Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
11-08-2009, 11:36 PM   #1
Forum Member
hahifuheho's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
Posts: 71
Scanning negatives.

Good night to everyone.

Lately I have been experimenting with film, trying differents settings and film types (color negatives, slide film, black and white) in order to find the combinations I like most. From time to time I get some nice shots (at least from my point of view) that I would like to use with the computer.

There is, however, one big problem. Whenever I request scans from the clerks I always get very low quality jpegs (aprox. 150~200 kB per file), even if I tell them to use the maximum resolution, no matter how big the file turns out. They have a Fujifilm Frontier minilab and I do not know if they just do not know how to operate it properly, or is it that the machine cannot do better.

I've seen really good scans here, either from color or black and white negatives and slide film and I would like to get my film scanned like those.

The question is: Do you have your film scanned at the lab? Or, did you have to get your own (an expensive one, I guess) film scanner?

Thank you.


Last edited by hahifuheho; 11-08-2009 at 11:37 PM. Reason: Spelling.
11-09-2009, 12:05 AM   #2
Senior Member
flockofbirds's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Oregon, USA
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 178
Yeah I am interested in this as well. The CD I received from wallgreens had 1500px images that were horribly sharpened and just low quality looking. I was thinking of buying a scanner to scan the negatives myself.
11-09-2009, 12:06 AM   #3
Veteran Member
figmental1978's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 789
I use a canoscan 8600F which can scan 35mm, 110mm and 120mm film. It was a few hundred dollars a few years ago and does the job for me.
11-09-2009, 12:09 AM   #4
Forum Member
hahifuheho's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
Posts: 71
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by flockofbirds Quote
Yeah I am interested in this as well. The CD I received from wallgreens had 1500px images that were horribly sharpened and just low quality looking. I was thinking of buying a scanner to scan the negatives myself.
Absolutely! Even grainier than the prints themselves!

11-09-2009, 12:43 AM   #5
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
There have been a number of scanner threads where various models have been discussed. Unfortunately, some of the better options (Minolta dimage models) are no longer being made.

In a nutshell, here are the options within a mortal's budget:
  • Higher end flatbed scanner with negative carrier
  • Mid-level consumer dedicated film scanner
  • High-level consumer dedicated film scanner (read this as N*I*K*O*N)

The quality point starts at about $250-$300 USD and goes up to over $2000 USD for new dedicated film scanners. The better film capable flatbed scanners (e.g. Epson V700) are in the $500 USD range, though I believe that several users on this forum are using the much less expensive Epson V500 or Canon 8800 at less than $200 USD with good success. Forget the cheaper dedicated film and flatbed scanners. You will get better results from the minilab.

As for myself, I bit the bullet and got the Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED. Fast operation and great quality. I think it will take me about 20 years to amortize the cost...

Steve
11-09-2009, 03:20 AM   #6
Veteran Member
artobest's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Swansea, Wales
Posts: 455
Second-hand film scanners might be a good bet, since many people scan their old films after moving on to digital, then sell the scanner. I'd recommend the Konica-Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV for its no-frills high quality and excellent software. There's no digitalICE function (automatic IR removal of dust and scratches) but that takes forever anyway and adds softness to the scans. I prefer to use the healing brush in PS.

I also have an Epson V750 Pro, which gives good results if you add on a hefty whack of capture sharpening, and has the advantage of being a fine medium-format and reflective scanner as well.

Colour correction is nearly always required with film scans, and negatives are hard to do, full stop. Black and white especially should be scanned as colour positive to get the full tonal range.
11-09-2009, 08:34 AM   #7
New Member
Labuzan's Avatar

Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: LE PECQ (Close to Paris France)
Posts: 17
I own HP G4050 for négatives (~250$ or 200€)
It's not the quicker, but you can scan 30 negatives exposures in 1 pass.
Autodetect frame (really at 80%, according to the lighting of the picture)
One picture is done in 1mn 15s at 1200 dpi
Very good JPG quality.

11-09-2009, 08:48 AM   #8
Veteran Member




Join Date: May 2009
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 2,867
We just picked up an epson v300 for scanning a bunch of old family slides - it will do negatives as well. It works very well, I am honestly surprised at the resolution they are able to pull from the small slides. It seems to me the higher models offer alittle faster processing (the model we got has a 4 slide holder, while the v700 looks like it can run 12 or more at a time). I am sure there are additional benefits to the more expensive model, but $100 vs $500 is alot of money. Perhaps the v300 is worth a try - amazon has a liberal return policy and it falls under their free shipping.
11-09-2009, 09:06 AM   #9
Pentaxian
Oldschool's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Central NJ
Posts: 1,278
I just ordered the Epson v300 as well. It should arrive today and I'll post some results this week.
11-09-2009, 09:30 AM   #10
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Posts: 243
FYI ICE 4 (the Nikon version) and probably ICE 3 (as in the final Minolta 5400II) do NOT soften files..that's an urban legend having to do with earliest Ice, ten years ago. I've tested this exhaustively with Nikonscan/Ice4, Vuescan Infared, and Minolta Scan using 5400II/Ice3 (Minolta never offered Ice4)...

They're ALL sharper than any enlarging lens with condenser enlarger when Ice is on at light or moderate levels...

When Ice is on at heavy level some images may soften (not as much as from a color enlarger's diffusion or from a medium quality lens such as Componar/Comparon/Beslar), but the lightest ICE setting handles all ordinary dust and light scratches without a hiccup, and so does the medium setting.

Note that a Nikon 5000 with Epson printer is cheaper than a good enlarger with minimal darkroom equipment and the prints now readily equal silver prints, are even better in terms of sharpness.
11-09-2009, 10:01 AM   #11
Junior Member




Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Oxford
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 28
I haven't looked into this for several years, but I seem to remember that you couldn't use ICE for black and white negatives. Is this still the case?
11-09-2009, 10:26 AM   #12
Veteran Member




Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Oregon
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 5,079
QuoteOriginally posted by hahifuheho Quote
Good night to everyone.

Lately I have been experimenting with film, trying differents settings and film types (color negatives, slide film, black and white) in order to find the combinations I like most. From time to time I get some nice shots (at least from my point of view) that I would like to use with the computer.
I, like you have just gotten into film and have been trying out various types of film.
I ran into the same dilemma as you about getting scans, although I was getting good scans from the lab I was using it was getting too cost prohibitive. Most places I checked would develop and scan a roll of 35mm film for about $8-$10 without prints. The lab I get my film developed at will develop only for about $3.

So for $150 I bought myself a Epson V500. So far I have scanned about 6 rolls of 35mm and 2 6x7 frames. Scanning a 35mm neg at 2400 dpi gives me a 6 megapixel image. Scanning a 6x7 neg @ 2400 dpi give me a 32 megapixel file.(fwiw, if I want a hi-res 6x7 scan from the local lab they charge about $5-$8 a frame.)

While I am certain I could get better scans from a pro lab, the v500 does a great job for most of my shots. After 20+ rolls of film it will have paid for itself and if there are specific photos that I would like better scans I can send it out to a lab to get scanned.

Swift1
11-09-2009, 10:37 AM   #13
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
QuoteOriginally posted by janosh Quote

...Note that a Nikon 5000 with Epson printer is cheaper than a good enlarger with minimal darkroom equipment and the prints now readily equal silver prints, are even better in terms of sharpness.
This is something I am going to have to try out. I have the Nikon 5000 and also have a LPL 670 with dichroic (diffusion) head and Componon-S. I don't have an Epson printer, but I think my Canon might be adequate. My past impression has been that the scanned images pale when compared to my better old enlargements on Kodak Elite, but it might be fun to do some direct comparisons using recent images. I took delivery of 100' of Rollei Retro 100 a few days ago and it might be fun to do a shoot-out (print-out?) of sorts. The lack of a condenser on the enlarger might give a slight edge to the scanner, but you work with what you have.

The only problem would be sharing the results here!

Steve
11-09-2009, 10:54 AM   #14
Otis Memorial Pentaxian
stevebrot's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver (USA)
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 42,007
QuoteOriginally posted by pa79 Quote
I haven't looked into this for several years, but I seem to remember that you couldn't use ICE for black and white negatives. Is this still the case?
Yes...unfortunately...

The options for dealing with dust/scratches on B&W negatives are:
  • Wet mounting
  • Auxiliary diffusion plate (e.g. Scanhancer)
  • Hand spotting in PP
  • Any combination of the above

It almost makes traditional B&W printing look easy...

Steve
11-09-2009, 01:07 PM   #15
Pentaxian




Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Pugetopolis
Posts: 10,990
QuoteOriginally posted by janosh Quote
Note that a Nikon 5000 with Epson printer is cheaper than a good enlarger with minimal darkroom equipment and the prints now readily equal silver prints, are even better in terms of sharpness.
That is one expensive enlarger you're talking about. And it would do more than 135 film.

The last exhibition I attended was dominated by digital prints. And the photographer's work that stood out from the pack in terms of look and feel were the real BW exhibition quality, fiberbase prints. They didn't have that ink sprayed on glossy look and with paper tones that seemed part of the image rather than a color cast in the image. But all were nice.

And a funny thing for me, since I'm old-school, was people selling digital BW. For that price, I thought, I want the real thing not some imitation, color converted gray scale of a printed image who knows how long it will last.

Last edited by tuco; 11-09-2009 at 01:23 PM.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
color, file, film, negatives, photography, photoshop, scans, slide, time
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Scanning photos and negatives Capslock118 Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom 22 12-27-2010 01:20 AM
How to clean negatives for scanning? ismaelg Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom 39 09-14-2010 11:35 AM
Seeking advice on scanning negatives ismaelg Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 10 06-05-2009 12:47 AM
Best Parameters for Scanning Negatives? lawsonstone Film SLRs and Compact Film Cameras 5 05-06-2009 06:22 PM
Questions about Scanning Negatives lawsonstone Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 2 04-27-2009 07:24 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 07:53 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top