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scanning old photographic formats to digital


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i own a large amount of 1970s-2001ish negs and older film formats etc.

 

i have read the guidelines on alamy for these and follow them as best i can. i have an epson v700 and im happy with it thus far.

 

i was wondering what the best DPI would be for 35mm, 6x6, 6x7 and 4x5". i have thus far been using less DPI for the larger formats, as it made sense to me that the larger the PHYSICAL size of the negative it would need less DPI, eg 4x5" are 2000DPI scans and according to irfanview when set to 300DPI this would give a print of 24 inches x 30. (as i was told that 300dpi is the standard magazine print resolution??) and the smaller 35mm i have scanned in at 4000DPI to get the detail out of the pysically smaller format.

 

is this a good rule of thumb? larger pysical size of negs = less DPI needed or should i overhaul my methods.

 

what do you guys scan in at for those formats listed above?

 

also as i have a large amount of formats, does anyone use a third party company? ive used digiscan in the uk to get my first batch of images up for alamy, and their service was good and fast any alternatives?

 

thanks

 

dan

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any more pointers on above?

 

what do you guys scan in at for those formats listed above?

 

also as i have a large amount of formats, does anyone use a third party company? ive used digiscan in the uk to get my first batch of images up for alamy, and their service was good and fast any alternatives?

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I have used a flatbed scanner for my old 35mm and 2 1/4 negs but the quality is not good enough to pass Alamy QC.  Most do it your selfers I have seen on the forums use one of the Nikon dedicated film scanners.  They say they are not made any more so only used ones are available.  The flatbed is fine for 4x5 I think.  Here is a link to Photo.net where there have been many threads on this subject and people with much more experience than I have.  If you have more time than money then scanning them yourself is a good plan, otherwise I would send them out to be scanned if I thought they could pass QC and sell on Alamy.

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I use 2400 dpi for medium format scanning of 645 - 6x7. Although I use a dedicated Minolta Multi Pro film scanner I have no doubt that the Epson V700 will pass Alamy QC for MF as I have indeed used this scanner in the past for successful submissions. However, this scanner is inadequate for 35mm. For this format you will definitely need a dedicated film scanner capable of 4000 + dpi to meet QC standards or elect an outside source with high end scanning facilities. I'm not UK based so I can't advise outlets but depending on the volume you will be scanning it might be pertinent and cost effective to invest in a dedicated scanner which can always be sold on in the future. You will need to do the maths here and make a decision.

 

The alternative is to scan via a digital camera. David Kilpatrick may well come in here as I recollect he uses this method.

 

Hope this helps

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