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06-14-2021, 05:22 PM - 4 Likes   #1
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Scanning Workflow with Pentax KP

I decided to try some negative scanning with the Pentax KP, Tamron 90 macro, Sirui T-1004SK T-S Tripod with C-10S Ball Head, a light pad and negative trays. I had the film developed by Process One just getting the negatives.

The light pad I used was the tiktecklab A4 Size Ultra-Thin Portable Tracer White LED Artcraft Tracing Pad Light Box from Amazon (I paid $16.20 last week it is now $21.10). I had bought a cheaper light pad the week before but it had a built in grid, not mentioned in the description, so I sent it back and got this one, no grid and even brighter.

Negative Trays Set of 3 - Fits most zonoz, Wolverine Data, Jumbl, Magnasonic, Digitnow, SainSonic & ClearClick 35mm Slide & Negative Scanners also from Amazon ($19.99)

I set up the tripod on the kitchen counter at the lowest setting (with all legs collapsed) which was too low, put the legs up to the next angle which was too high. So the light pad was set on top of a couple of books and 2 pieces of 1/4 lattice to get to the right level.

The negative trays were perfect for the job.

I set the camera to Raw+, aperture to 2.8, set digital filter to invert color. Of course I used live view with focus peaking and also magnification, and I focused on the film grain. I had read in one of the threads here to focus on the film grain so that's what I tried, on a side note I first focused without the magnification and the focus peaking was pretty spot on. The negative trays held the film well enough I really did not need to focus but once per tray, but I checked each image anyway. I just slid the negative trays across the light pad, which is a glass surface with no frame. I lined the negatives up with two sides to the edge of the KP's screen, so I only needed to crop on two sides, it was a very small amount needing cropped. The Invert Color worked well for that also, because I saw white borders on the KP screen. I don't now how accurate a digital filter is for color reversal, but it may be pretty close, and is definitely fine for black and white. Maybe that is the purpose of the digital filter?

After loading the images to the computer I opened the jpgs in Adobe Bridge and did some processing, mostly the white balance needed warming, and they all needed some dehazing. Of course I don't really know if that is due to the taking of the photos or the scan job. I should probably get prints of a couple of the negatives to check it. This was a pretty quick process and I was not too meticulous, I did not blow dust off of the negatives or anything like that. I also did this during daylight with full ambient lighting around. Of course this is far from a professional scanning job, but the last group I had scanned were really not any better. This of course is a trial, which I'm pleased with.

A couple of phone pics of the setup, and a couple of the "scanned" photos.

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06-14-2021, 07:18 PM   #2
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Did you try pixel shift?
06-14-2021, 08:27 PM   #3
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Why aperture to 2.8. First of all it is not where lens is sharpest, second DOF is narrow. Given the curvature of the film anything around 8 is better (I think).

Last edited by jumbleview; 06-14-2021 at 10:20 PM.
06-14-2021, 10:15 PM   #4
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Looks like you are on the right track, the B&W looks pretty good,
I would mask off the rest of the light box too,
piece of mat board or something.
even with a hood that's going to flare

06-15-2021, 03:30 AM - 1 Like   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by jumbleview Quote
Why aperture to 2.8. First of all it is not where lens is sharpest, second DOF is narrow. Given the curvature of the film anything around 8 is better (I think).
f8 is better definitely, but there is some problem - the film lies on the LCD screen. With f8 LEDs behind the film could be visualized.
IMO it is better to lift the film about 1-2 cm above the screen.
And.... I am not sure what spectral response this screen has. But knowing the RGB LED spectra it could be not continuos but discrete. Not good for color reproduction scanning the film
06-15-2021, 03:55 PM   #6
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Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by UncleVanya Quote
Did you try pixel shift?
I never even thought of that, maybe for the next attempt.

QuoteOriginally posted by jumbleview Quote
Why aperture to 2.8. First of all it is not where lens is sharpest, second DOF is narrow. Given the curvature of the film anything around 8 is better (I think).
Because I read somewhere to shoot wide open because you are shooting a flat image DOF is not important, but, you are correct, even though the film is pressed between two side of the tray, there could still be some slight curve involved.

QuoteOriginally posted by K-Three Quote
Looks like you are on the right track, the B&W looks pretty good,
I would mask off the rest of the light box too,
piece of mat board or something.
even with a hood that's going to flare
For this trial I did not bother with anything, I have even thought about something like black construction paper taped around the hood, which would not take much.

QuoteOriginally posted by Medex Quote
f8 is better definitely, but there is some problem - the film lies on the LCD screen. With f8 LEDs behind the film could be visualized.
IMO it is better to lift the film about 1-2 cm above the screen.
And.... I am not sure what spectral response this screen has. But knowing the RGB LED spectra it could be not continuos but discrete. Not good for color reproduction scanning the film
The film actually is 2.5 mm above the light, half the thickness of the negative trays, it would be pretty simple to lift it up. As far as the color goes, this is far from perfect and is an experiment of an inexpensive method to scan negatives, more for fun. Besides, I don't know the accuracy of the Invert Color Filter either.


Thanks for all of the responses, I'll try the suggestions out the next time I set it up.
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