I have dealt with the same problem with old film and am sorry to say I
have not found a good solution. In my case I have some 120 rolls from
the 30's - 40's that have just been stored rolled up. I have tried
sleeving and placing the film under modest weight (a book) on a light
table that gets a little warm when on. This works with most fresh negs,
even those of the old-style emulsions that tend to curl, but I have not
had good luck with older negs. I never tried re-spooling and soaking.
I'd definitely test that on a sample first to see how the old emulsion
responded to being soaked.
I just got some cotton gloves so I could touch the film without worrying
about fingerprints and wrestled it into the carrier. I was using a glass
carrier (LS-8000 scanner) and that did make it a lot easier.
Good luck -
Mark
On 5/31/2013 1:27 PM, Stan Halpin wrote:
Remember film?
Short story: I am trying to scan some old negatives (color and B&W). "Old" as in
some of the B&W go back to the early 1940's. Mostly cut into strips of 4 or 6 frames. Some
are badly cupped and/or curled to the point that I cannot make them stay within the film holder
on the flatbed scanner (Epson V600). Any suggestions for practical means of flattening these?
There is a large number of negatives involved, most of them probably have nothing of merit worth
scanning/preserving, but I can't tell until I scan/preview.
Longer story: My father-in-law was a prolific photographer. He has multiple notebooks of
neatly filed an labeled contact sheets & negatives (35mm, 645, 6x6, some 3x4",
some 4x5). Those are in fairly good condition and easy to deal with; most will go
directly to the local Center for the Arts (MCFTA) or Historical Society. (For 20+ years
he was the primary photographer for the MCFTA, everything from portraits of board
members to publicity shots for advertising posters for upcoming concerts and plays,
etc.) But there are a few shoe boxes with items less well preserved. The negatives are
mostly cut with one roll together in a sleeve, mostly annotated with the date taken and
the date he made prints from the negs. Some of those are usable, particularly the
medium-format (scannable), some are badly cupped, and some have somehow gotten into a
lengthwise spiral.
So do I soak and hang out to dry, with appropriate weights attached? Any
better, easier, alternative?
stan
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