This is has been weighing on me for some time and really bums me out (I mean, besides the part about family and friends dying!)
--When Kay Davis (family friend a few years younger than myself) passed away in 2001, I had no trouble getting pictures printed at a regular one-hour photo place from 126 negatives. The only problem was that color images, especially from before 1977, were terribly discolored, but prints were nice and clear.
--By the time my dad passed away in 2007, home printing was taking over and the one-hour places were going out of business. There were old negatives Dad had shot--black-and-white, a little larger than a slide--I couldn't get good prints of ANYWHERE. The premier local camera place would take the negatives, and I had to drive thirty miles to leave the pictures for the place to send out, but the prints were distorted because their equipment didn't accommodate those sized negatives. If I wanted clear prints, I had to scan from originals--when available. What's more, had to do the same for pictures taken on 126 because by then no place would print those, so some of the prints in the collage for the service I was not happy with. Those done from 35 mm negatives were fine. That camera place has quit selling photographic supplies entirely, you can't have pictures done there, I know you can't buy a photo album, doubt whether you could buy film, and can barely buy a picture frame at that place! They used to do EVERYTHING photographic, including camera repair!
--When Steve Edwards (minister of the church I attended) passed away in 2010, I shot 35 mm from 1982-2008 and digital after that, but had photo CDs made beginning about 2001. If I recall correctly, I was able to have prints made from negatives for collage displays, but for the media show a friend kindly did, none of my pictures were from before 2001 as there was no good quick way to put older 35 mm pictures on CD. Also at least one commercially made photo CD would not work at all.
I would like to be able to make a collage display and not have to unframe it and replace certain prints because I was not happy with the quality! (I was happy with everything I did of Steve but still want to replace prints I was forced to scan for Dad's funeral and Mom's 90th birthday party due to these issues with the negatives.) I have a very good consumer level scanner and after scanning three slides to print for Mom's display I thought I was gonna die because they each have to be painstakingly positioned in a holder. It does negatives too which are not much easier than slides. Except Dad's negatives are single, not in strips or cardboard frames, and I have NO IDEA how to do them! I have a stack of slides besides all these negatives shot by Dad, me, and others.
So I either have to spend the rest of my natural life positioning slides and negative strips in this holder to scan, spend more money on another consumer-level device which basically does the same thing only faster, or pay a service to do it. Scan Cafe is the best-rated such service, but I blanch at the thought of sending my originals out and sweating bullets for two or three weeks until they come back. A local guy does digitizing services and I'm going to inquire into his references and methods--that is, does he have consumer-level equipment or more sophisticated? For negatives, does he have color correction, or would I have to obtain scans as is and then send to Scan Cafe or spend the rest of my life tinkering on some program myself? Ditto with sound recordings, does he have software to remove needle hiss and vinyl pops, or do you take what you get and LIKE it? If I think of any other questions or anyone here can think of advice or issues to raise before I contact anybody, please feel free to chip in. If I survive the negative duplication process and getting prints framed with which I am happy, I will be scanning myself prints for which negatives don't exist and if I ever get to the end of that, I have issues about putting together paper albums.
And don't get me started on digital! On older stuff, I at least have originals, I just can't do anything with a lot of them. On newer stuff, my Macintosh ate a bunch of pictures from about four years when I was not keeping originals, or backups other than those on the computer. I paid to have data recovery done and have had neither the time nor the courage to check what if anything was recovered. Some of the images exist in Facebook albums which of course greatly reduce the quality for print options. Thanks for any advice and assistance.
--When Kay Davis (family friend a few years younger than myself) passed away in 2001, I had no trouble getting pictures printed at a regular one-hour photo place from 126 negatives. The only problem was that color images, especially from before 1977, were terribly discolored, but prints were nice and clear.
--By the time my dad passed away in 2007, home printing was taking over and the one-hour places were going out of business. There were old negatives Dad had shot--black-and-white, a little larger than a slide--I couldn't get good prints of ANYWHERE. The premier local camera place would take the negatives, and I had to drive thirty miles to leave the pictures for the place to send out, but the prints were distorted because their equipment didn't accommodate those sized negatives. If I wanted clear prints, I had to scan from originals--when available. What's more, had to do the same for pictures taken on 126 because by then no place would print those, so some of the prints in the collage for the service I was not happy with. Those done from 35 mm negatives were fine. That camera place has quit selling photographic supplies entirely, you can't have pictures done there, I know you can't buy a photo album, doubt whether you could buy film, and can barely buy a picture frame at that place! They used to do EVERYTHING photographic, including camera repair!
--When Steve Edwards (minister of the church I attended) passed away in 2010, I shot 35 mm from 1982-2008 and digital after that, but had photo CDs made beginning about 2001. If I recall correctly, I was able to have prints made from negatives for collage displays, but for the media show a friend kindly did, none of my pictures were from before 2001 as there was no good quick way to put older 35 mm pictures on CD. Also at least one commercially made photo CD would not work at all.
I would like to be able to make a collage display and not have to unframe it and replace certain prints because I was not happy with the quality! (I was happy with everything I did of Steve but still want to replace prints I was forced to scan for Dad's funeral and Mom's 90th birthday party due to these issues with the negatives.) I have a very good consumer level scanner and after scanning three slides to print for Mom's display I thought I was gonna die because they each have to be painstakingly positioned in a holder. It does negatives too which are not much easier than slides. Except Dad's negatives are single, not in strips or cardboard frames, and I have NO IDEA how to do them! I have a stack of slides besides all these negatives shot by Dad, me, and others.
So I either have to spend the rest of my natural life positioning slides and negative strips in this holder to scan, spend more money on another consumer-level device which basically does the same thing only faster, or pay a service to do it. Scan Cafe is the best-rated such service, but I blanch at the thought of sending my originals out and sweating bullets for two or three weeks until they come back. A local guy does digitizing services and I'm going to inquire into his references and methods--that is, does he have consumer-level equipment or more sophisticated? For negatives, does he have color correction, or would I have to obtain scans as is and then send to Scan Cafe or spend the rest of my life tinkering on some program myself? Ditto with sound recordings, does he have software to remove needle hiss and vinyl pops, or do you take what you get and LIKE it? If I think of any other questions or anyone here can think of advice or issues to raise before I contact anybody, please feel free to chip in. If I survive the negative duplication process and getting prints framed with which I am happy, I will be scanning myself prints for which negatives don't exist and if I ever get to the end of that, I have issues about putting together paper albums.
And don't get me started on digital! On older stuff, I at least have originals, I just can't do anything with a lot of them. On newer stuff, my Macintosh ate a bunch of pictures from about four years when I was not keeping originals, or backups other than those on the computer. I paid to have data recovery done and have had neither the time nor the courage to check what if anything was recovered. Some of the images exist in Facebook albums which of course greatly reduce the quality for print options. Thanks for any advice and assistance.
