I dunno, this picture probably looks dark as hell to you guys - it's bad enough on mine - my scanner just loses the picture quality totally. My images seem so 'flat' and it screws up the levels in such a way that even Photoshop can't sort them - Auto Levels on this made it even darker!! Damn. Guess I need a film scanner, but that's way down the list of priorities. Oh, and after burning 4 films in the last week and paying developing costs, I'm gonna HAVE to get out of my digital way of thinking. And something wierd - some pics look totally in focus when I take them, but when they come out, they're not.... wierd....

oh but jordy, that's a wonderful shot of moving water. you might not like it but I think it's exceptional. and you might try what I do. when i get my film developed I tell them i just want the images on CD. no prints. then you dont have to deal with scanning the photo.

It does seem a bit dark to me but then I'm not sure if my monitor is calibrated right anymore either.

It mut be a tad more than dark because this moniter is set as being a little bit light and it dark on my monitor. So. However that's what photoshop is for you can lighten it. NO problem. Jordy your problem with clear pictures which chage when they are developed is typical for me. Can you sharpen the pic. Bsteph

It is a pretty picture of moving water. So, this was scanned from a photographic print? And the print looked OK? What scanner? What scanner software?

if yer thinking about the focus, my advice is to get a little magnifying thing for looking at contact sheets and whatnot. Put it against one of the photots. If you can see any grain, your pic isn't in focus because the dude developing them didn't have the enlarger focussed properly. Then again, if yer using 100 or less ASA film, it'll be pretty difficult to see the grain anyways... but still

Jordy I would stay away from the auto levels both my film and flatbed, scan dark and the first thing I do is tweak the levels but NOT with auto. Here is how I was told to do it and I must admit it works fine. Open levels move the slider from the right first up to where the graph starts to rise, sometimes this is almost half way along the graph Then do the one on the right again up to where it start to rise, then tweak the one in the middle till you get the dark /lightness how you want. Give it a go I think it will sort your problem. :O)

Cheers, guys. Well, firstly the scanner is a really cheap Mustek importing the image direct into Photoshop. I've played with the levels manually as well, and really can't get this one any better - it just looks faded and washed out or too dark, this seems to be the best balance. The focus isn't out on all of them - I'm gonna sift through them and see if there's some correlation.... you never know, it might be my eyesight fading in my old age..... Thanks for the comments about the pic, this was the best of about 5 I took on different settings. Ironically, the one taken on the fastest setting came out blurry, the longer exposures clear as a bell! dang. (",)

I just did a quick search in the newsgroups; pretty much everyone agrees that Mustek is a less than desireable choice. [I'd say what they REALLY post, but it 'prolly violate the TOS.] Maybe some of the third party scanning software (silversurfer?? something like that) would help. But that costs more than a new flatbed. I think you'd like a film scanner. Read some reviews before deciding on purchase. There are inexpensive ones out there but have to be careful; the HP photosmart ones are OK (maybe) for slides, but the rubber rollers dust-up negatives. Canon generally gets good reviews. 'Course then there is a price jump up to Nikon or Minolta. Sorry can't be more helpful.

aw, cheers, Misha - really appreciate the bother you've gone to there.... I'd love to get them dumped onto CD each time by the developers, but hell, that's like more expense... dunno, guess I'll keep my eyes open at computer fairs.....thanks again! (",)

where in the world are you getting your film processed then? I go to eckerds and they give me a 24 exposure roll all on CD for 9 bucks.

Attached Link: http://www.jessops.com/search/viewproduct.cfm?PRODUCT=ACES2720S&BRAND=ACE&CONTINUE=false&FEATS=&FIR

Jordy mate here is my film scanner it wasnt loads of dosh and it gives good results. I got it at a photo exhibition thing at the NEC Jessops where doing a deal on the price 220 I think. Hope the link works. :O)

Attached Link: http://www.bonusprint.com/

Jordy, You will not believe what I have found this is like to good to be true Bonusprint will put you pictures on cd for 1.99 a film, my god its fantastic.

wow, Snapsie, not a bad thing at all!! Wierd, Practical Photography reviewed film processors this month, and Bonusprint came out top of the mail order ones, yet I don't remember reading that about the CD price. Tch. From the way it reads you don't even need to get a set of prints - I've mailed them anyways and will post the reply. I'll be honest, even 200 knicker is over the top for me at the moment, even though it's a good price - I've had my eye on it in the Jessops catalogue. So many other things take my money! Cheers Bud! (",)

Glad to be of help mate I see in the used equip pages at Jessops, they have a few scanners for sale but no prices there might be a affordable deal for you there. :O)

the guys at jessops quoted me 9.99 for the first 15 and then 50p each to have negatives transfered to cd...forgot to ask at what resolution...doh!! so works out to 15.49 for a roll of 36....don't know if it will help....just for info

Thanks firestorm we are looking for the best UK deal for negs to cd.