I know you said these are larger-format negatives. Exactly what size are they? Up to about 4x5" there are affordable commercial scanning options. I have used the Epson V600 scanner to convert something like 500 120-size* negatives (2 1/4" square) to hi-res jpgs. It comes with some pretty good software and does a good job, though it’s rather slow. The spot and scratch remover is good but can be infuriating, because it’s difficult to override what the software wants to do.
* 120 size is what often comes out of old-school high-end film cameras, like Rolleiflex or Hasselblads. I can’t imagine he would have used anything larger (like a manual view camera) to take dam pictures, although you never know…
I’ll measure them. The largest are about 3x4. I know you can scan them because my dad had one of those scanners and a whole failed project to scan them himself but he unfortunately lacked the computer knowledge to get the resolution high enough to make them useable. I’m not sure how much I’d spend to get these all scanned. I feel like a lot probably. So I probably need some way to pare down my selection before scanning.
And oh joy I just found another huge set of disorganized slides to pore through. Thank God I got Dad’s loupe.
My project took about a month to do, working on it in my spare time, maybe an hour a day. It’s an annoyingly interactive process and can’t be easily automated.
Right now my focus is on identifying and sorting things. It all feels more manageable as I divide it into piles.
For example, I had a set of negatives of photos he took of a family friend’s mom’s Frank Lloyd Wright designed home. It’s now a museum. I am still Facebook friends with their son so I messaged him and he suggested the museum would want them unless there were family in the pictures. No people but the photos are beautiful, so that set I have a plan for. So it will go as I sort and then the rest will become clear. Feels good to finally get working on this.
Ok. I get to Atlanta fairly often so we can meet hopefully on one of my trips. Or let me know if you want a little Chattanooga getaway sometime. I’m right by the Market Street bridge and have a spare room so it’s a cheap and fun vacation if you ever need one.
then it was probably a 4x5 inch large format camera.
So far the talk has been about scanning the negatives digitally, but there are still labs that do old-school chemical processing, which will give you the highest resolution. It will be pricey, but you might want to consider it for a small selection of your favourites. The medium format negatives will need to be enlarged somewhat for a family album size print; the 4x5 inch negatives could be contact printed, giving a 4x5 positive print.
A viewer like this will help greatly if you are triaging large numbers of slides.
The last one is what it was like. I will actually measure the slides. I have several different formats of slides going on. I feel like this is all do able and right now just getting through the sort process is where I’m at. Thanks for all the info on the photography. I will be in touch with you once I have figured out what I might want to do next. I’m trying to focus on this part now so I don’t stall out.
