I c**** up the development of a film and ended up with some small doughnuts (air bubbles, I suspect) on some frames of a 35mm Plus X film. The negatives would print up as real good landscapes so I would like to try salvaging them. Cant be retaken - snow in England ! I have just got an Epson 1640SU scanner and have played with some colour material with some success. I thought about scanning and retouching out the defects which will get me to a point where I now have a good picture but digital. What is the best way to get a B & W digital file onto either paper or back onto film ? Can the colour print processes that are advertised handle B & W and does have anyone have experience of the quality of results ? Should I get commercial scans done as a base ?

Thanks

Dave

-- David Tolcher (davidjt@btinternet.com), September 09, 2001

Answers

Time to buy Dan Burkholder's book on making digital negatives.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), September 09, 2001.

In my country, it is possible to find a lab that will print digital images on a B+W film (using a film recorder, of course). I have never tried it, but I think that it will give good results. They usually use Tmax sheet film and you can get your digital images printed on 4x5 or even 8x10 film. (smaller formats also, but you lose some sharpness). It is an expensive procedure. You also have to scan your negs on a drum scanner, with quite high definition (you will need your files to be at a final definition of 1500 dpi). I your original negs are small, you will have to scan them at an even higher definition.

-- George Papantoniou (papanton@hol.gr), September 10, 2001.