Transferring old 35mm negatives to Photos on Mac 12.0.1?

[Mikeo512]

In the distant past I had a 35mm camera. To save on the cost of processing, I would first get a contact strip and then have printed only those that seem worthy. But there must be lots of unprocessed shots that I would now find interesting to see.

In the garage I have boxes containing the original rolls of 35mm negatives. Is possible to transfer these to Photos and view them as positives?

My scanner is a pretty basic one: HP Deskjet 3030.

Thanks in advance. - M

 

[MacInWin]

That scanner probably won't work. However there are scanners designed to do just what you want and the software that comes with them will convert the negatives to positives with the proper colors. Some can also do de-linting and de-speckling. I use a Plustek scanner, but there are others out there. I have no financial interest in Plustek, but here is their website to see what they offer. Amazon (and others) will have these and similar devices listed. Plustek USA: A world-class solution provider. Best film scanner, mobile scanner, Document Scanners for Medical, Law and Accounting.

 

[RadDave]

Hi Mikeo - agree w/ Jake, i.e. some dedicated add-on to a flat bed scanner or smaller version (less expensive) for slides/negatives only are your main choices. When I retired I had some money in my fringe account to spend freely, one item purchased was a Canon scanner w/ slide/negative top-lit adapter - around 2012, I started a 2-3 month project of looking at all of my 35 mm slides and negatives (mainly family and numerous trips), and scanned in the ones desired - had the dirt/artifact correction in the software plus ability to crop and color manipulate the images; after the project, gave to a local charity (we had a regular MF printer w/ a flat bed scanner).

Looking on Amazon USA, there are a bunch of these small units dedicated to this slide/negative purpose like the Kodak below and at a decent price. Unfortunately, the ratings can be quite variable - in fact, I had bought a cheaper brand on Amazon for this purpose (found some more slides after my project) and was displeased with the results; so if you go this route, look at the reviews carefully. Of course, if the number you may want to convert is 'smallish', then a commercial photo service might be considered (not sure what their prices might be?). Good luck and let us know your results. Dave
.

 

[badshoehabit]

Before any outlay on a scanner, have some favourites processed. I had a Canon set up in the 90s, loved the photos but when I recently came to sort the prints I threw most of them away because they didn't have the vibrancy of my digital photos.

 

[Mikeo512]

Thinking about this again, perhaps my best bet is a commercial transfer. Once my collection is done, I won't need the hardware any more.

 

[chscag]

Thinking about this again, perhaps my best bet is a commercial transfer. Once my collection is done, I won't need the hardware any more.

Go over the cost before you decide on that route. Commercial transfer can be expensive especially if your collection is quite large. You might find it less expensive to purchase the hardware and do your own processing. You can always sell the hardware later if it's no longer needed.

 

[MacInWin]

Before any outlay on a scanner, have some favourites processed. I had a Canon set up in the 90s, loved the photos but when I recently came to sort the prints I threw most of them away because they didn't have the vibrancy of my digital photos.

What I discovered was that scans of slides were very vibrant. Scans of negatives needed a bit of "tweaking" to get them vibrant, but it could be done. Once I had the settings for any particular film type, I processed them all with that setting, then moved to the next film type. I found a "cheat sheet" on the Internet somewhere that had the adjustments for just about every type of film--Kodak, Fuji, etc--and used that as the start point for each kind of film I had. Scanning prints was awful, all washed out and lacking detail, but starting with the negatives was much better.

 

[pm-r]

Thinking about this again, perhaps my best bet is a commercial transfer. Once my collection is done, I won't need the hardware any more.

I'm coming in a bit late here, but I was going to suggest to do some shopping to get some prices to have a shop do the scanning for you. Some places locally here have negative scanners that almost do the scanning automatically that reduces the labour cost substantially. You would need to do any photo enhancing yourself, unless of course that was included in their pricing, but for a large number of negatives the cost can become quite expensive, but otherwise one would have to be ready to spend a fair bit of one's time if one decided to do the scanning yourself.
Many that I know of that went that route got tired of doing so and it resulted with no scans of any of their remaining unscanned negatives as they just seemed to forget about the whole project and they ended up with very little.

If you go the DIY route, maybe start looking at such sites as these:

Google Search

or more specifically here as an example:

Best 35mm Film and Slide Scanner Reviews in 2025

Now there is a great way for people to be able to scan their old 35mm slide and film and create digital versions that will be as clear as possible.

www.scanplify.com

- Patrick
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[techiesteve]

If you already have a FF Nikon DSLR and 60mm macro lens, copying film with the Nikon ES2 adapter and shooting RAW produces amazing scans. I've been using one for a while now with B&W film strips from the 1960's to 1990's. One you've scanned all your film it can easily be resold again.

 

[Mikeo512]

Thanks for the many replies.
I'll venture into the garage and see how many negative rolls I have.
M

 

[CharlesPhillips]

The local library has a flat bed scanner plus the needed frame, and a light table. I have scanned a LOT of old negatives and slides and gotten good results. The good discovery was that a bunch of old photos could be color corrected, brightened, etc in Photos and an unusable photo was suddenly very good. Especially those backlit photos - I brightened up a number of photos of my pals skiing and the photos were excellent.

 

[horsham hector]

Have you looked at the Photomyne app? You can scan photos and negatives using your mobile or ipad camera. Photomyne: The Leading Family Nostalgia App Developer

 

[Mikeo512]

Thanks for that tip - matters still on hold till I check the negative rolls.
M

 

[Bill Gates Jr.]

I also have an older Plustek, used in my Windows days. Mainly used for 35mm slides. But I got lazy so took a few hundred slides and had Costco put them on a few DVDs. I can pick from the slides to transfer them to wherever.

Pete

 

[jpdemers]

The vast majority of people who use these scanners only need them for a limited time, just as you do. This means that eBay will be loaded with these devices. You can buy one used, scan your collection, and then (as techiesteve points out) re-sell the scanner for a very low net outlay of cash.

 

[Mikeo512]

Thanks ... that sounds like a good idea.
M

 

[jpdemers]

Thanks ... that sounds like a good idea.
M

I'm bidding on an Epson V600 right now. (Epson V550 is a near-identical alternative.) They go for $240-$280 in good used condition, and I expect it to sell for pretty much what I paid. Software for recent Mac OS (High Sierra through Monterey) is a free download (search out "Silverfast 8.8 SE"), and there are good YouTube videos showing how to scan negatives. Far superior to the $150 scanners that have mediocre lenses and generate mediocre images, despite the claimed "22 MP" resolution.