Converting film pics to digital?

Rockymtnx · #1 12-02-2007, 10:11 PM

Just wondering what is the best way to take your film pictures and have them converted to digital files?

Should I get the pics scanned?
Can they do something with the negitives?

Thanks

TheClash · #2 12-02-2007, 10:16 PM

depends on what quality you want to have them. if it is just for ease of saving them...like on to disk..then scanning is ok....but if you have nice photos that you want to preserve the quality of the shot you need to have a professional do it. and yes i do believe they can work with your negatives....also slides if you have those as well. where are you located?? my brother may be interested in doing it for you....he is amazing and fairly inexpensive....

#3 12-02-2007, 11:51 PM

Most of the photo shops will do them for you but they are easy to do at home...just takes time. I picked up a new professional scanner yesterday that will do photos, slides and negatives. It was only $199. If you have lots to do that will be the cheapest and now that hunting season is over, it's not like you have anything else to do...lol

This is the scanner I use for scanning slides for Alberta Outdoorsmen so the quality is there.

It's an Epson V500.

Frans · #4 12-03-2007, 07:52 AM

A while ago, a friend of mine brought a pile of pictures to a local photoshop for scanning and storing on a CD. He paid a HUGE sum of money. Check into the prices of your local shop. If they are like they were around here at the time, a scanner is a good investment.

Frans

Don Meredith · #5 12-03-2007, 08:02 AM

If quality is a concern, you always scan the primary medium, i.e., negatives or positive slides. Most photo scanners will do this. Prints scan O.K. but they are one generation removed from the original medium that was in the camera. The more expensive scanners (those dedicated to negatives and slides) focus sharper on the negatives than the general purpose scanners, but that quality is a matter of degree and may not be important. Like sheephunter said, the quality is there with most of them.

TheClash · #6 12-03-2007, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Most of the photo shops will do them for you but they are easy to do at home...just takes time. I picked up a new professional scanner yesterday that will do photos, slides and negatives. It was only $199. If you have lots to do that will be the cheapest and now that hunting season is over, it's not like you have anything else to do...lol

This is the scanner I use for scanning slides for Alberta Outdoorsmen so the quality is there.

It's an Epson V500.

this sounds like the ticket........

#7 12-03-2007, 09:16 AM

Ya, it's a new model from Epson and they have a $50 rebate right now. It's regular $249.

TheClash · #8 12-03-2007, 09:18 AM

that is a sweet deal.....wow

Rockymtnx · #9 12-03-2007, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Most of the photo shops will do them for you but they are easy to do at home...just takes time. I picked up a new professional scanner yesterday that will do photos, slides and negatives. It was only $199. If you have lots to do that will be the cheapest and now that hunting season is over, it's not like you have anything else to do...lol
This is the scanner I use for scanning slides for Alberta Outdoorsmen so the quality is there.
It's an Epson V500.

Orginaly I only wanted to scan two pictures. So If I was to purchase this I would have to do a few more than two pictures to justify the cost. Maybe some how I can convince the wife she needs this scanner for school. I just checked out the specs on this Epson and they look pretty good.
TJ where did you buy yours from?

TheClash · #10 12-03-2007, 10:29 AM

well for two photos it may not be worth it haha....

i recently converted most of my film pics to digital and store them via CD....just in case of a fire they are easy to grab and save.

#11 12-03-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

Orginaly I only wanted to scan two pictures. So If I was to purchase this I would have to do a few more than two pictures to justify the cost. Maybe some how I can convince the wife she needs this scanner for school. I just checked out the specs on this Epson and they look pretty good.
TJ where did you buy yours from?

I picked mine up at Vistek in Calgary on Saturday. It was the last one they had but they were getting more in this week.

If you only want to scan two...any photo shop can help you out.

Big Bull · #12 12-03-2007, 10:48 AM

Hey Sheep, just wondering if you can scan more than one slide at a time?
Are you happy with the quality of the scanned slides? I have an older Epson scanner with the slide scanning attachment, but just couldn't get the quality that I was looking for.

#13 12-03-2007, 10:52 AM

Yes I can do 4 at a time Gord and the quality is great. I had an older Epson but it died last week so I replaced it with this one but so far it seems great. The biggest issue with scanning slides is getting all the dust off of them first. This scanner has some dust removal software associated with it but you need to still really clean the slides first with air. I rarely send slides to magazines any more, just scans and my previous scanner and this one do a great job. You just need to scan to a large enough target size so the file is large enough to do what you want with it.

Rockymtnx · #14 12-03-2007, 11:21 AM

I see that this V500 can do 4 slides or 12 negatives at one time. I don't have any slides so that won't be an issue. Since I am new to this I don't understand how this works. Do you just lay the negatives on the glass bed and hit scan?

#15 12-03-2007, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

I see that this V500 can do 4 slides or 12 negatives at one time. I don't have any slides so that won't be an issue. Since I am new to this I don't understand how this works. Do you just lay the negatives on the glass bed and hit scan?

Ya, basically that's all there is to it. There is a special holder for negatives you put them in before laying it on the glass bed...there are a couple setting like the target size and such but pretty easy....

aulrich · #16 12-03-2007, 11:37 AM

Speaking of conversion, I have some old film home movies that will be converted, anyone know of a service that does that. I bet it is pricy but there is not much to do.

VerySavage · #17 12-03-2007, 12:23 PM

I have been using a HP Scanjet 3300c for the last five years or so, it does a reasonable job, on all my 35mm SLR Cammera photos. I am not too handy with all the new technology, but I found our HP system to be easy to tie into our computor.
--Ken

Rockymtnx · #18 12-03-2007, 01:04 PM

Does anyone know what the going rate of getting your pics to digital costs?

Drano · #19 01-20-2008, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aulrich

Speaking of conversion, I have some old film home movies that will be converted, anyone know of a service that does that. I bet it is pricy but there is not much to do.

Hello Aulrich
Drano here and i was just browsing the adds and came across yours about the movies. I was just wondering if you ever got them done,what kind are they, VHS, BETA, 8MM, or really old reel to reel.
I do these for a decent price.

Drano · #20 01-20-2008, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

Does anyone know what the going rate of getting your pics to digital costs?

You can take these into wal mart or costco any photo place they are relatively inexpensive to have done. Wal mart does a good job.

elnino54 · #21 01-20-2008, 12:40 PM

Just about all scanners will give very good results ........most important is the original photo quality before hand. As you can see from the pic below it didn't turn out perfect because the original wasn't........ I use a Canon 4200 that I got from Staples and the price was around $180 a few years back..........You have to make sure your scanner is spotless otherwise it will have a neg impact on quality...........

Tuc · #22 01-20-2008, 01:36 PM

Hey Guys...just a word of caution on the Epson printer/scanners.

Check out the cost of the ink before you buy one. I find Epson ink very expensive, I use to own one and I gave the damn thing away because ink was too pricey. I have owned a couple of Canon Multipass all in ones (still do) and I find their ink cartridges the cheapest. You can also refill them yourself. I buy all my ink from a fellow named Jeff at Cancon International Ltd. on 17th Ave. They are very knowledgable (and willing to share) when it comes to filling your own cartridges. Some brands are easy to fill and others you can't fill. The heads are made cheap, and wear out after one use.....so forget about filling these babies.

I found the Epson to be one of those brands.

Rockymtnx · #23 01-20-2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuc

Hey Guys...just a word of caution on the Epson printer/scanners.

Check out the cost of the ink before you buy one. I find Epson ink very expensive, I use to own one and I gave the damn thing away because ink was too pricey. I have owned a couple of Canon Multipass all in ones (still do) and I find their ink cartridges the cheapest. You can also refill them yourself. I buy all my ink from a fellow named Jeff at Cancon International Ltd. on 17th Ave. They are very knowledgable (and willing to share) when it comes to filling your own cartridges. Some brands are easy to fill and others you can't fill. The heads are made cheap, and wear out after one use.....so forget about filling these babies.

I found the Epson to be one of those brands.

I didn't think anyone here was talking about printers. The last time I checked all of the above listed scanners didnt take ink cartridges. ???

PS I still havent piced up that Epson V500 yet. Hopefully I will soon.

#24 01-20-2008, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

I didn't think anyone here was talking about printers. The last time I checked all of the above listed scanners didnt take ink cartridges. ???

PS I still havent piced up that Epson V500 yet. Hopefully I will soon.

Ya, I was just talking scanners for sure and Epson definitely owns that market. If I have to get a bunch of scaned slides or digital images printed, I'll take them to Superstore or such. At .25 each, there's no way a home printer can compete.

Tuc · #25 01-20-2008, 08:04 PM

Thanx for pointing that out Rocky....my bad.

mooseburger · #26 01-21-2008, 03:24 AM

hey if you want to do them cheap...take them to wal-mart ...cost 6 to 7 bucks, they will put them on a 3 1/2 floppy and you can transfer them to your computer from that..........mb

russ · #27 01-21-2008, 07:14 AM

mooseburger if Wallyworld is putting them on a 3.5" floppy, I can't see the quality being all that great. A standard floppy can only hold 1.44 mB.

Mish · #28 01-21-2008, 10:01 PM

Negatives, negatives, negatives! It can be pricey if you go to a quality place, but it's worth it. Think of it this way...if you make a photocopy, then keep photocopying the photocopies, you eventually end up with a page that illegible. Same with photos. Your original is always your best source for quality...so if you want to put it to disk, the best is to get it scanned from your negs.

Typically, you're better off to get them put to CD at the time of processing...it's way cheaper that way.

I work in a photo lab, if you're in the Calgary area I'd be happy to help you out.

#29 01-21-2008, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mish

Negatives, negatives, negatives! It can be pricey if you go to a quality place, but it's worth it. Think of it this way...if you make a photocopy, then keep photocopying the photocopies, you eventually end up with a page that illegible. Same with photos. Your original is always your best source for quality...so if you want to put it to disk, the best is to get it scanned from your negs.

Typically, you're better off to get them put to CD at the time of processing...it's way cheaper that way.

I work in a photo lab, if you're in the Calgary area I'd be happy to help you out.

No doubt about scanning right from negatives or positives......the V500 does both very well.

Rockymtnx · #30 01-21-2008, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

No doubt about scanning right from negatives or positives......the V500 does both very well.

Defiantly on my list of things to purchase this winter. The price you first listed hasn't been matched yet. I haven't managed to come across that price since. Till then I will wait patiently.