Separating stuck together negatives

Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L IS USM

06/30/2016 04:25:37 PM · #1

I got this email from a friend and I have absolutely no knowledge of the answer (but I'd like to, since I became the family's keeper of all of MY dad's negatives).

Hey Lydia,

I have a couple photography questions I�m hoping you can help me with..

When my dad passed away, my mom gave me a box with all his old photo negatives. Some date back to the mid 1930�s, while others are as recent as the 90�s. Some were in envelopes, but many were just loose. I�ve been slowly scanning them, but have run into a couple problems.

· Some of the negatives (I think they�re mostly the 35mm color) are stuck together. Is there a safe way to separate them, without totally screwing them up forever? They�ve likely been pushed together for 40-50 years, and I�m sure the FL heat didn�t do them any good either.

· I also have a bunch of negatives that are, for lack of a better term, warped. Some have just a curve bowed into them, from one side of sprocket holes to the other. But the worst ones are the 110-film (remember those?) negatives. They�re almost �wavy�, with several peaks in each 5� strip. Any ideas how to flatten them out for scanning?

Any help appreciated! Thanks!!

JakeKurdsjuk

Canon EOS R5

06/30/2016 04:53:08 PM · #2

I'll check with my brother, but I believe a bath in isopropyl alcohol will do the trick.

RKT

Canon EOS-60D

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon

06/30/2016 05:04:55 PM · #3

I soak old negs in distilled water with photo flo then hang to dry in a non dusty sort of place.

ETA; I'd stay away from the Iso Alcohol.

Message edited by author 2016-06-30 17:07:04.

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon

06/30/2016 05:39:40 PM · #4

Thanks, guys!

Do you think this will flatten the wavy ones, too?

RKT

Canon EOS-60D

06/30/2016 06:05:34 PM · #5

Originally posted by Lydia:

Thanks, guys!

Do you think this will flatten the wavy ones, too?

It might, but make sure she soaks them, not just quickly dips them in the water. Also you can get the Photo Flo at B&H, Amazon, etc.

eta...Photo Flo is made by Kodak.

Message edited by author 2016-06-30 18:06:50.

06/30/2016 06:14:41 PM · #6

Originally posted by RKT:

Originally posted by Lydia:
Thanks, guys!

Do you think this will flatten the wavy ones, too?

It might, but make sure she soaks them, not just quickly dips them in the water. Also you can get the Photo Flo at B&H, Amazon, etc.

eta...Photo Flo is made by Kodak.

Thanks bunches!

What ratio of distilled water to Photo Flo do you think??

Leo

Apple iPhone Xr

06/30/2016 07:00:17 PM · #7

Originally posted by Lydia:

Originally posted by RKT:

Originally posted by Lydia:
Thanks, guys!

Do you think this will flatten the wavy ones, too?

It might, but make sure she soaks them, not just quickly dips them in the water. Also you can get the Photo Flo at B&H, Amazon, etc.

eta...Photo Flo is made by Kodak.

Thanks bunches!

What ratio of distilled water to Photo Flo do you think??

Sounds like folks use a 1:200 ratio (1 part photo flo to 200 parts distilled water)...
Q&A on the Adorama site.

Message edited by author 2016-06-30 19:01:18.

06/30/2016 08:04:07 PM · #8

Yay!

This is what I'll get... and tell my friend to do.

Thanks, guys!

Cyrilda

Canon EOS-80D

07/01/2016 12:31:19 PM · #9

This is great info for all who were taking photos before digital. I have boxes of negatives of my children and family members. Also does anyone know who I could take them to for putting on disk?

Originally posted by Lydia:

07/01/2016 12:36:53 PM · #10

Originally posted by Cyrilda:

This is great info for all who were taking photos before digital. I have boxes of negatives of my children and family members. Also does anyone know who I could take them to for putting on disk?

I've seen a bunch of places online (have yet to choose one) that will take your negatives/slides, etc and upload them digitally... you only have to print a small percentage of them for their trouble.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

07/01/2016 01:02:28 PM · #11

Originally posted by Cyrilda:

This is great info for all who were taking photos before digital. I have boxes of negatives of my children and family members. Also does anyone know who I could take them to for putting on disk?

I investigated this some years ago, and was not happy with any of the options. I had a relatively large number of color positives (35mm slides), about 3,000. The cost was very high for a real quality reproduction, nearly $1 per image, or I could get a low quality reproduction for a more reasonable cost. In the end, I elected to do the "copying" myself, using a macro lens and a back-lighting set-up.
Today, costs for services seem somewhat more reasonable. This supplier will do it for $0.33 per scan, including dust removal. I don't have any experience with them, however, so some research would be highly recommended before jumping in with them.
There are also slide holders that will fit on a macro lens and allow you to do what I did, using a constant light source from the back side. One word of warning here... this is labor intensive to do yourself, and you will not have the ability to do automated dust/scratch removal as can be done with a scanner that has an infrared channel.

MelonMusketeer

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

07/01/2016 06:31:42 PM · #12

I did the backlighted slide copy thing to copy slides back in the film era, and found that using a diffused or reflected flash to do the backlighting worked very well. The light was very stable in color and it also made the process go faster. You will also need enough light to be able to carefully focus though.

jomari

Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

07/01/2016 08:25:17 PM · #13

I, too, have an enormous quantity of my father's slides - too many to ever get processed. But I have had reasonable success just scanning them into the computer and cleaning up any remaining dust spots myself. I had to put the project aside though, as viewing my father's slides (before deciding which to scan) was traumatic. It seemed as though I was looking through his eyes. His photos, and Mum's photos didn't affect me this way.

07/01/2016 08:32:49 PM · #14

Originally posted by jomari:

*hugs you, Marion*

Wait a while, then. I promise it does get easier. Eventually.

jomari

Nikon AF-S DX 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR

07/01/2016 09:26:59 PM · #15

Thank, Lydia. It's been 11 years! I can't believe that. My parents passed away 18 days apart, Mum died on what would have been Dad's 90th birthday. It really hit me hard but it's probably time to get those slides out and have another go.

07/01/2016 09:36:28 PM · #16

Originally posted by jomari:

Whoa GOLLY!! Arg!

How horrible!

But, yeah... have another go at it.

Let me know how it works, please.

<3

jomari