Scanning at Precision

[Daniel Bates]

Well, I shot two rolls with my friend's Holga, and sent them to Precision Camera and Video to get scanned in. $1 per frame, and they'll be ready in four days; okay, the next weekend I head down and pick the scans up.

They're at 640x505.

I am NOT pleased.




Is this normal? Should I expect a bigger scan for a dollar a frame? I was going to print these, as they're medium format film, but at friggin' six forty long, they won't print very large.

[Photographer557]

Daniel,

You have unfortunately stumbled onto a problem that has been occurring lately and most film photogs just haven't realized it yet. I took some film in earlier this year and had them make a disc and 4x6 prints for me. I looked at my prints and thought these are not as good as what I have gotten in the past. I then went back inside only to have my concerns confirmed. They printed my pictures from the low resolution scans they did. They then informed me that they no longer had optical equipment to make prints directly from the negative and that most labs in the D/FW area don't have that equipment. They stated this was the way all labs were doing prints now. I spent a week calling around to find there were only 2 labs that had optical equipment and could make a print from the negative. Needless to say I then decided to go digital. It does no good to take a 24 megapixel negative and get a print made from a low res scan.

Good Luck

[Daniel Bates]

Darn... I was hoping they were just screwing me over, and an irate phone call or two would straighten things out. I'm still pretty wound up about it though. If I send in medium format film, I DO NOT want a web-sized scan from it!

[Bill]

It sounds as if nothing was said or asked about what resolution the scan would be for $1. Ask what other resolutions and prices are available.

[Buddha]

Daniel,
You should give Holland Photo on South Lamar a try. They are a photo lab and do film and digital.
Here's their web site. www.hollandphoto.com/
I think they will be able to take care of you.

[Daniel Bates]

Well, I yelled and screamed and cursed (not really, I was polite! ) at the phone-answering-girl at Precision, and she said that the $1 price was for low res. Medium is $1.50, and high-res is $2. No mention was made about what high resolution meant, or whether they would be nice and rescan for the same price (since no one mentioned scan resolution when I ordered the scans).

[Buddha]

Holland's web site has a PDF file that lists services and prices so you can see what you can get, including scan resolution. You should download that file. I think Holland can take care of you.

[Daniel Bates]

I checked it... about $5 a frame for high-res (8x10 @ 300-ish dpi). Too rich for my blood...

Film seems cheap at first, but the constant ongoing costs really add up.

[epoh]

You'd be better off saving up $100 for one of these - http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...s&oid=63060805 and doing the scanning yourself. Just get the film developed at the store and do everything else at home.

[Daniel Bates]

Film cost and developing expenses would still kill me though (I'm hoping to shoot some weddings, and otherwise just shoot anything that moves). A 10D would be a cheap way into the DSLR world...

I still think about getting an ELAN 7 or EOS 3 though. But that's for another thread (and actually IS in another thread... )

[Buddha]

I'm confused by the numbers you posted. I didn't see a $5 price for anything, and it sounds like you are scanning prints. Maybe I know less about Holgas than I think. ???
I get rolls of film processed and scanned for about $20 at high resolution, and sometimes get them back in hours. Scans done later cost more.
Where are we not connecting?

[Daniel Bates]

That's on the Digital Scans page, in the table on the upper right. EZ Scan, Reprint Price, at Extra Large (16x20 at 256ppi), is $4.99.

I misquoted it in my post though; I'd quoted the Large resolution, which is $3.99. My bad!

[epoh]

Shooting large format will definatly cost you some money over the long run. With digitals being such high quality these days, it hardly seems worth the cost. Though I still love holga prints!

[Buddha]

Sorry. I thought we were talking about scans to use to make prints, not the prints themselves.