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Digitising negative collection

ChrisA
Posted 18/01/2007 - 10:58 Link
I have an album full of negatives (strips of 4-6), taken over the last 20-odd years. The ex-wife took the prints as part of the split, and I'd like to scan the negs, cos there are a lot of memories in there.

Probably 200 rolls, so maybe 6000 frames.

I tried scanning a few strips with my (now quite old) Epson Perfection 1640SU - the resolution was acceptable but the dust that the negs inevitably acquired drove me nuts, and the project got put on hold.

Can anyone recommend a device that removes dust as it takes the strip in to scan? One or two of the newer Epson flatbed scanners seem to have motorised neg strip transports, but I'm wondering if a dedicated negative scanner would be better.

If dust-free scanning isn't possible, I'd appreciate ideas about software too... I don't want to have to manually edit the dust spots off 6000 frames - I want the quality to be reasonable straight off the scan.

TIA.
George Lazarette
Posted 18/01/2007 - 11:09 Link
I have the Epson 2450 Photo, but I find I get better (and faster) results snapping slides or negs with a digital camera and a macro lens. You need to be able to hold the neg in place and provide an even light source behind.

One possibility re cleaning might be to wash the negs in warm soapy water. However I haven't yet tried this myself.

G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
ChrisA
Posted 18/01/2007 - 11:47 Link
George Lazarette wrote:
I have the Epson 2450 Photo, but I find I get better (and faster) results snapping slides or negs with a digital camera and a macro lens. You need to be able to hold the neg in place and provide an even light source behind.

It's a nice idea, and one I hadn't thought of (duh!), but we're talking 6000 frames here!! I have no idea what most of them look like anymore, and I want to capture them all.
Mannesty
Posted 18/01/2007 - 11:47 Link
Re-wash and dry the negs and clean your scanner. Set up your scanning suite in a relatively dust free environment. Avoid setting up in the bedroom or anywhere close to a bathroom.

You could also use a vacuum brushing system or blown compressed air (away from your scanning suite of course) for dust removal but now matter how clean you think your materials and equipment are, you'll still get dust of some kind.
Peter E Smith - flickr Photostream
ChrisA
Posted 18/01/2007 - 11:48 Link
I've found some ads for the Nikon Coolscan V ED - at about £450 it's quite pricey, but if it's as good as the brochure (http://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/2004_coolscan.pdf) says I'd probably be prepared to find the money - especially since I'd probably end up scanning my family's negs too, and I expect they'd chip in.

Has anyone used one?
George Lazarette
Posted 18/01/2007 - 13:49 Link
ChrisA wrote:

It's a nice idea, and one I hadn't thought of (duh!), but we're talking 6000 frames here!! I have no idea what most of them look like anymore, and I want to capture them all.

The camera is far, far quicker than a scanner. You just need to fabricate a neg carrier that lets you move quickly from one neg to the next.

G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
Mongoose
Posted 18/01/2007 - 14:52 Link
George Lazarette wrote:
ChrisA wrote:

It's a nice idea, and one I hadn't thought of (duh!), but we're talking 6000 frames here!! I have no idea what most of them look like anymore, and I want to capture them all.

The camera is far, far quicker than a scanner. You just need to fabricate a neg carrier that lets you move quickly from one neg to the next.

G

true but its also more labour intensive, I did a lot of scanning for my Dad when I got my neg scanner and used to do one or two films worth per night while doing other things on the computer. Feed it another strip every 10 minutes or so and let it run.

I guess it comes down to whether or not you would be using, or at least close to, the computer anyway. If yes then the scanner will let you do the scanning without stopping doing whatever else you fancy, if no then the camera method is worth a thought.
ChrisA
Posted 18/01/2007 - 15:58 Link
Mongoose wrote:
I did a lot of scanning for my Dad when I got my neg scanner and used to do one or two films worth per night while doing other things on the computer. Feed it another strip every 10 minutes or so and let it run.

This is the sort of thing I had in mind.

Which one did you use? How did you deal with dust?
JointComms
Posted 19/01/2007 - 11:55 Link
Like everyone else I guess, I started a project like this, but found I had not properly stored the negs and slides.

I would love to
Quote:
Re-wash and dry the negs

but how?
Thanks
George Lazarette
Posted 19/01/2007 - 12:04 Link
I haven't tried this (so on your head be it), but this is what I would do.

First, buy loads of clothes pegs, and rig up a line in the bathroom or some other freshly hoovered and relatively dust-free environment. Using a fine spray you can trap a lot of dust in the air.

Select some unimportant negs for a trial run.

Then seelct a detergent that is "kind to hands" (no added scents, etc, and pH -neutral).

Soak the negs for a few minutes to help dissolve any soluble gunk, then gently wash them by wiping (gently) with a clean cotton cloth.

Gently scrape off the water with a squeegee (obtainable from all good photo shops) and hang the negs up to dry (by the edge).

If no damage has been done, repeat 6,000 times.

Bob's your uncle.

G
Keywords: Charming, polite, and generally agreeable.
Mongoose
Posted 19/01/2007 - 12:17 Link
ChrisA wrote:
This is the sort of thing I had in mind.

Which one did you use? How did you deal with dust?

I have the KM Dimage Scan Dual IV, but TBH I would stump up the extra cash for the Nikon. The KM's image quality is fine but after a couple of years and a few thousand images it is clearly on its last legs, keeps crashing out on me so that I have to unplug it at the mains to turn it off. When it eventually dies I'll be getting a Nikon to replace it (I still use film from time to time).

Also dust is a major problem. I was scanning mainly old slides and used a blower brush to get the worst of it off, then basically picked slides we wanted to print and removed the marks manually in photoshop with the good old clone brush. I found the digital dust brush on the KM scanner pretty much useless, it degrades image quality slightly without really doing a lot to the dust. The Nikon has digital ICE which is supposed to be more advanced but I don't know how well it works.
johnriley
Posted 19/01/2007 - 14:19 Link
Digital Ice is virtually an essential on most old slides and negatives, but it does work very well. It does not work on black and white negatives because the blocks of silver in the image (as opposed to dye clouds) confuses it.
Best regards, John
MattMatic
Posted 19/01/2007 - 14:47 Link
Digital ICE is actually an InfraRed channel - so it scans in Red, Blue, Green, and IR.
The IR channel allows the scanner to detect dust and scratch particles and map them out. However, as John rightly says, the IR doesn't pass through B&W negs so you have to turn off ICE
Matt
Mongoose
Posted 19/01/2007 - 14:55 Link
facinating, now I REALLY want one of those
jps
Posted 19/01/2007 - 17:38 Link
I've done a lot of scanning on a Canon flatbed (8400f) & have had pretty good results - obviously the quality's not up there with a dedicated film scanner, but you can do several at a time (2 strips of 6 negs or, I think, 4 mounted slides). The Canon method of dust removal is very good - set to medium it gets rid of most dust spots & doesn't noticeably affect sharpness, and it doesn't add much time at all to each scan (I haven't had experience of Digital ICE personally, but have heard from different sources that it adds a lot of time to a scan).

Obviously it depends on the ultimate print or file size you're after, but I've printed up to A4 from a 35mm negative & have been happy with the results. I've mainly scanned negs, with only a few transparencies (Velvia & Sensia) - I find that negatives are easier to scan.

The 8400f is now discontinued, but I presume the newer 8600f does the same job, though I've not seen any reviews of this yet. Nevertheless, however streamlined you get your scanning, it always takes much much longer than you think it will - you just have to prepare yourself & ideally use a scanner that will batch scan, allowing you to get on with something else.

Jonathan

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