Kodak Negatives, from 50's-60's / UPDATE

[TinkerKat]

Hi gang!
Can anyone recommend where to get these developed?

Thanks for all the great suggestions! The local Photographer wanted to "rip me off royally!" He made it this long drawn out "process" with no guarantees of picture quality, blah blah... $5.00 and up for working with such old negatives! Ouch!

Lucked out in AC Moore, showed negs to a very helpful gal who sent me to their framing dept. The Framer was a "former photographer" He gave me name and address of a place that does Wedding Proofs, albums etc. He told me there is a certain machine with a special plate the older negatives sit on. This was the place to go!
Woo Hoo! So helpful and I'm only paying $1.00 per print!

I get my prints in 10 days. Will update you all on how they came out.
Kathy

 

[JudithM]

Do you have a real photography/camera store near you? They might be able to offer some suggestions. I know our local camera store is very helpful.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

The question you want to ask is if they do their B&W processing as C41 or the old style. You want old style with NON computerized equipment. We have ONE shop locally that still does this but they are hard to find.

Deb

 

[Limmer]

If the film is already processed anywhere should be able to make copies of prints. If they are not processed but the canister says C-17 anywhere that does true B&W can do them and if it says C-41 anywhere can do them.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Oops! Misread that originally. Yes, if the negatives are already processesd you have greater options. However, I'd still talk to someone. I took some older (late 50's) negatives to my LSS that does gorgeous work for me but uses computerized equipment. I was told that yes, they certainly could print it but it would probably come out with a bit of a yellowish cast to it. If I want that true B&W clarity then to take it to the one shop in our area that still has a dark room. And that is what I did.

Deb

 

[JudithM]

Thinking of a darkroom makes me think of another option ... Kathy, you might look for a camera/photography club in your area. I bet there is more than one member who hasa darkroom set up in their home. I belong to our local club & I know a handful of memebers still shoot only film & develop their own film. Just a thought ...

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Or check with your local high school. Most high school photog classes shoot "real B&W" and do their own developing & printing. For a small donation perhaps...

Deb

 

[Honeybehr1]

My Mom did a photo album for all her kids after my Dad passed. She looked in the phone book for photograph developing specializing in restoration. She explained what she wanted and what type of photographs she had (slide, negatives, old polaroids, and photographs from the 40's and 50's. She did about 250 pictures in all and they did a fantastic job. That was a big job for them and she dropped them off in 3 batches.

 

[TinkerKat]

Girls thanks for all the options. Kathy, do you mind if I ask, how much did your mom end up spending?
I don't have slids, just negatives.

Thanks! Kathy

 

[Honeybehr1]

Girls thanks for all the options. Kathy, do you mind if I ask, how much did your mom end up spending?
I don't have slids, just negatives.

Thanks! Kathy

I want to say it was like 35-40 cents a print. But they gave her a bulk discount. But some of them had to be restored so those were more.

 

[TN Traveler]

Kathy,
This is going to be hard to believe but I promise it's the God's honest truth.
My Grandmother died in 1968, her sister was an old spinster woman and kept EVERYTHING. She died sometime in the early 90s altho I can't remember exactly when---92? 93? somethng like that. Anyway, when my Daddy, his brother and sister cleaned out her house they found a stack of negatives in a trunk. No one in the family cares about pictures or family history besides Daddy and I so he got the negatives. He gave them to me and said "Do whatever w/them." I could tell the pictures on them were very old but not sure HOW old. I took them to our local Wal-Mart, asked if they could print from the negatives. They said yes and printed them out for me at 20 or 30 cents each I THINK. They are AWESOME. They are pictures of my great- grandparents from the 1920s and 30s!! My great grandfather raised horses and had several as well as old mules to plow with. There are 2 or 3 pictures of him w/his favorite mule as well as pictures of my grandmother, her sisters and brothers when they where children. There's also a picture of my GGF standing next to a 1920 (I think Model T) or so says my DH. One of the pictures I really treasure b/c it's a picture of the old Plantation farm house where my GGF lived before the Civil War and the old school house where my grandmother and her sisters went to school between 1910-1920s. Both buildings were lost to two seperate fires in the 30s. There are probably 40-50 pictures made from these negatives. Altho not all of them are picture perfect clear, the majority of them are and they're AWESOME. SOMEDAY I plan to do a Heritage album using these pictures.

Check and see what you're local WM says. If you'd feel more comfortable go to Wolf Camera or another well known camera shop.

GOOD LUCK and let us know how they turn out.

Karen aka TN Traveler

 

[Honeybehr1]

Kathy,
This is going to be hard to believe but I promise it's the God's honest truth.
My Grandmother died in 1968, her sister was an old spinster woman and kept EVERYTHING. She died sometime in the early 90s altho I can't remember exactly when---92? 93? somethng like that. Anyway, when my Daddy, his brother and sister cleaned out her house they found a stack of negatives in a trunk. No one in the family cares about pictures or family history besides Daddy and I so he got the negatives. He gave them to me and said "Do whatever w/them." I could tell the pictures on them were very old but not sure HOW old. I took them to our local Wal-Mart, asked if they could print from the negatives. They said yes and printed them out for me at 20 or 30 cents each I THINK. They are AWESOME. They are pictures of my great- grandparents from the 1920s and 30s!! My great grandfather raised horses and had several as well as old mules to plow with. There are 2 or 3 pictures of him w/his favorite mule as well as pictures of my grandmother, her sisters and brothers when they where children. There's also a picture of my GGF standing next to a 1920 (I think Model T) or so says my DH. One of the pictures I really treasure b/c it's a picture of the old Plantation farm house where my GGF lived before the Civil War and the old school house where my grandmother and her sisters went to school between 1910-1920s. Both buildings were lost to two seperate fires in the 30s. There are probably 40-50 pictures made from these negatives. Altho not all of them are picture perfect clear, the majority of them are and they're AWESOME. SOMEDAY I plan to do a Heritage album using these pictures.

Check and see what you're local WM says. If you'd feel more comfortable go to Wolf Camera or another well known camera shop.

GOOD LUCK and let us know how they turn out.

Karen aka TN Traveler

I wouldnt trust Walmart with any treasured photographs. Plus the quality at my local Walmart isnt as good as other places. I brought 300 digital pictures there and the quality was less superior than at Walgreens or CVS. Might have to pay a little bit more but the quality is better. Plus the shop my mom brought them too lightened the dark ones and adjusted alot of the color and really took their time with them and treated my mom as a person and not another customer. Plus our local Walmart told us they wouldnt do it. This was 7 yrs ago.

 

[TN Traveler]

Yes, I too was very surprised at the quality of the pictures we got back from developing at WM. At the time (more than 10 yrs ago) the local CVS didn't develop pix in the store and I wasn't about to send them off. We didn't have a Wal-greens or an Eckerd's so other than taking them to a specialist in Nashville, I really didn't have a choice. Thankfully we have a really good Wal-Mart here and since the store mgr is married to one of my best friends, I have someone I can yell at if need to!!

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Karen

 

[Spinning]

How neat! Don't they also make a photo printer that excepts slides or is a scanner? You might want to take that route. If you have a ton of pictures and would like to get a closer look at the actual picture. Then you could upload them to a site and the neg. never leave your house. Just a thought.

 

[TinkerKat]

Posted an update above.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Glad you found the place to go. Getting the "older" non-computerized work done does tend to be a little more expensive but then again, it is worth it for those old memories.

Deb