Converting film to digital?

Question

I've just been given a lovely little Olympus OM10 film slr camera. I'm normally a dslr user.
I would really like to have a go at using it for both black and white and colour photos but don't want hard copies of my photos, just digital versions that I can then enhance in Photoshop.
Are there any firms that develop film but who then give you the digital versions only, either by email or on a cd.
Many thanks for any answers

Answer 1

If you intend using it long term then it's probably worth buying a 35mm film scanner. You can pick up good ones second hand on Ebay for £100 ish.

Answer 2

You should go to a reputable lab with good scanners to get them scanned, however even a good scanner may get all the detail that the film contains. This company will do the C41 and transfer to CD for you http://www.photo-express.co.uk/digital.html for E6 and BW dev you'll have to go elsewhere.



I would still recommend that you keep the negs, as you never know when they'll come in handy. Particularly if you find an exceptionally good image and want it reproduced on an especially large scale.



Though really unless you are getting film drum scanned, I don't really see the point of outsourcing this, you get far more control if you scanned it yourself, and it is more cost effective. Remember that if you scan frames yourself you can control everything, and multisample which gives you a lot more information from each frame.

Answer 3

Developing is different from printing. Yes you can have the films developed only then scanned and saved to a CD. Just mention it specifically when you go to the film lab.

Answer 4

Any of the High Street film processors (Jessops, Snappy Snaps, Boots etc.) can supply your pictures in digital form on a CD. Obviously, they also give you your negatives. Normally, they would supply a set of prints though I'm sure you could ask them not to.

Answer 5

Most place will give you the option of having your photos scanned to CD. I choose not to get any prints at all and ONLY get the CD. It's cheaper (especially at Asda) and I can make my own prints if I want them.