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The Kitchen Table

My first scanned old negative!

15 years ago

I chose this one for practice, not realizing only the background was in focus, not the women. Knowing my dad's expertise with a camera, that must have been intentional, but still. . . .

Anyway, my mom is on the left. I don't recognize the woman on the right. I'm guessing this was taken in the late 1930s. The New York skyline sure was different then!

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Comments (20)

country_bumpkin_al
15 years ago
Oh how neat!! How'd you do that?

Bump who's wondering if she has any old negatives around!
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Well, first I shelled out a hunk of money for a scanner that takes negatives of various sizes (and slides). Then I let it sit around for a couple of years while I figured out where to set it up. Then I sete it up and let it sit around for a month or so while I gathered up the courage to embark on a new learning curve.

Then this morning I bit the bullet and tried one. Now I'm about to do another. This is fun!
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Scanning my dad's negatives again (2 pics)
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Anne, I was talking to the Canon tech support guy the other day (because I messed up my connections when I changed computers), and he said my scanner, the 9950F, was a great model because it scans different sizes of negatives. (My dad had several cameras, and produced negatives in several sizes.) According to him, Canon isn't making one like that anymore because of low demand for this feature. I know the current models will scan 35mm film. I think you'd have fun scanning your old family negatives. If your scanner doesn't handle the size you have, you could look for a used model that does.
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Help please - scanning of old 35mm slides
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I suggest speaking to a conservator who specializes in photographs. They may be able to recommend a method or product to fix the slides. If the slides can not be fixed, you can scan them and then fix the scans with photo editing software. I know it will not save the slides, but at least you will have the photos. And whatever you do, get them scanned before you or anyone else starts trying to clean them. Which brings me to the scanning: If you have a lot of photos that need to be scanned, it may be more cost effective for you to buy a scanner and do it yourself. You can get a very good scanner relatively cheaply and they are easy to use. You can get free photo editing software (Gimp) that has all the necessary features you need in order to fix the inevitable colour shifts and scratches in the photos, or if money is not an issue, you can get Photoshop or similar software.
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negative carrier on scanner
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Comments (10)
We sure did and I was glad to see you response--I had no luck finding the thread. I sent about a dozen negatives to a commercial scanning service and received a CD with very high resolution scans. That was about the time I was hoping to do more myself to save money and got good information from you. My negatives are of varying sizes and quality. I still don't know to what degree a scanner can adjust to denser or thinner negs. Sometimes working with a professional isn't easy. Some of the hand selected negatives were contact printed by student interns is a real darkroom with decent results. I intend to use the best images in an exhibit or two and a PowerPoint presentation to celebrate and educate about a historic district I just got declared elibible for the National Register of Historic Places. I'll take the best legibility I can get and be happy for my goal. During a visit today with the prof, a contributor to my work, I basically heard way too much about the quality of the negatives--too thick, too thin, scratched, poor photographer, improperly stored 60 years ago. As a perfectionist in her craft, she sees these problems and says we can't do much. My approach is if there is a problem, let's solve it. I am at the stage of selling my approach and getting her going. No one had actually scanned anything with the Epson, so I suggested we give it a try since I drove there to see the scans. She put a decent 3x5 neg right on the glass and the Epson produced a great image. I inquired if there needed to be a negative holder and that drew a blank--despite what the reviews of the machine list. So right now I don't know too much except I have faith that if we can get any image it can be manipulated to a reasonable quality. I also found another on-line, reasonable scanning company, and they tell me they can handle about any quality and will send me images on line and I can pick and choose what I want and have to pay for. And the cost to do all my selected images will be less than the dozen I did before. The question here is--do you scan from the glass or always use a negative holder? Have you tried from the glass. I know you talked about one of the photo programs to work on you rscanned images. How much can you enhance a darker or lighter scan? Quite a response for only seeing one scan but I am frustrated by all the negative talk (yup, pun intended) Mike
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I've been scanning my dad's negatives......(5 pics)
Q
Comments (27)
No, flatbed scanners can't be counted on to accommodate negatives. You need to find one that has settings and physical properties that will allow negative scanning. Scanning negatives requires backlighting. I was recently on the phone with a Canon techie, and he mentioned that my scanner was so great because it takes negatives of different sizes, and it was the only one Canon made that would do that. Unfortunately, it's not being manufactured now. I took a look on Amazon and found this one, which will scan slides, negatives and medium-format panoramic film up to 6 x 22 cm. I usually have the negative holder on my scanner set to an opening of 2x3". If I want to scan a 2x2" negative, I just set it in the opening, leaving blank space around it. The preview will come up as a black rectangle, but if I draw a crop box inside the rectangle, my image will show up. I can then adjust the crop to include what I want before I click Scan. Perhaps the DPReview people can recommend other scanners. I'm also wondering if you could use a light box to "scan" the negatives with your camera. Scanning is basically the same as taking a picture. I've handled some slides this way. Because these slides were damaged (mounted under glass and now stuck to the glass--and even worse in some cases), and because I'm not using a tripod, the results aren't wonderful. But I think I could do a lot better if I put some thought into this and started out with better slides.
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liz
15 years ago
WOW...what a great shot!! That skyline is soooo nekkid compared to today!! The nice thing about Photoshop is you can sharpen the ladies!!
talley_sue_nyc
15 years ago
Great, Susan!

(My DH says, that's not the NY skyline; that's Jersey, and it looks about the same still)
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
I was thinking the same thing, Liz. I should open those books I bought on the subject.

I did a certain amount of that kind of editing when I worked for the newspaper, but when it got too involved I invariably handed it over to my buddy Geno. (Why did he have to move away??) :-)

LOL Talley Sue, of course! That explains it. After all, in the 30s they had the Empire State Building at least, and probably the Chrysler Building and more. Yup . . . it's Joisey.
pattico_gw
15 years ago
My scanner has a button to push to turn your picture into a negative look.....I wonder if you scan a negative and click on the button if it will switch it to a picture look????

Or that could be in my HP software...

I just know it is somewhere that you can mess with pictures and do all kinds of things with them.

patti
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
This one was probably taken the same day. That's my dad on the left. I wish I recognized the other couple. Maybe they took the Circle Line around Manhattan Island. Or perhaps they took a ferry to Staten Island. Check out the street sign. I don't remember arrows pointing to the Police.

Although I appreciate being comfy in fleece and jeans, I love the way people dressed back then. Especially the men!
glenda_al
15 years ago
Very nice!
casey_nfld
15 years ago
Very cool. I scanned over 1000 negatives from my parents and now I am working on 100's from my aunt. It's really fun seeing the old pics.
ronf_gw
15 years ago
Great pictures, Susan.
I've scanned a bunch, too. The software that comes with some scanners is fantastic.

Ron
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Ron, Photoshop Elements and ArcSoft Photo Studio came with mine. But I didn't install them because I already had Photoshop.

My dad was an avid photographer, processing his own film, and I have tons of prints, negatives, and slides to work from. Fortunately, unlike his daughter, he was also wonderfully organized. All the larger-format negatives are filed individually in glassine envelopes. I'm sure this is why they've survived after all these years.

This project of mine has been in the works for so long . . . I'm happy to have started it at last!
Jodi_SoCal
15 years ago
Keep posting, these photos are great!

Jodi-
koda04
15 years ago
great pictures :)
i am very proud of you alisande :)
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, Koda!!

Well, Jodi, now that you mention it . . . LOL

This is the last one I did this afternoon. I'm beginning to get a stiff neck.

My mother outside the apartment building where I grew up. Early 1940s. She's either coming from or going to a game of tennis. She was an awesome tennis player.
mariend
15 years ago
What printer/scanner are you using? My cousin is doing a bunch of b/w negatives from the 20's etc and some my Dad took. He is looking for an additional scanner to do more.
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Marie, my scanner is the Canon 9950F. I bought it from Amazon, where it's no longer available. The one they recommend as a substitute costs a lot less and has fewer features. I like my model because it takes a number of different negative sizes. I think it's still sold by other dealers.

I did a lot of research before I bought it, so I'm sure the reviews are good.
minnie_tx
15 years ago
The gal you don't recognize is wearing a "Chubbie" I think it is what they called a short fur or fake fur jacket My mom and sisters had them . nice scans!!
ronf_gw
15 years ago
The first scanner I bought came with Arcsoft Photo Impression. It was fantastic. But, it's not compatible with Windows Vista. I've been tempted to go back to Windows XP just so I could use my Arcsoft.
I have about 2,000 slides that I took back in the '70's to scan. It will be a good Winter project.

Ron
lindyluwho
15 years ago
I so want to do that with my slides. I have 10 years worth that were taken mostly by my 12 DH. I am cleaning out my mothers house and keeping finding huge boxes of slides my Daddy took. I should really let go or some bucks and buy a slide scanner.

I also found an 8MM projector and home movies at Mama's house. I meant to bring them home. Thought I'd try to watch them. They are so old they might just break but if they play and are any good I might have them transferred to a DVD. I think the guy that videotapes our seminars at work does that. Maybe he will give me a deal on it.

Linda
alisande
Original Author
15 years ago
Linda, either I'm unfamiliar with an Internet acronym or you've had 12 husbands. :-)

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