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01/14/2024 04:14:59 PM · #1 |
| A local friend just inquired to me about scanning some 120 negatives of her Dad's that she found. Anyone have any experience doing this and resulting advice to offer? |
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01/14/2024 09:50:02 PM · #2 |
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01/15/2024 12:29:17 AM · #3 |
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01/15/2024 09:43:22 AM · #4 |
Hmm.
Color negatives are a biatch to scan and convert the way I would normally do it. That would be by backlighting them and photographing them with a high-resolution camera and a macro lens. It's a bit of a trick to set up, but once it is set up properly, it can go much more quickly than scanning. The problem with color negatives is that, once scanned, they must be converted to positives, which is not as easy as just inverting the curve. I've gone down this rabbit hole, and I really would not want to repeat the exercise. If, however, the negs are B+W, the process is much simpler.
High-quality scanning services are an option, but be prepared to pay good money for them. Might be economical if there are not too many negs to deal with, but if there are a substantial number, the cost could get well out of hand. There are low-buck scanning service options, and they are not worth considering. The image quality returned is crap.
ETA: Questions to ask...
1.) Color or B+W, and if color, does she know what type of film was used?
2.) How many?
3.) Does she know what 120 format? There are multiple formats that used 120 film stock.
For (3) she can take a metric tape or ruler and measure the height and width in cm. She should come out with something line 6 by 4.5, 6 by 6, 6 by 7 or 6 by 9 cm. These are rough dimensions, the actuals may be slightly smaller. Only want to know this to estimate frame coverage with 35mm.
Message edited by author 2024-01-15 09:49:16. |
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01/15/2024 10:00:52 PM · #5 |
I've used both a proper film scanner and an Epson flatbed scanner with the backlight. The scanners are nice for color neg because they do a good job of removing the orange mask and reversal. I've been happy with my results, but I mostly scan 35mm and 4x5 B&W and E6 though.
Another thing to consider is the number of negs she wants to scan. Does she have 15 or 1500? Lower volume = easier to manually scan 1 by 1 whereas higher volumes make automated feeding seem better and better.
Then there's the dust. OMG the dust. Even if the film and scanner are meticulously cleaned, there will be dust. The scanner software usually has some kind of automated dust and scratch removal setting, but I've never been able to get good results. |
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01/15/2024 10:04:39 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Spork99:
...Then there's the dust. OMG the dust. |
ROFL, truer words were never spoken! Some scanners have an infrared channel that, if the software understands how to use it, can be useful in dust removal... but in my experience, it's best to get as much as is humanly possible off the negs first, then deal with the rest manually. |
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01/17/2024 07:43:14 PM · #7 |
| BlackBox 120 (review on PetaPixel) |
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01/17/2024 08:18:58 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
BlackBox 120 (review on PetaPixel) |
That's a really well thought-out solution. In operation it is very similar to the system that I put together to photograph 35mm slides, but more flexible, and I must say with a much higher cool factor :-) |
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01/20/2024 11:56:23 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
BlackBox 120 (review on PetaPixel) |
I think this is something like what she was looking for. I think she figured out a solution that worked for her needs. Thanks, all. |
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