Color Negitives to Digital

[AndyB]

In the last year, I have gotten into digital photography to the point I am no longer takeing my good old 35mm on my excursions.

I am looking at converting some of my earlier 35mm color negitives to digital. Local computer outlet is recommending a flatbed scanner. I look at this and think - it will scan 8.5 by 14", its not going to pick up the fine details in a 35mm negitive. Certinaly not going to get the pixels of a digital camera. Right or wrong?
Recalling slide copiers that fit on 35mm cameras, is there anything like this for digita cameras?
And how do I go about converting negitive image to positive?

Thanking anyone with suggestions.

[MikeF]

Your best bet would be to get a 35 mm film scanner (also known as a "slide scanner"). These can scan both negatives and slides, and mid-range models, available for between $500 and $700, are capable of producing images with resolution comparable to digital cameras. Yes, there are flatbed scanners with 35 mm adapters, but as you predicted, the quality is not typically very good. I don't have any experience with slide-copy adapters for digital cameras (they do exist), but I can't imagine the quality would be anywhere near that of a film scanner.

The scanner software is able to convert color negatives into positive images. (It's not as easy as just hitting "Invert" in Photoshop because of the orange mask in the color negative film base ... inverting the color would result in an extremely cyan image.)

[AndyB]

Mike,
Thank you for the reply. I will look into the film scanner.
Color rendition should be no problem once I get a program. Have been doing color printing for a long time.
Andy

[sullivan1985]

MY father and I are working together to get this Film Scanner for all of his older 35mm photos from way back...

This one is also able to use APS negitives.

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/defaul ... EDC=573691