Photo Reproduction

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by David_Hayward
Before scannning and enhancement was available I took my set of Canadian 1940-41 prints to a guy who was indeed a high-end photographer, specialising in repros and graphics for advertising, etc. He produced a large set of negs in large format and then prints. Brilliant job. However these days I send them off to my company expert who used a £4500 scanner but even then the best results apparently are with a drum scanner, and then it's down to software. There are some guys and gals out there that can then spend hours on jut one photo and do miracles with it, but they cost. £25 per print say.

David, it all depends on what your application is.

For the ultimate in quality digital archiving then perhaps that's able to be justified. But for the sort of thing I do then I feel either scanning at 300 to 600dpi or rephotographing negatives as I outlined earlier is more than enough. One of these digital negatives is capable of at least an A3 blowup, and is close to 35mm film resolution.

A case of horses for courses, but as the cost to quality continues to move in favour of better quality for lower cost, then there's no reason not to go for the best.

The more people who keep high quality copies of these interesting images the better chance of them being preserved into the future.