Art and Photography

Viewing Film?

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  • May 25th, 2010 3:27 pm
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Sr. Member
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Aug 18, 2007
964 posts
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Viewing Film?

I have some rolls of C-41 that I found laying around my house, and I have no idea what's on them. As the stuff is expired and was likely used in disposable cameras, I'd like to know if there is any way to see what's on the film, so that I can decide if I want prints or not. I'm not interested in building a whole film lab, I'd just like to complete whatever steps are required to be able to 'see' the negatives in normal light without exposing them.
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Sr. Member
Oct 29, 2005
972 posts
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If you have access to a scanner with the ability to scan film, that'd be a viable option. Either that, or you can get the lab to scan it for you ($10-15/roll).
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Dec 14, 2003
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Seiphas wrote: I have some rolls of C-41 that I found laying around my house, and I have no idea what's on them. As the stuff is expired and was likely used in disposable cameras, I'd like to know if there is any way to see what's on the film, so that I can decide if I want prints or not. I'm not interested in building a whole film lab, I'd just like to complete whatever steps are required to be able to 'see' the negatives in normal light without exposing them.
At today's prices, you might as well just drop them off and get them done for... what... $5 for roll of 24? Some labs will develop just the negs but the price is so close it's not worth the trouble.

EDIT: Note that you said "rolls" so I'm assuming undeveloped.
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Aug 18, 2007
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I can't use a scanner because the negatives are undeveloped. The light from the scanner would therefore ruin the negatives as they were scanned.

I don't want to take these to a lab, because there are a ton of rolls, and I have absolutely no idea what's on them. If I could see that the rolls contained worthwhile photos, then I would get them developed. However, I don't know what they were used for, so I don't want to spend $50 or so to develop them if it's going to be a waste of money.

I know I could probably get a red light and open them in a dark room, but I figure there has to be some method of just preventing the negatives from being exposed, so I can hold them up to the light to see what they contain.
Deal Addict
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Dec 14, 2003
2041 posts
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Seiphas wrote: I can't use a scanner because the negatives are undeveloped. The light from the scanner would therefore ruin the negatives as they were scanned.

I don't want to take these to a lab, because there are a ton of rolls, and I have absolutely no idea what's on them. If I could see that the rolls contained worthwhile photos, then I would get them developed. However, I don't know what they were used for, so I don't want to spend $50 or so to develop them if it's going to be a waste of money.

I know I could probably get a red light and open them in a dark room, but I figure there has to be some method of just preventing the negatives from being exposed, so I can hold them up to the light to see what they contain.
There's no other way unless you can do C-41 process at home. Using a red light would yield nothing as the emulsion is undeveloped and all you'd see is an opaque film.

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