Welcome to GUBU.ie - if you're new here check out Housekeeping for more info. Any queries contact us.

Another photography query.

Post Reply
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Another photography query.

#1

Post by kadman »

Hi folks. I need to be able to scan and print photos from a load of negatives.

Whats the best method of doing this. Do i need a specific scanner for it, or is there another method.
Hopefully I am in the right spot as I could not find a photography forum. Maybe we need one.

Thanks.
Hairy-Joe
Posts: 1567
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:33 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#2

Post by Hairy-Joe »

The only way I've heard of it being done was either a flatbed scanner with a dedicated attachment or either a dedicated negative scanner.
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#3

Post by kadman »

I must look into that,thanks.
CelticRambler
Verified Username
Posts: 2577
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:19 pm
Location: Central France

Re: Another photography query.

#4

Post by CelticRambler »

The best way to do it is with a dedicated negative scanner. Even the oldest negatives have a higher resolution than any modern consumer flat-bed scanner (or camera, for that matter) so if the original images were well-composed, well-lit, well-developed, you'll want to limit the number of intermediate steps in the scanning process. The same goes for transferring slides to digital.

On the other hand, if you're dealing with "very average" snapshots and just want a digital version to look at from time to time, you can get away with a reasonable entry-level negative scanner/adapter and a half-decent bit of photo editing software. I think Lidl have occasionally had negative scanners in the middle aisle that pass the "good enough" test ... although I haven't ever seen them myself.
bullets
Verified Username
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 12:49 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#5

Post by bullets »

I dont have a flatbed scanner anymore but the ones used to scan Negatives tend to be more expensive than the average scanner I still see people who are into film photography use 4-500 Euro scanners, the el-cheapo negative scanners you can pick up for 50bucks in Argos or Aldi etc tend to be crappy web cameras like yokes that just take live screenshot type capture and are not too great. I find it better just to take a photo of the negative. (then again I've a 60mp camera and macro lens when doing it, but a cheap camera will get the job done too)

If your not too fussy, you can take a phone/tablet screen and turn up the brightness to full and possibly use an app to keep the screen white. (like one of those light apps) Place a sheet of white paper over the screen (important) Place your negatives over the paper and hold them down with something so they are flat. Take a Photo of the negative. Go into MS Paint or any other editing tool to invert the image, tweak brightness/contrast/hightlights etc.

(The bit of white paper covering the screen is to diffuse the light a little so the screens RGB pixels wont interfere with you taking the shot of the negative itself, without the paper the pixels will be too close to the back of the negative and cause issues, ideally you want a bit of separation from the screen backlighting the negative if using an LCD to avoid pixels getting in focus under the negative)

Here's a shot where I placed a negative on a sheet of white paper over a phone/tablet screen, and I weighed the negative down with a roll of sellotape where the negative was positioned in the center of the roll, and I just took a photo of it and inverted the image, later I could crop the shot if I wanted.
It was good enough to post online or to print.
Image
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#6

Post by kadman »

Another question for the learned.
Whats the largest framed photo I could get from a digital photo sent to my phone, and are there places here to get that done.

I suppose you would call it poster size.
490808
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#7

Post by 490808 »

It depends :lol:

To save me a load of explanation just google something like resolution v printing size first I came up with was https://www.nikonians.org/reviews/resol ... print-size. Then its down to the original size of the image or the size that the can be sent.

Almost any pharmacy will print photos off a phone, USB or almost any digital medial. If you like you can look around for one that uses the Fuji Frontier system. Out front will be a Fuji box for you to upload and see what you want printed which sends the photo to behind the counter with a big Fuji Frontier printer which in most cases does excellent printing - my wife has had thousands of prints done by one in the local pharmacy (literally).
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#8

Post by kadman »

All I can say on the resolution is that the picture was taken on a modern recently purchased I phone, and sent to me as a whatsapp picture.

Its a spectacular picture that I would like to get as big a poster pic as possible if the resolution allows.
Last edited by kadman on Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
490808
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#9

Post by 490808 »

Posters can be different. They are viewed from much further away and afaik professional printers of posters have ways of interpolating, that removes the blockiness you get just from blowing up a picture too much. You obviously can't get detail that isn't there but squared blocky lines caused by over enlarging are smoothed out.

btw I first read that as you wanted to "get a big a pic of a lobster as possible" :lol: :oops:
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#10

Post by kadman »

:lol: :lol: :lol:
CelticRambler
Verified Username
Posts: 2577
Joined: Wed Jul 21, 2021 6:19 pm
Location: Central France

Re: Another photography query.

#11

Post by CelticRambler »

kadman wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:39 pmsent to me as a whatsapp picture.
A4 then, if you're lucky. WhatsApp compresses the hell out of images, leaving just enough info to make them look good on a phone screen, but rarely suitable for enlargement

However, if the person who took it sends you the original image file as an attachment rather than an image, you'd be back into the various permutations and combinations described by TheCO.
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#12

Post by kadman »

Thanks, I can get the original file no problem.
Hairy-Joe
Posts: 1567
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:33 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#13

Post by Hairy-Joe »

It's hard to give a definite answer in the size of print without knowing the resolution of the picture. The resolution varies from phone to phone. With phone prices going from €100 to €1000, the camera resolution and quality varies widely.

There's too many variables to guide you so I'd take the file to a local printer and see what they can do
kadman
Verified Username
Posts: 2759
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:14 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#14

Post by kadman »

On the pixel front all i can tell you is that its a top spec i phone, less than a year old.
490808
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:10 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#15

Post by 490808 »

afaik all the recent generations of iPhones have 12 megapixel cameras so that's a good start.
User avatar
esdras
Posts: 55
Joined: Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:05 pm

Re: Another photography query.

#16

Post by esdras »

Did you get sorted in the end?
Post Reply