galbayfisher said:
thanks for all the input. Do the scanners come with software that will convert the negatives into a "positive" picture?
Not sure what software comes with what scanners, I image that changes on a regular basis.
You may already have such software. Most all photo editing software will covert a negative to positive and vice versa. It is called different things in different applications. I have several editing applications. The simpliest comes with MS Office. It is not installed by default. You have to customize installation to get it. It is called Microsoft Photo Editor. In it, you choose Effects and negative. If you make a negative of a negative you get a positive. Called the same with MS Picture It!.
In my Corel Photo-Paint you have to go to Image, Transform, Invert to do the same.
I am sure others may name the effect differently.
What ever scanner you may choose, use the highest resoluton that is not scanner software enhanced, to scan your negative film. (assuming you are using 35mm). As an example, my older HP scanner, scans at 1200 DPI, an optical limitation, but will also scan at 9600 DPI in enhanced mode. I never use it as I do not want the scanner software to perform any magic to get the 9600 dpi. I want an image the best the hardware can do. I will take care of any ehancement with photo editing applications if needed. Enhanced images in either case have an overall softness to them.
And of course make sure the scanner is options to scan slides or film strips. That means it has a back light capibility.