The Home of the Hybrid Photographer

Alright, I am going to open the new Scanning category on LifeInDigitalFilm with a quick review of the ScanCafe service. An excellent way to get your scanning caught up quick. A while back I was scanning in all of my family’s negative, accumulated over 30 years of casual photography. I all I scanned in about 500 images myself and then decided to try out ScanCafe.

So, I bundled up the remaining 2000 plus negatives I had laying around and got them prepared to send off for scanning. I was prepared to set off on this endeavor.

ScanCafe’s scanning service is quite complete for any negatives or slides you may need to get scans performed upon. Currently ScanCafe offers their 35mm services for 29 cents per frame of negative or slide film scanned as 3000 DPI Jpeg images. They also offer 600 DPI scans of prints if you desire to have prints scanned. These are ScanCafe’s basic services for these medias, you can choose to upgrade resolution of file format for additional cast. I’ll cover that later.

[All images in article are actual scans from 20 year old negatives, done by ScanCafe]

ScanCafe doesn’t stop at offering 35mm scans. APS negatives can be scanned for 49 cents per image as 3000 DPI Jpegs. Medium format images, of all common image formats, are available for 99 cents per image, again as 3000 DPI Jpegs. Even older, smaller formats are available for scanning. 110, 126 and 127 negatives can also be scanned to 3000 DPI Jpegs for 99 cents an image. A bit high for the quality of the formats, but special techniques have to be utilized for this format film. In the past year ScaCafe has also added Black and White 35mm scanning. For 69 cents per frame, they will wet mount your B&W images to reduce scratches, and create 3000 DPI scans as well.

Additional document and printed image scanning is done for varying prices as 600 DPI scans. Just in case you want to scan in your newspaper collection.

The ordering process is easy, you simply log into ScanCafe and fill out an order form for you scan order. They do not require you to physically count every negative or slide you are sending in, just reasonable estimates. Once you have your count frames you are sending in, you simply fill out the scanning estimate in the order form. Your total is automatically updated.

At the time of order you also have the option to add on upgrades to your scanning service. By default, ScanCafe delivers your images on CD or DVD sets, depending on size of order. At this time you can order additional sets of disk or forgo optical media entirely and upgrade to a 320 GB USB hard disk for an additional $99.95. You can also upgrade your image’s resolution and format. For 9 cents per scan you can get images in their Pro resolution, which is a 4000 DPI scan. Another option is Tiff format images, in their uncompressed glory for an addional 19 cents per scan. Scan Cafe even offers a Pro Library service for and additional 29 cents per image, providing you with a Tiff of the raw scan as well as a processed Jpeg. Utilizing their upgrades, you can tailor your scans to exactly what you need.

I ordered my 2000 negative scans as standard 3000 DPI Jpegs delivered on a USB hard disk. I didn’t need to upgrade to the hard disk, as my set would have came on 2 DVDs, but I wanted to see the quality of the hard drive delivered. Once I had upgraded everything I was asked to pay for one half of the estimated final scan cost at time of order. Many other services require full payment, but ScanCafe’s reasoning for charging half will be apparent later on. I got my total, and paid my 50% deposit and my charges for UPS shipping. I packed up my negatives in bundles of 20 strips and stuck them in the bundles into those chaep plastic negative sleeves you get with 1 hour processing. I wasn’t too concerned about damaging the negatives, as they were improperly stored and were dirty and dusty, laden with scratches. If I were to scan them I would have to clean each strip before scanning, to test ScanCafe’s quality I sent them in as is. I packaged them into a box and took the box to the local UPS store to send my negatives off on their international voyage.

Here is a point of concern for many a photographer. ScanCafe, although based in America, maintains their scanning facility in India. Some may find that a risk they are unwilling to take with their irreplaceable media. It didn’t bother me, as I read how they manage their shipments to India. Your box does not leave from your home and go directly to India. UPS delivers your package to ScanCafe in California. From there they bundle your package, along with many other into a single air shipping container. All their orders are sent in a direct shipment by air to India and are delivered directly to their scan facility.

After you package is received in India, their technicians make a precise count of image in your order, update your final cost and then queue them up for scanning. Once your order gets its turn at the scanning workstation, your entire order is process by one technician, by hand. Most other services utilize automatic feeders for their scanners, quickening their scans and requireing little human intervention. ScanCafe has their technicians scan each negative individually on Nikon CoolScan 5000 ED and 9000 ED scanners and retouch utilizing both Digital ICE and hand retouching. A single technician handles your entire order, which maintains consistency especially with color. After your order is complete another technician does a quality review of your images. After the Quality check the scanned images are place online so you can check them out.

Here is where it gets cool. After your scans are online for review you get to select any images you want to discard. You can discard up to half your order, which in turn lowers your final cost. As you scan through the online gallery, some images will have technician notes, such as “bad media” or “good candidate for restoration”. When a scan comes out not so great, but could be saved with substantial effort, they recommend it for their restoration services, which I have not tried out. When an image is not salvageable, it is marked bad media. An obvious first step in your rejection process is to weed out all the bad media images.

Once you have deleted any images you want gone, simply pay you outstanding balance and shipping costs, ScanCafe sends your negatives back stateside and then ships your originals and media with scans to your door via UPS.

When I ordered, I sent off 2000+ 35mm negatives and ordered the external hard disk. At the time of order they estimated a 4-6 week scan time with a week shipping on either side. I was also warned that more than 1000 images can add an additional 2 weeks of scan time. So I sat back and accepted it would take almost three months for me to receive my final scans. After a week their online order tracking showed my package had arrived in India. I sat in the queue for almost a week and was getting my order scanned shortly thereafter. A little over three weeks after I dropped off the order at my local UPS Store, my scans were online and ready for review.

I sped through the review process, devoting a weekend to the process. As these were family snapshots full of memories, I only deleted the bad media images, knocking 70 images off my order and knocking about $20 off my order total. Even though the preview images are smallish, limited to about 500 pixels on the long side, they were plenty large enough to gauge the overall quality of the scans and I was quite impressed. I made my selections and payed my balance. Three days later ScanCsfe’s online tracking showed my package was en route back to the US. Delivered to my door four days after that.

In all my negatives were gone from me for a little over a month, almost a month and a half. Still that outperformed even ScanCafe’s estimates. Once the package arrive I plugged it in and view family photos I hadn’t seen in years. With bright vibrant, colors and sharp high quality scans. The final product was much better than what I was expecting.

Overall, I was very impressed with their cost vs. quality. For very little per scan you can have someone else handle the tedium of large volume scanning. You can easily do as well yourself, contrary to much of what their “Guide” to DIY scanning says, but when you need to get caught up quick, this service cannot be matched.

Scary to many is the shipping overseas of you negative. This is a personal dilemma, as you can save a lot of time and effort by taking this minute risk. ScanCafe is a great service if you need it. If you are caught up on your scanning however, stick to doing it yourself.

More about ScanCafe at their website.

Michael

Oh and I am giving away 3 copies of my Cold Storage Collection Vol 1 to 3 lucky individuals who sign up for the X-Equals+Digest between now and October 1st. If you haven’t done so already, click the X-Equals ad on the right sidebar!

Before I get into today’s divergence from the norm I would like to take a moment to remind you to sign up for the X-Equals+Digest. Twice a month Brandon along with myself compile a collection of great links, news, tip and tricks for your consumption. If you need more to convince you, each issue comes with a free preset. The first issue has already been sent out, but you can check it out at the X-Equals blog, but sign up for the digest soon, as I don’t think Brandon is going to keep posting this great resource to the general public!

And now back to your regular programming:

As this post goes live I am getting prepared for my weekend ritual. Every Saturday morning when I am not working I go out hunting for more film gear. Not that I really need more cameras or lenses, but I want them. Its an addiction. Since I am not by any means wealthy, I have to feed this impulse on a strict budget… $25 a week.  To successfully acquire more cameras, lenses, flashes and so forth I head out to yard sales, flea markets and even the occasional antique store. During the winter months I almost completely depend on antique stores, thrift shops and so forth. In the past 4 months I have spent less than $100 dollars and have acquired a treasure trove of new-to-me gear. If this sounds like fun to you I have some advice that you may find helpful.

Before you even start peering through the papers and scouring the internet for yard sales, before you get in your car to head off to the flea market, you should get together a few items to help you decide if and gear is worth buying. I have compiled a short list below of items I recommend to carry with you on treasure hunts.

• Small flashlight (the pen sized Mag-Lites work best)
• Unlined index cards
• 4 fresh AA alkaline batteries
• Microfiber cloth
• Small spray bottle of optical lens cleaner
• Magnifying glass or jewelers eye loupe
• Oddball camera batteries, if you wish to bring them along.

As far as finding the sales, flea markets and stores…that is all on you.  I can’t really give any advice on that topic, as my area of the US is plentiful with yard sales and antique stores.  But one you find a few to hit, you are ready to go hunting. Not every yard sale will have what you are looking for, I find about one sale with items of photographic interest out of every ten. Persistence is key, and enjoy the trip, yard sailing is a laid back way of wasting away an idle morning. Once you do find a good sale, it is time for action.

SLR Cameras

This is the big item you are out for. Working SLRs. Usually when you come upon a SLR, it will have a lens of some sort attached, usually a 50mm prime. The big things you need to check with a camera body are fairly obvious. Open the back of the camera and make sure everything inside looks good. Work the frame advance and make sure the mirror moves and the shutter operates.  Dry fire the camera a few times and eyeball the shutter speed; set the dial to it’s slowest shutter speed and estimate if the shutter seems to be accurate.  The good old “1 Mississippi” count works pretty good to estimate shutter speeds.  If the shutter is too far off the mark, pass on it… no sense wasting money if you are going to have to spend a lot more for a CLA (Clean, Lube  and Adjust).

Make sure the lens appears to focus properly, it you can not seem to aquire good focus then there may be an issue with either the lens or mirror, you might want to take the chance. I would most likely pass.

Another biggie is to check the lightseals on the film door. If your eyesight is not all that great, check it with a magnifying glass or jewelers loupe. Check the seals at the sides of the body sealing against the door and the thin seals found in the grooves at the top and bottom of the film compartment. If the foam has turned into a sticky mess, you are going to need to redo the light seals.  An easy job that anyone can do. Pre-made kits with cut pieces of foam are easily available on eBay for most any camera.

Also check the mirror pad, same material as lightseals, and if it gets sticky it can ruin your focusing screen. The mirror pad comes with most lightseal kits. In a pinch some thick sticky felt can replace worn mirror pad, but make sure the mirror slap is not too vicious.

Make sure the frame counter operates when you operate the frame advance and shutter with the film door closed.  If the camera has a light meter built in and it functions, great.  If not it may need a new batter or may be completely non-functional. Either way is fine, the camera will still work fine without the meter, you will just have to go Sunny 16 or get a light-meter.

If you are looking at an auto-focus body, hopefully the seller has the correct battery installed an it has enough juice left to test.  If not, weigh your options, is it worth the risk to drop the cash on a possibly non functional camera? If it is a good body and the shutter curtain looks to be in good condition, I would probably take the risk, but I would definitely haggle with the seller on the point you can test the camera, you may be able to get them to come down some on price. If you happen to have the correct odd-ball camera battery with you, you can always test yourself.  But it could be costly to keep a fully stocked selection of camera batteries.

If everything checks out and it looks to be a keeper, you are on to the purchasing process. Most likely the camera has a price already on it. If the price seems fair to you, by all means go for it, budget permitting. If you think it is a bit high, come in with a low-ball offer. Sometimes, the seller will bite, other times they will offer it to you at a price higher than your offering, but lower than their original price. If they won’t come down, and the price does not seem fair, simply walk away. Sometimes, when they realize that you won’t buy at their price, they will offer a lower price as you walk off. If you got it, enjoy your new toy.

Rangefinder Cameras

It is rare that you will come across a rangefinder at these venues and if you do, it is almost always a fixed lens model. That is not to say that you should pass though. Minolta’s Minoltinas are solid performers and other manufacturer’s fixed lens range finders can be great fun too.

To check these out, hit all the same issues as we covered in the SLR section. Of most importance to a rangefinder is that the actual rangefinder works. Check focus with the camera and be sure that the image aligns appropriately. If there is a skew in the focusing part of the rangefinder, it won’t perform right. Repair usually is not an option, as a CLA would cost to much and rangefinder mirror adjustment can be a bit too difficult to bother with. Remember that the shutter will be an integral leaf shutter in the lens on almost all these type of cameras, so open the back and look through the lens to check shutter accuracy.

If by some chance you come across a Voigtlander or Leica interchangeable lens body, I would buy it regardless of issue… but that is just me. The price of a quality CLA will be much lower than the cost of buying one of these bodies in good, used condition from a dealer. Check it out still, but if the lens has a sticky shutter or if there is some minor defect, get it. Even a misaligned rangefinder is worth fixing on one of these silent beauties.

Medium Format Cameras

An even more rare encounter is medium format gear. If you come across these, you are in luck, and if you can get them for a song, disregard damage and fix them up. Most TLRs are so simple in design, as long as the lens is working right you are most likely good to go. Remember the lower lens contains the shutter. Check focusing, make sure the ground glass or prism finder is in good shape. If it is a Mamiya model, check out the bellows for light leaks. Odds are if it doesn’t look to rough and the film crank, film door and shutter are all working, you probably have a good investment.

If you find a medium format SLR, you are lucky. If it appears to be in good condition, jump on it. Especially at a low price. I have never seen a MF SLR at a sale or store, but if I would, I would check basic function, light seals and overall physical condition.

Lenses

Every once in a while you may come across some lenses without a camera. These can often be bargains, as without a camera, their value to most buyers is drastically reduced. First you need to know what lens mounts are of use to you or what lens mounts you are looking to buy in to.  If you find a lens that may suit your needs, I have a few tests you can do to check it out.

First and foremost, grab your microfiber cloth and give the front and rear elements a good cleaning. Use your spray lens cleaner if needed. This will make it easier to carry out you other tests.

Obviously, if you have the appropriate camera with you, you can check out the lens much easier. Usually you will not, but all is not lost. First, take off any caps on the lens and check for mold, fungus and bad scratches. It will help to look through the lens with you flashlight. Shine and observe through both ends, and shine the light at an angle across the front element to look for scratches.

Check to make sure the focusing ring and aperture ring are functioning properly. Most lenses will allow you to observe the aperture whilst the lens is unmounted. Those lenses that do not often have a lever on the back of the unit to allow you to test the aperture. If it is a Canon EOS lens, you will gust have to deal with not checking the aperture.

Without a camera it is hard to check focus, but you can give it a good test run. Get your unlined index card out and hold it by the back element of the camera, you should see a ring of light from on the card.  Now you can move the card back and forth and turn the focusing ring until you get an image in focus.  If you can get a visible image projected on the card from 1 to 1-1/2 inches the focusing is most likely good.

Also check the filter threads anf the mount itself for damage. The thread may not be of any consequence to you, but if the lens mount is damaged it is a definite pass.  Check the lens body over for sings of any severe damage. If everything looks good, go for it. The rules of negotiation from the camera section still appy here, and you are more likely to get a good deal if they do not have a complimentary camera for the lens also for sale.

Flash Units

Frequently you will encounter on camera flash units. If you are interested in one, usually all you need to do is drop in some batteries, let it charge and see if the pilot or test button fires off the flash. If so, you are in business. If it is a modern auto-focus flash, you can’t check the functionality of that without a camera. However if it fires, it will still likely work fine as a manual flash.

Check the flash hot shoe foot to make sure that all the required terminals are there and not corroded badly. Make sure to check the side of the foot for the ground spring. If it is not there, it won’t fire. If it has adjustable power, step through its settings and see if there is a noticeable difference.

Usually you can walk away with a flash for a few bucks, so if it looks good and lights up, go for it. You are out $3 max.

Film

I buy film regularly at yard sales, but be prepared for unexpected results. You never quite know how it has been stored. If still in box, check the expiration date and make sure you are comfortable with its level of expiration. If so buy it, buy it all. Don’t pay more than 50 cents a roll though, why throw away money on unknown quality?

Miscellaneous Items

You will often encounter lens caps, filters, film cases, lens holders, camera bags, and a veritable litany of accessories. Again, without a camera as part of the set, this stuff is hard to sell. you should be able to get this gear cheap. Just use common sense here. Check filter threads and glass closely.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of how I check out camera gear when I encounter it for sale in the wild. I have added 20 bodies and 27 lenses to my collection since I started this horrible habit. I have spent a grand total of $175 in the past two years since I got into doing this. That’s a lot of gear for less than$200, and that is not even counting my countless accessories I have acquired in the process of making these purchases. In the past year alone I have acquired a Yashica FX-3, Minolta Minoltina ALs, Minolta X-700, Pentax K100, Pentax Spotmatic SE, Mamiya C330, Canon AE-1, and a Canon EOS 5. That’s just a sampling from my regularly used cameras. If you love film photography and its gear, you can really grow you photographic tool box on the cheap with some patience, luck and dedication. Have fun!