Printing and Converting 35mm Negative

[netuse38]

First of all, sorry to ask this noob question. I've tried to done a search with "negative" and don't find the result I'm looking for. But if this has been asked before, appreciate the pointer.

Recently clearing the storeroom I bumped into quite some 35mm negative (of course all developed) taken in the old days. Realised that some of them I can re-print for some of my friends and relatives to give them as "suprise present", I asked around some neighbourhood photo printing shops to print them. I bumped into one that could do printing and converting into digital format. Happily, I sent them some 20 years old negatives.

When I collect the printed 3R, I find the result rather disappointing. Pale, no contrast, it is worse than comparing to the same photograph that was printed 20 years ago and kept till now. Also, there are some "yellowish" patches here and there. Looking at the JPEG digital images converted are no better.

I want to ask, is it given that you can't do any better than this with developed negatives that have been stored away for 20 years? Or, would some photo shop specialising in this be able to "salvage" the images? I obviously would not expect the image printed now from the stored-away-negative to be as good as when it was when the film was freshly developed 20 years ago but must it be that bad? Some of them were taken with Nikon FE and I remember the images and colour were really very good when it was printed after freshly developed....

Sorry if this is a stupid question.....:embrass:

Thanks!

 

[catchlights]

FYI, old negative will fade, especially not proper washed away the residual after processing, and proper storage.

these neighborhood mini labs just scan and print, you can't demand too much from them, you can try other labs to see can they do a better job?

anyway, you can try to touch up the digital images, but it will take a lot of efforts, a simple solution is just convert them into b&w images, increase contrast a little.

if you have a some budget, can check out Photography Services Directory to find someone to help you.http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=53

 

[Hammerklavier]

Hi,

I remember seeing a shop opposite Parco Bugis and National Library that specialises in old photos. You may want to check it out.

 

[DoveVadar]

The magic word here is: "scanning". These shops do not have proper scanner and have way below standard scans. Scanning it yourself with a better scanner will help alot.

 

[chiif]

DoveVader got one third of it right. Good scanner makes the difference.

The other two third is skill. Even with top of the mill scanner, you still need a little PP and understanding of film and colour cast to get a good scan from negatives.

It's a very laborious but rewarding process. Once you learn the skill and technique, your photos may still be much better than the shots you take from the top range 35mm full frame digital cameras.

Anyway, back to your problem... colour on the negatives changes over time. The best way to get a closer colour to what you were getting is using the "Auto Color" function on the photoshop or "auto white balance" to correct the colour shift. You won't get 100% what you were getting 20 years ago, but I think it should be close enough.

Hope that helps.

 

[netuse38]

Thanks everyone for the reply.

What I'll do next would be to send the old negative to someone more specialise in scanning and see how it goes

Cheers!