Creating Negatives from Prints?

Someone (for some reason) wants to re-create negatives from prints they have. Does anyone know of a reputable lab that might do this?

Nic

Pro labs used to make internegatives from slides for printing. Basically the same thing, but I can't suggest a lab...

-js

You could always take a picture of the print with a film camera....Other than that, I know of no labs that do it

One of the pro-labs I dealt with when I was shooting film used to offer this service and did it well..

I haven't heard of this service for years..

Any good photographer should be able to make a copy on film. But that's the best you're going to be able to get; a copy. AFAIK there's no going backwards from print to negative.

Bodog wrote in post #8552470
Any good photographer should be able to make a copy on film. But that's the best you're going to be able to get; a copy. AFAIK there's no going backwards from print to negative.

Why not? A negative has much higher resolution than a print, and any decent internegative would lose nothing from a print.

-js

number six wrote in post #8552660
Why not? A negative has much higher resolution than a print, and any decent internegative would lose nothing from a print.

-js

...contrast build up!

number six wrote in post #8552660
A negative has much higher resolution than a print

-js

Exactly...

number six wrote in post #8552660
Why not? A negative has much higher resolution than a print, and any decent internegative would lose nothing from a print.

-js

It's not as easy as it sounds.. Every time you make another generation you usually lose some quality.. One has to ensure the lighting is perfect,,flat and evenly lit.. Glare is a huge problem especially with glossy prints.. Getting the subject contrast to match the image contrast is very important too..As Wilt mentioned and increase in image contrast is a possibity.. Any faults in the print will be amplified when copying to negative..

The optics you use is also vital.. With most lenses there is resolution fall off from edge to edge, corner to corner.. They are not really designed to photograph two dimensional subjects.. There are specially designed lenses for photographing 2D subjetcs,,flat field lenses which are rare and expensive.. I found a prime macro best suited for copy work..

Coping works best if you shoot a fine grain B/W film.. I used to copy B/W using Ilford PanF 50 exposed at 40iso then pulled back during development.. But this doesn't help if you want to have a colour negative..

Back in the 70's it was 3 bucks per interneg, for each print, on 120 film B&W. My sister wanted several hundred done, I bought a copy stand and did it for her, got a nice copy stand out of it and she saved a TON of money for all the pictures I copied. There are labs out there that will do it but it WILL cost you. Have you tried a google search? Called local film labs? Wolf camera used to offer the service. One question though, why do they want a negative? Prints can be scanned then printed from the scan.

yogestee is right. There is not much point in trying to make a negative from a print. The print has already lost much of the original resolution, and there is no way to get it back with another reproductive process.

You can't get more resolution than the original object contains. A picture of a TV screen isn't going to reveal more resolution than the screen can produce. Same with prints.

Good point about the contrast. Hadn't thought about that.

As far as resolution, though, I think I have been misunderstood: the print is the limiting factor, not the negative.

But this is all "could you do it" stuff - why does this person want to get negs from prints, Nic?

-js

I wish I knew and understood better. Unfortunately, I'm getting the inquiry 2nd hand so I just do not know.