Printing from old negatives

Crazyhorse

Crazyhorse

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Hi

A friend of mine has asked me to ask you people on here.

She has found some old negatives from c 1940's-1950's. She hasn't said if the negatives have been protected from contamination, scratches etc.

Where could she send them to be printed online?

Or, is there anywhere in Liverpool or surrounding areas where should could take them for someone to look at and possibly print?

An approx costing would be appreciated.

Any help most gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks.
 
Scan and digital print should be quite simple.

Can you find out how many there are? and what format ther are? Maybe someone local could help if there are not too many.
 
Thanks ever so much for the reply Alastair.

I've asked her to measure the width of the negatives, not sure if that's right or not. What do you mean, what format?

She doesn't know anything about this sort of thing, neither do I.

I'll let you know what she comes back with.

Many thanks

Lisa
 
Hi Lisa,

by format Alistair means whether they are "normal" 35mm film (the type you buy from Boots) or if they are larger.

There are a few scanning services online which will scan for roughly 30p per scan, but if there are lots, this can get expensive very quickly. Getting them printed by a wet printer will be very expensive, but might be something to keep in mind if there are any really special pictures

It really depends on how many there are. If its a couple of film then it will be fairly quick and easy. If there are thousands of pictures to look through it will cost a fair bit of money, and probably take a long time to get them done

You could try and find a film photographer near you who has a scanner just to see what sort of quality the final images are going to be before you start though?
 
With negatives that old it's probably better to get them scanned at high quality and then printed from the scan after any colour shifts, scratches etc have been removed as its highly likely with negatives that old. I would send them to this place:

https://www.scanitall.co.uk/ScanItAll/eshop?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.v2.tpl&product_id=108

I would use the 4000dpi option if their 35mm as this is the best possible quality and they will correct any colour shifts, use Digital ICE when scanning to remove any scratches or dust and save them as high quality JPEGS or uncompressed TIFF's. You have not said what format they are but if their from the 40's to 50's I would assume they are 120 medium format or 127 negatives as Kodacolour which was the common negative film at the time was not available until 1958 in 35mm. If their in 127 then you'll need to use the medium format scanning option.

After you get them back I would have them printed at Peak Imaging as they print to a very high quality.

http://www.peak-imaging.com/htmls/prints_from_digital_media.htm

Hope this helps

EDIT:

If their in 35mm the negs will look like this:

negative_film.jpg


120 medium format looks like this, but may look slightly different as the width depends on the camera but square ones like this were the most common at the time, the height is always the same though:

120-6x6-film.jpg


127 negatives look similar but are a little bit smaller and usually square.
 
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Width of the negative will be enough for identification. By format I'm wondering if they are 35mm film (standard film cannister size) or medium format (much larger negative). Within the time period they were both in common use, although if they are home snaps 35mm is more likely.

Her local Jessops could do the job, but I'm sure that there will be a better independent shop or a local member from here that could do a better quality job.

A high quality digital scan is the best first step, then she can get them digitally printed locally or online at somewhere like DSCL.
 
Thanks for the reply, there's only a handful apparently, so cost shouldn't be an issue. She said they've all been kept in their original protective covers.

I've asked her to take a quick snap of the negs so I can post it on here for you to look at (to see what format they've been shot in).

Will update if shes able to take a pic.

Many thanks again.

Lisa
 
I had the same dilema a few months ago, a box full of negatives and no way of printing them. I made enquiries with a couple of local camera shops and film developers and they were talking telephone numbers to do the job. I ended up buying a Canon scanner with dedicated negative scanning facilities on it and did the job myself. The results were very good to be honest and printed out at 8"x10" no problem. HTH
 
I don't know if you've seen the edit I made to my above post but if theres only a a few neagtives then it increases the likelihood of them being 120 or 127 neagives as you only get 12 or 10 with both of those formats.
 
Hi

Thanks for the replies.:clap:

Thanks for posting the pics, they were very useful. I sent them on to her and she says they are like the bottom pics, not the 35mm. She said there's only about one or two photos on each strip.

What does she do now? She lives in Liverpool and just wants them printing in the most simple way.

Thanks again.

Lisa
 
Although I would highly recommend getting them scanned, corrected and then printed like I said above, if you just want them printed straight away then I would send them to Club35:

http://www.club35.co.uk/120.html

A 5"x5" print costs 70p but I would not expect too great quality as originally most pictures in the 50's were contact printed onto one large sheet of paper as generally the lenses on most consumer cameras were not of high enough quality for decent enlargements. There are also likely to be colour shifts and scratches on the negs due to their age although this can be reduced in the printing stage as nowadays the negs are scanned and corrected and then printed from the scan. Its nowhere near as good as a decent scan and correction in photoshop or similar as the computer just tries to create neutral colours.
 
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They need to go to a pro lab, since its not entirely clear what format they are a lab should be able to scan just about anything to disk.
Once you have a digital file you can choose who prints them, you may want the lab to do them, or you may want to choose which ones are printed, I dunno.
I can't vouch for any other lab other than the one I use, I use it because its local and I can walk in and choose what happens to what, you may want to do the same or you may be happy to send them away, I dunno, anyway, this is the lab I use, it'll give you a rough idea what services are available and at what cost.

http://ccimagingftp.com/cci/services.html

on the other hand, I hear SnappySnaps might be in the scanning market, wouldn't use them personally but if it isn't to hang in the national portrait gallery.....:)
 
Lisa, I've only a flatbed scanner but I scan my own negatives. If there's really only a few, they're medium format and she's happy with cheap and cheerful I'll scan them for her, add them to my next DSCL order for printing and send back to her for at cost and a donation to RNLI. Drop me a PM for address details of she's interested.

Unless there's someone in Liverpool can do it without the postage..
 
Thanks for all the replies and the offers folks, that's really good of you.

I've emailed the link for this thread, hopefully she can view it without becoming a member.

I'll update you.

Many thanks.

Lisa
 
another offer from me...

I've just got me a scanner, and am itching to scan stuff !

so, for the price of postage, I can scan them with and without scratch/dust correction, and send them back on a DVD or two

(y)
 
Lisa

I'll scan them and print them for her if she gets stuck. I can scan everything from 35mm to 120.

If she just wants postcard up ro A5 size I'll print them off for nowt or just stick them on a cd.

I'll do it for the cost of postage

I know you scousers hate Mancs but we aren't all bad :D
 
hi

Thanks for all the replies and offers, that's absolutely brilliant. She's gone out now but she said she'll take a look tomorrow.

I have to say, you guys are brilliant.(y)

Happy New Year to you.

Lisa x
 
Bit late like but I could scan a few if you like too. Only in L13.
 
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