whatever ships with the scanner, it may not be the best software. I have been using ViewScan for years and recommend it. It supports hudreds of scanners, gives high quality results, and is easy to use. See the link below. There is a free trial period.

Answer 2

I scan negatives (both b & w and colour) slides and prints with a 3 yr old Epson Perfection 2480 Photo scanner which gives excellent results. A newer one may be even better. Almost all can be printed up to A3 depending on the quality of the original

Answer 3

If you only have a few negs to scan, it might not make sense to buy your own scanner.

Photo stores today generally have excellent scanners and the cost per scan is very cheap.

Take your negs into your local shop and have a few scanned at various resolutions.

Make some prints and check out the quality.

Then decide whether you want to do it yourself.

Answer 4

My 2cents worth.
Buy a film scanner - not a flat bed scanner with an adapter that allows you scan film. You will be much happier with the results and if you have a lot of negatives or slides to copy, the film scanner will be quicker and give you more consistent results.

Norm

Answer 5

You can buy a machine that feeds the negs through and copies them. If this is a one-off job and you've got plenty of time, any flat bed scanner will do a reasonable job. Lay a bunch of negs on the bed and use preview to pick out one of them - then scan at the maximum resolution. Use your photo editor to invert the picture and save it.

Answer 6

A dedicated film scanner, such as a nikon coolscan will give you good results, they do a very good mid-range 4000dpi model, and although there are higher resolution models available for less they will not match the Nikon for contrast, density or quality of scanning optics.

Answer 7

i have an epson scanner at home & it scans both photos & negatives...i've found that it gives excellent results

Answer 8

snohoney

please could you edit and give the model number

thank you