How to View Photo Negatives with Your Smartphone (or Give It a Try)

Many people have taken advantage of these quarantine days to do a deeper cleanup than usual in their homes (not my case), and if there is something that usually ends up lost in a drawer gathering dust and/or humidity, it is a pack of processed negatives delivered diligently by the photo shop... only to be roundly ignored for years. The question is: Is it worth keeping those negatives? The first step is to confirm what's on them, and for that we can use apps like HELMUT Film Scanner, which “reveal” negatives using a smartphone camera. Needless to say, the second step is to moderate our expectations...

The Value of Old Negatives

Some negatives can be extremely valuable, whether because they hold the last images of a lost relative, visits to places that never occurred again (or that disappeared), proof of something you've argued about for years (for example, the epic story about the astronaut peeing on the Moon), or moments that beyond any analysis are beautiful. But classic image processing was reduced to a minimum with the extraordinary advance of digital photography, and the negative became... something uncomfortable.

Of course, technology responded with scanners specially optimized to process negatives (options range from 60 euros to more than 600), but the wide presence of mobile devices and their inevitable absorption of functions led to the development of apps that promise similar results. In other words, the idea is to use a smartphone or tablet camera under the right conditions to visualize, reproduce, and capture the images that those negatives hold. HELMUT Film Scanner is one of those apps.

Using HELMUT Film Scanner

Once installed on the device, the app doesn't offer much in terms of interface. In fact, it reminds us of other photography apps we've seen. A rectangle in the center of the screen indicates where to place the negative. Processing options are Color, Black and White, and Positive, while in the format menu there are half a dozen entries, but it's most likely you won't leave “35 mm”.

As expected, both HELMUT Film Scanner and other apps in the same line recommend the use of a “light box” for negatives, and the DIY world explodes with examples. Not having a light box, I improvised using my laptop with Notepad open, and the screen brightness at maximum. A piece of acrylic helped me keep the negative still, and the rest was taking the shot.

Trying It Myself

So, does it work? The answer is yes... but it needs a lot of help. First, your mobile device's camera must be more than decent, not only in megapixels but also in focusing capability. My tablet's camera is absolutely insufficient for the task, no matter the angle, distance, or available light.

Second, I do not recommend doing this handheld. While I wouldn't dare say the light box is mandatory, the truth is you'll need to conjure some kind of support so the negative, the light source, and the camera remain static.

And third, the reviews speak for themselves. HELMUT Film Scanner has been particularly punished, but it's not the only one caught in that storm. The average user's expectations are set far above what these apps can actually offer. In short, if you just want to view and identify the content of a negative, this will work. But if you want ultra-detailed high-definition copies, I suggest taking another path.

Download the app: Click here