What to ask about for B&W negs for drum scanning?

[ymc226]

Don't know anything about scanning except it is hard to get great results and the equipment is not cheap. Rather than going down that path, I've resolved myself to paying fairly to have the work done.

I have about 30 few family photos that I originally printed via an enlarger onto fiber paper but would like to have them scanned at the highest quality since I'd like to print them digitally using an Epson 3880 and ImagePrint 9 which has worked well for my B&W digital files.

My negatives would be 35mm and 120 format and B&W only.

If anyone can recommend a scanning service near central New Jersey, I would prefer that as dropping off the negatives personally would make me feel more secure.

1) Is a drum scanner necessary for B&W to get the best quality or is this reserved for color negatives?

2) What resolution should I ask for or expect? Is 16 bit sampling standard?

3) What format does the scanned file come back in? TIFF? and how malleable are the files? (Using LR4 and Silver Efex Pro 2)

4) I have a few negatives that were originally over or underexposed but which I printed to my satisfaction by the "wet" darkroom method. Would these be worthwhile in having drum scanned and is there anything I need to tell them in scanning these particular negatives?

5) I understand that drum scanning involves putting the negatives in oil or spraying them with a liquid. Is this removed by the scanning company completely or is there residual material left. I may want to wet print them again in the future so may not want the negatives altered in any way.

 

[DrTebi]

I am no expert on drum scans, but to the best of my knowledge...

1) B&W or color can both be drum scanned and will both turn out much better results than a CCD scanner (if done right, which you should expect from a professional lab).

2) The resolution you want depends a lot on what your final intend is. There are online tools that can help you calculate the DPI you should ask for according to the print you are planning to make. Of course, you can always ask for the highest resolution and downsize later, but most commonly higher resolution drum scans are also more expensive.

3) Usually the scans come back as TIFF. These files can easily be post-processed in Lightroom etc.

4) Chances are, that the drum scanner operator can get the correct exposure just as you want it.

5) Not certain about this.

I think it's best to talk to a lab technician in person, and explain exactly what you want to do. From my own little online-research, I have noticed some spectacular results from Aztek film scanners; A&I in Hollywood uses one of these. But others drum scanners like Howtek and Heidelberg are also highly praised.

Good luck.

 

[Harry Lime]

Make sure you get a 16bit scan. The tonality is much better and of course you will have more latitude if you need to do any correction.

Some drum scanners only produce 8bit scans.