Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/15

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Subject: [Leica] Scanning and copying old polaroid photos
From: "Doug Richardson" <doug@meditor.demon.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:20:26 -0000

Realising that the colours on many old polaroid snapshots which I took
in the early 1980s are starting to fade, I've decided to copy the
images I want to keep.

My first choice was to scan them using my HP Photosmart scanner. In
most cases this has worked well, but is not so good at handling a
common fault I'm seeing on these old polaroids - the reds have faded,
giving much of the photo a blue tinge, while the whites have a yellow
cast.

Unfortunately, the HP scanner seems to exaggerate these faults, making
the yellow cast even yellower. If it try reducing the yellow level,
the blue is boosted, making the blue tinge even worse. Recalibrating
the scanner doesn't help.

Next I decided to use my Leicaflex to copy the images onto slide film.
I set up a table outdoors, fitted an elpro to my 50mm Summicron-R, put
the camera on a table tripod, and mounted the target photo vertically.
Alas, the glossy finish of the polaroid is a fine catcher of unwanted
reflections! Can anyone will experience of copying work suggest what I
can do to eliminate these reflections?

Regards,

Doug Richardson