Last year I bought a 35mm scanner at a garage sale for $5. I eventually want to scan my Dad’s 35mm film collection which dates back to the 1930s. He has some interesting negatives of world war II. Much of this my mother threw out after Dad died, but Larry has saved some of it.

I found some pictures that Larry had given me to test this and I scanned them. The scanner does a pretty good job, but I find that the images are a little faded, possibly because there is some light getting into the system. They negatives are also a little dusty and that shows up on the pictures. I will have to get some antistatic cleaning paper when I do the important stuff.

Capturing was easy, except for putting the strips in the holder. I put in a couple of strips in backwards (simple fix with mirror function in software) and it took 2 or 3 times to get them lined up right. The plastic cartridge is flimsy and hard to work with. The negatives were curled and it was difficult to get them in and lined up.

I wish there was a similar scanner to do the 120 film that Erica and I used for 30 years. I also have some old negatives from Brownie cameras that I would like to scan. I used to buy the black and white film and develop it in the cellar and make my own prints. This scanner only works for 35mm negatives and slides.

Larry’s pictures are an odd mix of stuff. I recognize Little Charlie and the Night Cats. This pictures were developed in September of 2000. There is a picture of one of kids that used to stop by (now in prison) and the obligatory strange guitar and 60s Chevy.

There is a picture of me at Walden Pond when Larry and I stopped there on the way to Cape Cod. I talked him into making the pilgrimage to Thoreau’s cabin on the pond, but the pond is now a state park with artificial sand beaches and it was very crowded. The reproduction of the cabin was not on the original site and it looked too well made to have been built from used lumber. Read the book, but avoid the historic site.