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If you insist on using film, this DIY reflector might help you get your photos into your computer. Photo Andrew Lewis
If you have a bunch of old negatives that you’d like to get into your iPhoto or Picasa so you can process them and actually look at them once in a while. then you might want to try Andrew Lewis’ cheap-o DIY project that will help your flatbed scanner get better scans of your negs. It’s pretty simple — a triangular box made from silver cardboard which will reflect light to illuminate the film from behind.
If you still shoot film — using a Lomo, perhaps — then easiest path to digitization is to have the lab give you a CD of TIFFs or JPEGs along with the processed prints. For everything else, this virtually free hack might help.
Download Andrew’s PDF template and print it on the reverse side of a sheet of silvered card. cut, score, fold and glue it into a prism-shaped reflective chamber. Andrew says that it lets you scanner light the slide or negative from the rear, giving a proper, contrasty scan.
You’ll want to place the box perpendicular to the travel of the scanning head. This will let its white light enter into the chamber from the side. Placing it longwise will only let light enter through the neg itself, which kind of defeats the object of the lightbox.
This DIY project looks easy, fun and effective. It also highlights one of the main reasons I’ll never bother with film again: its just a pain in the ass to deal with.
How-To: Turn Slides and Negatives Into Digital Photos [Craft via Photojojo]
See Also:

Canon Film Scanner Accentuates Positive, Eliminates Negative …
Short Shot on Flatbed Scanner Screens at Disposable Film Fest …
Scan Old Negatives with a DSLR and Toilet-Paper Tubes

Via: Gadget Lab