Drum scan

Steve Smith said:
Now the OP doesn't mention how many negatives he has so
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Alan Clogwyn said:
there are only 2 negatives.
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People like to think of film as archival on the grounds of you can always scan it again when something better is produced, however all research / development on truly pro scanners basically seems to have come to a halt in about 2003 so mostly the best scanners that were ever built are all 10-15 years old or older and while some are robust it is getting ever harder to maintain them. Currently only two firms that I'm aware off claim to offer new drum scanners I say claim as it might be debatable if they still build or just have stock and as far as I'm aware none of the pro flatbeds are still in propduction.

The Dainippon Screen scanner I have cost the original buisiness 56 000 pounds + the VAT and back in the day mostly these machines were run 24/7 with three shifts for the prepress industry to get images into print. Today there is no demand for them and it is unlikely anyone will in fact build such machines again meanwhile film does degrade so if people want to get the best scann possible best do it while you still can.
 
lol @ this thread...

Well I'm hitting this at a completely different angle.

It hardly matters what condition or quality the negs are, the op wants them scanned for the best possible reproduction regardless of whether they are good bad or ugly, that would be a drum scan or some other pro pre-press equipment operated by somebody that knows what they are doing, it ain't gonna be a 200kb Noritsu scan from Asda.
Ish, I've scanned loads of images that have absolutely no technical or artistic merit whatsoever, but they mean something to me, and if half of them weren't on flippin slide (damn & bugger it) I'd be wet printing them too :)
We've all been there, with a good scan you can get a decent print and then apply your archival ideas to that, no point in limiting your options with an iffy res count either, scan it to death then you can do what the hell you want.
 
Well hitting at it in another angle then get a chemical print made on excellent paper......my B/W prints are still very good after 60 years stored in a box at room temp, but some of the stored negs are covered in dust and scratches :rolleyes: . So you'll have the neg and print for the future.
 
excalibur2 said:
Well hitting at it in another angle then get a chemical print made on excellent paper......my B/W prints are still very good after 60 years stored in a box at room temp, but some of the stored negs are covered in dust and scratches :rolleyes: . So you'll have the neg and print for the future.
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Get a big print done, then take a photo of said print with a DSLR.

Or would that be really, really controversial? :D :exit:
 
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PMN said:
Get a big print done, then take a photo of said print with a DSLR.

Or would that be really, really controversial?
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Possibly... but a good 10x8 print made traditionally then scanned on a fairly average scanner would be quite good.


Steve.
 
PMN said:
I do indeed know that, my annoyance came because questions weren't actually asked but assumptions were made!
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Fair enough, though sometimes it might be easier to just ignore Brian than picking the same fight. :)
 
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PMN said:
Get a big print done, then take a photo of said print with a DSLR.

Or would that be really, really controversial? :D :exit:
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watch-out-we-got-a-badass-over-here-meme.png
 
PMN said:
You know I was joking, right?
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Yes - about photographing a print with a DSLR. However, if you have a fairly average scanner which doesn't scan negatives well (or at all) it should still be able to get a good scan from a good print.

This reminds me of a time when I decided not to say anything when a friend told me that a picture he had on his computer wasnt very good quality so he was going to print it out (inkjet) and scan it!


Steve.
 
PMN said:
We don't know if they were taken on a cheap camera! Jeez, why do some people have such a difficult time just answering such a simple question? The guy asked where to have his photos drum scanned, that's it! Why do we have to sit here bringing all kinds of other stuff into the discussion complicating things? It's absolutely infuriating. I don't know the OP but he doesn't exactly seem like a beginner in photography, if he says he wants a drum scan then it's fairly safe to assume that's actually what he wants.
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I agree with this guy...
 
I use a tablet, white creamy perspex and a digital camera on a tripod in a dark room to scan my larger negs, you could try that as a quality check perhaps?
 
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