Very old negatives?

Is it possible to have a photo made from a negative say from the 1920's? There is a negative of an old steam locomotive i would like to have a larger picture of, the negative is only 2X2.5".

Yes. A print can be made the traditional way (e.g., in the darkroom with light-sensitive paper and chemicals), or a print can be made digitally by scanning the negative and either making an inkjet print or a print on real photo paper. The digital method is a particularly good option if the negative has any sort of damage, because it's easy to correct that damage on the computer without altering the negative.

MEC407 wrote:Yes. A print can be made the traditional way (e.g., in the darkroom with light-sensitive paper and chemicals), or a print can be made digitally by scanning the negative and either making an inkjet print or a print on real photo paper. The digital method is a particularly good option if the negative has any sort of damage, because it's easy to correct that damage on the computer without altering the negative.

Any tips on scanning a negative? Whenever I try it the image looks REALLY bad.

Thanks.

What kind of scanner are you using?

MEC407 wrote:What kind of scanner are you using?

I use an Epson V750 PRO. It scans prints and slides very well, just not negs

Hmmm... could be a software issue. If the hardware itself is capable of making good scans from slides, then it should be able to make similarly good scans from negatives, since it's the same physical process. The only difference is that the software has to invert the image, and in the case of color negatives, also has to compensate for the orange mask. If the software isn't doing a good job of that, that could explain why you're getting good slide scans but bad negative scans.

MEC407 wrote:Hmmm... could be a software issue. If the hardware itself is capable of making good scans from slides, then it should be able to make similarly good scans from negatives, since it's the same physical process. The only difference is that the software has to invert the image, and in the case of color negatives, also has to compensate for the orange mask. If the software isn't doing a good job of that, that could explain why you're getting good slide scans but bad negative scans.

I'll check into that. Thanks very much!

hello:

I have theION negative copier that you might see in add's and I love using mine, very simple if you have Windows XP and it comes with adapters for all sorts of 35mm stuff. Found in Staples

jim