In the last couple of days I've taken my first tentitive steps into the world of film scanning and it isn't as easy as I thought!

I bought myself a Plustek OpticFilm 7200, which is easy enough to use. And I have a Nikon F65 (28-80 lens). So I thought I was going to be able to get super-duper digital photos in an instant, but I mislead myself.

First of all, there is not many places who will develope the films to negatives only. They look at you as if you have two heads - you don't want prints you repeatively tell them! But in the end i founbd that my local pharmacy will develope the negatives for me at a fair enough cost (€2.99 per roll).

The next issue I ran into is that when they developed the films they didn't cut them up into bit sized pieces - no I had to do that myself. Then I had to lay them out flat as they were rolled back up into the film container once developed by the pharmacy. That was a job in itself.

The next issue is the dust and scratches! Is dust just sttrqacted to film? and what's the best way to keep you film dust free? I used a lens brush to take care of most of the particles but some always manage to get through.
And the scratches! Is it normal for newly developed film to have so many scratches?

Anyway these are just some of the issues I'm having. Does anyone have any tips and advice?

I have both 35mm and digital, and there is no doubt 35mm slide film (eg Fuji Velvia) has a better exposure latitude than any CCD as yet invented. But developing is a problem. I took several batches to Jessops in Yeovil when I was working down there. They sent them to a lab in Cornwall, and they basically ruined them. The problem is not dust and scratches, so much as contamination and carelessness.

However I can recommend a firm in Derby called Multiprint. They are excellent, and also do hi-res scans. Jessops scans (well, those from the lab in Cornwall) are a joke. 2MB JPEGS! I ask you. Any bigger than 6" x 4" prints, and all you get is fuzz.

I use a Konica Minolta Dual Scan IV at home. It does produce good results, but on high-res, you do get a bit of noise! Stray pixels are an unwelcome distraction, and I found Pixel Polish simply doesn't get rid of it. Nor does it eliminate fringing. But the colour saturation is far better than from Digital. I took some pics at Lulworth Cove, and the difference is quite amazing.