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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
12-01-2016, 03:50 PM
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I made that on a very SMALL enlarger that i intend to scrap . The coming month i will buy a bigger one so that i can work easy . The smaller one has setup issues ... I cant allways focus properly .When i get the better one i can post pics !
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-30-2016, 02:13 PM
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here is another one made from a negative .
---------- Post added 11-30-16 at 02:14 PM ----------
interestingly the software here at PF seems to soften them a bit . The last image is very sharp on my pc and PS . Here its smoother .
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-30-2016, 02:04 PM
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Get a reflecta crystalscan ,or some higher end scanner of their line ,or see my article on projection scanning using an enlarger . Generally slides are HARD to scan regardless of what equipment you use ..so higher resolution scanners are needed.
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
11-30-2016, 01:53 PM
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In truth if you have money a good 35mm film scanner from some now known companies will work you fine ,YET 120 FILM scanners are EXPENSIVE .
Because of this and the small fact that film scanners tend to have a hard time scanning ANY slide film unless it is ridiculously sharp . I have experimented hard with scanning using a dslr .
The biggest issues were :
You need a high quality macro lens
You need to take multiple shots of the image
Often the colors looked much worse than those achievable with a scanner
You need to use incandescent lamp
And this all sums up that this metod doesnt really work . Well i found another one !
Put it simply ; project the image on to a flat white surface with an enlarger !!
This actually works quite well on slides .You need to take only TWO images of 120 film format to get any useable image and by just sharpening one can get not only good enough resolution ,but also nicer colors than the other method .
Bonus :
You don't need to have expensive lenses as a good elarger lens is quite cheap .
You dont need to make 6-20 images to get any useable resolution .
You can scan slides.
Yo save money on highly expensive 120 scanner !
You can monitor actual sharpness because of the enlagrer projecting the images.
Cons:
Not as fast due to PS .
Need to shoot raw .
Shooting only in the dark in 30second mode .
You need to slightly tilt the image in raw editing ,because you are shooting at a slight angle .
Precision foucus the enlarger and your camera.
Yet despite those shortcomings its actually useable method .And it requires less shots to get the same resolution as the other method .I have compared images made on in that way and such made on my plustek scanner . They are very similar with the scanner only being better with the colours on negatives mostly .
---------- Post added 11-30-16 at 01:55 PM ----------
The atachment shown is only one shot of a relatively unsharp 35mm slide thought .
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-18-2016, 08:26 AM
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Here is an observation .. scanning 6x6 negatives seems to give me MUCH better images . They have no noise and look sharp. When you enlarge some of them may not have that much detail as others ,yet still at usual size they just look great and much better than 35mm. Printed its the same thing .
Here is an example done with Portra .. probably my favorite film !
---------- Post added 01-18-16 at 08:28 AM ----------
Ps also it seems that the software here in the forum does some strange magick to the pics i atach . I don't know why they don't allways look well after atachment when its different when i look at them with PS ,or even the windows viewer
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-17-2016, 05:23 AM
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Here is what i use ! Also as mentioned in another thread . I will compare results from my dslr with results from a drum scan to see if there is any difference . Also, i will make an atempt at replacing the led bulb with an incandescent and see what happens :)
---------- Post added 01-17-16 at 05:56 AM ----------
WOAH ! i can't believe this ! Changing the bulb to incandescent made my scan much sharper ! In fact it also showed allot of detail that previously was not seen . I now see all the defects on the emulsion ! I kninda f''';cked up with this film because i stored it in bad conditions and scratched it .
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-17-2016, 05:17 AM
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DONT even send them for a lab scan !! Most lab scans are junk at best !
My solution to the dilema will be posted here in tuesday !! I decided to simply ... make a drum scan of some images i have and compare it to my scan with my dslr . I will use both a lower quality image and a higher quality one to see what will happen and then compare it to the ones made with my dslr . That being said ,it will be made clear if anything is better . Also .. with multy shot methods i actualy see the dye clouds on my films . My only issue is that i get somewhat of mixed results when we talk about color . We will see what happens :)
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-16-2016, 03:35 PM
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I will ,but i am going to take a bath ,then go to sleep tonight as if i make a picture of it now ,you will faint . The ''room'' is everywhere .Next day i will .
Well taking the photos is not that hard ,but making them takes quite some time . Its just like when you spend time to pp images from raw in photoshop .Black and white seems to lure me in more and mooore and mmmmmooooore . As it is easy to scan ,print ,develop and even get great pictures if you can use a camera . With color even in digital to achieve anything you need to be a semi- masochist to a point .. All the tones and the time of the day and and and ... I am starting to get annoyed from it .With film even a rainy day looks great in monochrome if you can see right . With color ,i have to pray to get a great image 5 hours before dawn ,plan and so on .. Its just more requiring .So don't expect that dealing with negatives will be that much easier lol. How fast you are depends on your technique when scanning . What holder you have .Having a convenient holder is indeed a pain relief .Can you place them faster there ,or you need to spend time adjusting them..Other things are plain raw processing .
I am really starting to hate color .. really XD
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-16-2016, 11:51 AM
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This image is shot in 2005-6 or so on Fuji Superia and i have not pushed up the contrast too much .I used to film in 2002 when i was a kid using my grandfather's old cameras , so i have some films to experiment on .I have Konica ,Fuji and 1 or 2 Kodak films . I switched to Kodak as of recently when i resumed using film .I now use the Portra ,but dislike the Ektar . I can post more images . :)
I have only one film that is annoying me .That is an old Fuji 100 . It seems to have got at the place of disintegration .Some seem to be pale and not looking good .Made some scans on them and similar results with the Epson that my local photo uses .The Epson looks like a blind man compared to this ,though the tones were similar on the old film proving degeneration ..
I wonder if this could be due to scanners not using incandescent bulbs ? I can put such in my light holder ! I will experiment to see what happens ...
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
01-16-2016, 11:13 AM
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Well basically i had another thread abou this ,but as i was writing it a "'few "' problems popped out . So i did not even finish the topic . Now i decided to start it again to show after lots of experiments where it got to .
First off i can now with success scan color negative and b&w film with my dslr .The reason being that i did not buy a scanner was because i decided that buying a dslr would cost me as much ,but be an upgrade . So i will get bigger prints and the ability to scan better . So that is why i jumped for the dslr . The only issue is that dslr-s and cheap scanners are terrible at scanning slides . That does depend on the type of slides though..I had a Agfa old-ish slide scanned and it was ok and i also scanned Fuji's velvias and my camera is BLIND to them .It cant see detail at all and i have to anlarge and get multiple shots at them ,then stich to do the job and only one lens gets as close to be satisfiable .I had a few slides that i did and everything else was doh ..
Now lets start !
Color negatives !
First off ... people must understand that color negatives are hard to scan in general because one must have an eye and do manual adjustments ,because even if you can remove the orange mask they seem to have very speciffic curves and color balance . Every color is alone ! Every color has different contrast and levels and for this reason even if the mask is out you will still need to make things manually .They are paired with their papers..
The good news is that you can do finely ! This ,if done on an home enlarger will be painstaking to adjust everything so fine and well and there will allways be something that is not that well while here with very fine curve adjustments one can get very good tones and very balanced colors !!
Black and white negatives are GREAT !
Its easy to scan them and easy to adjust making it simple to work !
Also.. despite the fact that they can be made almost noiseless, this is film ! Film has noise ! For this reason it is not very wise to try to remove ,or deal with it too much ! In fact it is not even wise to try to extract every detail also if the film is not as sharp ,because then the noise will be there staring at you . If you get to the grain then well yeah you will have a sharper image ,but also with grain and that will in some cases hurt the aesthetics of the image !!You want a nice image not a sharp ugly one !If you want sharpness in 35mm film ,then do a good job at the camera and use a sharp lens ! I have scanned some 35mm negatives that are sharp and have resolution without much sharpening needed .
The equipment that is needed is ...
An enlarger that is of no use ! I got an old b&W image darkroom enlarger for no money .I removed the enlarger part and atached a bellows to the rail . Now on the rail i can move my camera up and down .
Below i got a lens :(IT MUST BE SHARP and an ENLARGER LENS!! ) Komuranon e 105mm lens !Its very very sharp lens and covers most of my needs ! Then use light table with white leds in it . My case is different ,because i used the upper part of the enlarger and redesigned it in to a light box with a hole measuring 6x6 centimetres.This way i installed a very powerfull led bulb inside ,though i have to change it to a white one since the one i had is warmer XD .
Then get the holder from the enlarger to use it on your negatives . If the glass causes you problems redesign it so that it has a glass only on the bottom . I did that as the glass caused some color casts ..
The lens is very important as if you get an ordinary lens this will cause much less dof ! That means slight misfocus and that's it ...Enlarger lenses are also more balanced in the corners than others!
Also when scanning your negative please note .. There are some steps that must not be overlooked or you will have bad results .
1. lens (mentioned)
2. Camera shake ! Put something heavy on the camera and use a remote ! Don't let the ground shake either ! Any shake will cause problems ! .I put an old camera for weight on top and use a cable switch .
3.Color balance manually!
4.Shoot in RAW !
5.Don't expect incredible resolution from 35mm photography .. There is just 4-8 megapixels worth and great films get to 10-14 ! You will not get any better than that . You can get more detail ,but with more grain and uglier image and you don't need that !Only velvia on 35mm will be ok ,but is VERY hard to scan with a dslr since its too transparent and the camera cant "'see'' anything !
6.Use your highest resolution dslr . A 20 megapixel scan is best ! The reason is that on negatives the contast is low and the information is very compressed ! Your camera might have problems viewing it .Higher resolution helps during processing and can lead to a more acceptible image regarding to noise and depth.
7.Sharpen in camera raw and use only 1px sharpening and dont overdo !When resizing ,then use the "sharper (best for reduction ) to get to where you need .
8.Resize image to a acceptible resolution for film -8megapixels will do .
9.Use good quality films as some are faded ,badly shot and can make you confused in to thinking that you are doing something wrong !
10 Use split toning ,or aply a filter in camera raw to get rid off the mask.
Now is it that hard ? Well not really , You can with ONE shot get a good result if the above is followed ! For 120 film use two ,or more depending on film type and what you want .PS does a good job at stiching them .
The good : use enlargers for no money and not as bad lenses for them are easy to get .You already have a dslr !
Bad : must be strict and not miss . Color balance is manual !
For black and white shooters : there ain't no bad news LOL .
Here is what i got :See atachments .
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
06-06-2015, 06:05 AM
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Tomorrow i will make some pics !Well my lens is not the sharpest ,yet it has good resolution and is very balanced .There is almost no need for ps to correct them when they get merged .This is why its too convenient .It has great dof . .Today i made an attempt at scanning a 6x6 slide .I will post it too ,but i have to resize it because it's 50 megapixels,or maybe just submit it by a link .:)
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
06-05-2015, 03:52 AM
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Flashlight won't do a good job .You need a better light source .Also you need to scan closer to the grain .I make 3 or 4 shots and then merge them .
What lens do you use ? Mine is Emitar/s 4,5/80,or almost any Zeiss ,but the Emitar is the most balanced lens . Lens is VERY important here .
Colour balance is not that hard ,but its done manually . You need to have a good eye.Also contrast is done by curves setting .Look at the histogram and shoot at such speed so that it will stay at the center .
I will post pics when i have some time :)
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
06-02-2015, 03:09 PM
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I do it by hand with photoshop and a few tricks .First of you will need a colour balance that is closer to blue ,or /and cyan-green .Different negatives need different colour balance .Fuji is green ! and i use a green tilt .Yet sometimes its better to get rid of some of the green afterwards .It must not be totaly blue or green .I use a 2700K light source .This way i use 2000K WB on all my negatives .I scan RAW ,because RAW preserves detail .
Very Important is to use a propper lens .Not all lens will do .Some lens just can't make the colours right .My Emitar is a PZO lens ,but when tested separate on a camera it has very good colours !Its some sort of a tessar i think .Its also designed to have good edge resolution ,because it is a print projector lens .Another lens i like also is Mir 1 ,because it is very sharp.With a macro tube i can close up and get more detail and go down to the grain .The only problem is that they tend to flare . Apart from not using glass holders the lens must be going near 16-8 allways ,because of the flare .That is not only a problem of those lens .Infact too many lens will have such a problem when used on a light table and they produce colour blotches when this happens .You don't nitice them untill you start processing .I look for blue tints that are not in the right place before i convert .When down to 8-16 it can be avoided .Lens can have a big impact .Also when filming in the histogram ,the data should stay in the middle .It shouldn't be darker or lighter .
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
06-01-2015, 03:17 PM
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Finaly ! After my work and the time i needed for experiments took all of my spare time so i could not post anything . I finaly did it .
I had a hard time trying to scan some brands of negatives with this thing . It took some experiments and i reworked the thing. I am almost done with it .The hardest negative to scan was Fuji ! I used Fuji allot some years ago and liked them the most ,but it seems that they are very reflective and they gave me a pain untill i was able to adapt the setting in order to get it to not screw up the color .
I use an Emitar print projector lens now ,but will also try Zeiss .I had to take the glass out if the holder too .This was the first Fuji that i was able to scan right .I will post more when i am finished with it .
Here is a picture :
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
05-06-2015, 05:46 AM
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I got an old light projector for printing negatives .It has a glass holder for the negative and a bulb with a flip lens behind it . I reworked it totaly so it can scan them ! I was lucky ,because the light projector was a speciffic type with square upper part . I am still working to improve the setting though .. I might post a pic of the thing since that model is mostly sold here in eastern Europe ,but will do that when i have some free time tomorrow ,or some other day ,since my job is taking the time away.While the west was ahead with machines and ymb tweaked projectors and electronics in those days the east used more manual machines .They can be dismantled and allot of things to be done from and to them .
I must change the glass on the glass holder though... The glass now is uncoated and sometimes that is a pain ..I manage ,yet still it would be a good idea .
I will post more when i come back from work ,i.e tomorrow :)
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Forum: Photographic Industry and Professionals
05-05-2015, 04:22 PM
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My personal 2$ is that this reminds me allot about the music industry ..
Its how the ''recipe"' is created by the media and the companies that results in all that is mentioned above .
Infact people will buy an i phone thinking that it is better ,but what do they think ?
Its simple .. Let me compare with my experience regading music and then parallel it .
When we talk about mp3-s they are inferior to everything .. One Lp and one reel to reel will sound better and much better infact than a cd ,what is to say a phone playing mp3-s . But what is done ? An example is how many ''remastered 'branded cd-s are sold as something great .A person thinks that its great because its something new that is made better and then with that thought he hears it . The louder sound and his mindset makes his brain feel pleasure and he buys it .But do the tech-s tell you that the higher volume can damage your hearing or that the dynamics has been hurt badly because its too loud ?I myself bought it ,but in time stopped listening to such mp3-s ,though i think they did influence my hearing badly and am witnessing the results as of late ..
Now what the guys tell them is ''look ! A phone that can take beautifull colorful pics and its better than a camera ! They buy and the result is they forget .
Its culture and how sosciety's understanding is raised to percieve that manifests in people that will do the right things and sosciety that allows that culture to exist that will make the difference .I am not saying that people have totaly forgotten ,or that all are the same ,or that its totaly wrong to have a phone ,but that this today has an influence .
And now what is important .. the prints that will be looked to remind you of moments shared . Did you share them and did you capture this moment well ? Where is your album 30 years from now ? Who made it ?
Good to know things indeed ...
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Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
05-05-2015, 02:53 PM
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Hello everyone !
Just came in due to my long interest for the pentax brand ,I currently use only the lens ,but they are my best lens and I am thinking on switching to the other side fully . I work with digital ,yet i like film allot and will use it untill its there .For now my only pentax camera is ME . Very light ,but also very fragile and i will be switching to something more down to earth soon and that is how it starts ..:lol:
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Forum: Film Processing, Scanning, and Darkroom
05-05-2015, 02:42 PM
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Well ,so far i am experimenting on scanning negatives the hard way .I don't use a scanner ,but my camera . The results though are not that bad . Infact using a high resolution lens i was able to create a 40 megapixel image and i didn't get much noise ! Experiments will be ongoing .
The first three are color slides .The others are Fuji and Ektar negatives .
See atachments .
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