[Helena]

I have a lot of old photographs which I have the negatives for, but which I'd love to get converted to a CD or digital. Can anyone recommend the best/cheapest way to get a bulk lot done?

[Markulous]

I use the negative attachment on my scanner but it's very slow - will return to scanning my negs/slides when I get a 'proper' dedicated scanner (along with an extra hard disk to hold all the files!)

[Dabhand16]

Most processing companies will do it, but it will be expensive and the results might not be to your liking as they will not be done individually unless you want to pay more.

[Helena]

I'm not hugely worried about the quality. These are mainly 'snaps' I took when I was a kid, so its keeping them for memory sake rather than because I want the best quality photos.

[OLYCOM]

Your best bet would be to approach a local mini lab and negotiate, a skilled lab owner with a Noritsu minilab can knock out a couple of hundred scans in an hour if the negs are stripped, quite a bit longer and more costly if cut into singles though.
I find the Noritsu minilabs handle old, scratched and dusty negs better than those by Fuji or, the now defunct, Agfa.

[Rob Barron]

One other alternative if you don't have a decent scanner with neg attachment Helena. You could get hold of a pretty cheap slide/neg copier attachment. I have one of these and it attaches to the filter thread on your lens. You simply slide in the strip of film or a slide (holders for both) and then take a photo of it by simply looking up to a light source. The results will suit your needs just fine and these copier attachments are available cheaply on Ebay.

I have an RCA version which is a higher quality bit of kit but does the same job. It is very easy to use and produces good results.

Cheers,
Rob

[Helena]

Ooo not heard of those before. Thanks

[el baroda]

Hi Helena. I agree with Rob. I have an old slide copier which actually replaces the lens on my digital camera. It is very easy and fast to use, and with Photoshop can produce very good digital copies of slides. I haven't had any success with negatives yet. I think I need a better software than Photoshop to do this. Best regards.

[Helena]

Thanks

[el baroda]

G'day, Helena. Good news. I finally was able to digitize negatives today with pleasing results. I used my old slide copier to shoot the negatives, then did the following using Photoshop (mine is a very old version but still worked):

Open Photoshop
Open photo file of negative.
On Photoshop, select Image, Adjust, Invert (you will get a positive image)
Then, select Image again, Adjust, then Auto levels (presto! you have a good positive).
Finally, play with Colour and Brightness & Contrast if necessary.
Then save your new positive image.

I tried using VueScan but wasn't quite happy with the result. I also followed their instruction re using Photoshop but it was too involved.

Try what I did. It's very easy and fast. Best regards.