I have resently recieved some old negitives( I am assuming they are from my Dad's old Brownie) they are in very poor shape, dirty, spotted and some even partually eaten by rats. The first thing I did to preserve the photos (no hard copies are known to be around) I scanned the negitives onto my computer. That worked real well by the way, got some great pictures out of it. I would like to see if I can get better pictures. What would be the best way to clean a negitive? These are very dusty and that doesn't just blow away. Also there are spots on the negitives, I think it was caused by water, anything that might help that? Thanks for all your help in advance. If nothing else, does anyone know of a good place to take these negitives to, to try to have them restored?

-- Kevin Morris (txgent107@aol.com), March 20, 2001

Answers

Cleaning Negatives

The final process in developing a negative in the first place is to give it a good wash then a rinse in slightly (couple of drops of detergent to the pint) soapy water, so in many/most circumstances this procedure will clean up a dirty negative ... BUT ... there are some funguses which attack the emulsion, leaving a tell-tale "spiders-web" effect, which also causes the emulsion to become water-soluble, for this scenario there are specialist solutions available commercially. Probably worth trying the soap & water method on a negative of no value (if you have one) else invest in an appropriate commercial product to be sure.

-- Chris Eve (kypfer@itl.net), March 20, 2001.

dirty boy!

hey, big kev.

water marks most often don't rewash well.

did you use photoshop to retouch the shots?

the idea of retouching is kinda antiquated and expensive if you already have photoshop. but i know it would be nice to have some analog prints.

do you do your own printing?

i recently made some brownie still lifes, and the dust fell onto my negs from the camera before they were even exposed, but it actually authenticated them.

i think they tell a story..call me artsy, but i think they would be nice printed as they are (provided the subject is identifiable.)

think about it. bec.

-- Rebecca Coghlan (one_evil_sista@start.com.au), June 05, 2001.