There are two main scanners - a large flatbed Epson scanner that can be backlight for negatives and a dedicated Hassleblad scanner.
Epson
The epson scanner can scan large amounts at a time, in this case the negatives laid out in order to produce a contact sheet. For the most part it functions as a normal scanner in the way that it previews and then i desired area can be cropped and saved. However certain settings must be set for film scanning. Firstly the white card backing must be removed from the lid in order to reveal the backlight area and the document type must be changed to 'photographic negative'. This way the scanner will shine light through from both sides, like a normal exposure, in order to save a positive image. In this case the scanner must also be set to black and white (greyscale).
However this may also be used to scan individual frames if the respective film holders are used, these allow the scanner to recognise them in designated places and save each frame individually but it should be noted that for individual frames the Hassleblad scanner is far superior.
Finally it should be noted that the levels, midtones and highlights may need adjusting after a preview in order to get the desired result. Shown below with the first scan and then rectified by the second.
Hassleblad
This is the highest quality scanner in the college, it can scan 35mm negatives to a quality that can be printed A1 before showing a loss of quality. It's initial functions and set up are not dissimilar from the Epson however it has dedicated negative holders for different film formats and scans less at a time, for instance it can scan only 4 35mm negatives at a time. The file size, type and colour must be selected as before and levels may be adjusted where necessary. Again for quickness I only scanned the files at 900dpi, this is respectable but only a tenth of the scanners maximum quality.
The three images below have been chosen to represent the film in different lighting conditions, both indoor and outdoor and with different subject matter. As you can see on these larger pictures the negatives are quite heavily scratched and/or have finger prints on them, this is due to neglect and inappropriate handling of them. Other imperfections can also be seen such as chemical burn on the picture of Andy at the bottom. This is most likely due to developer getting trapped during development due to a lack of efficient agitation. Alternatively it could be a light leak but I feel this is unlikely due to the fact that it is not present on any other frames.
Evaluation
This part of the process relies on me either timing my visit to the print room in drop-in times or booking an allocated space to use the negative scanner and avoid disappointment. I have learnt that the quality of the negative scanners far surpasses anything else that I have access to and that it is worth using them to their full potential while I can. James also made a point that if you scan your negatives properly first time round, you won't have to scan them ever again and so it is worth spending the time to do things properly.
