Lets talk about home scanners

[Borna]

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Hi friends!

I am curious about your scans and scanners. What do you use at home and what kind of method, software, tools do you use? I have just gotten myself a very basic V300 Epson scanner for my negative prints. Would be fun to learn more about this part as I am just learning more about it. 

So far with the V300, well - dusty.

Hope to learn and share experience from you.

Thanks! 

 

[pegelli]

I mainly scan B&W negative film and use an Epson V700 Photo.

I create a 2400 dpi B&W negative TIFF which I first "spot" (remove dust) mainly with the clone and heal brushes in Photoshop. I develop the film myself and found that scanning immediately after the film is dry has the least amount of dust. As soon as I scan older negatives the dust amount increases, no matter how careful you blow and/or wipe the negatives right before scanning.

After that I import the B&W negative TIFF in Lightroom and convert it to a positive with the plug-in Negative Lab Pro.

This works well for me, only the light/dark sliders and curves in lightroom then all work the other way around but if you have trouble with that the program can also create a positive TIFF which you can process normally (without having to think backwards)

Edited July 18 by pegelli

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[rogxwhit]

Is the V300 just a print scanner?  Some models have a light hood and can also scan transparent originals (negs / slides).  Then there are dedicated film scanners (of various qualities!).

Yes, dust can be an issue. But there might be a setting to reduce it digitally - delve into the scan software.  Investigate any 'expert' mode options anyway, which is where you can set white and black points, levels / curves, and stuff like that ... less to do later.

[Borna]

12 minutes ago, rogxwhit said:

Is the V300 just a print scanner?  Some models have a light hood and can also scan transparent originals (negs / slides).  Then there are dedicated film scanners (of various qualities!).

Yes, dust can be an issue. But there might be a setting to reduce it digitally - delve into the scan software.  Investigate any 'expert' mode options anyway, which is where you can set white and black points, levels / curves, and stuff like that ... less to do later.

V300 is a photo scanner, I think the V330 is not. Here is some examples of photos scanned, taken with Yashica T4 Super and Contax T3. (Sorry no Leica yet, I am looking to sell my M-P for an MP/M6 or M-A/M4) Nothing special but you can get a feeling of what it offers. Heavily cropped to fit them in this post. The one with the coffee machine is quite scratchy and dusty but I like the outcome of it.  

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[irenedp]

I use the V850 at home for 35 mm and the Hasselblad Flextight  x5 at the studio of a friend for 6x4.5 and 10x12.5. The latter much better than the former, and worth it if you are going to print. But they are expensive and not manufactured any longer.

[Borna]

35 minutes ago, irenedp said:

I use the V850 at home for 35 mm and the Hasselblad Flextight  x5 at the studio of a friend for 6x4.5 and 10x12.5. The latter much better than the former, and worth it if you are going to print. But they are expensive and not manufactured any longer.

Interesting with the Flextight. Do you have an example of a photo you can share? Would be fun to see what quality you received from it. 

[Tom R]

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I use two scanners at home: a Plustek 8200i, for individual negatives, and a PrimeFilm XA for continuous scanning, i.e., scanning rolls to contact sheets. These are "consumer" quality scanners and are OK. I use Vuescan and SilverFast softwares (SilverFast is provided with the PrimeFilm XA and Vuescan is something you just gotta have because (1) is works with many other scanners and (2) it deserves to be supported!).

If I had the cash, I might invest in something more dependable and of better quality: think Noritsu L-50 or L-60 here. Potential drawbacks: EasyScan software, IIRC, requires Windows. Oh ... and this unit is pretty expensive--although I might be able to pick one up from a nearby lab that's likely getting out of the film processing service, preferring to make money on digital stuff. Used these units can likely be had for about $4,000 (US)? Now some might think that expensive, but that is less than what people are likely paying for one Leica lens--never mind a digital box to hold aforementioned lens. Another issue might be maintenance; commercial units might require something more than the average consumer can provide re: parts and expertise. 

I am sure that others will have differing opinions.

 

[irenedp]

50 minutes ago, Borna said:

Interesting with the Flextight. Do you have an example of a photo you can share? Would be fun to see what quality you received from it. 

Pls see below, before any Photoshop editing. The original image was a 6x4.5

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Edited July 18 by irenedp
correction

[marchyman]

9 hours ago, rogxwhit said:

Yes, dust can be an issue.

I spend more time attempting to remove dust from the negative/scanner/surrounding environment than I spend scanning.   And then I add more time with the heal tool to get rid of the dust that still made it into the scan.  Combine that with scratched glass on my scanner (Epson 600) and you can see why I gave up scanning negatives.

Now I use a film holder (https://www.clifforth.co.uk/index.html), a light source (Viltrox L116T) and an old DSLR attached to a Manfrotto Magic Arm because I don't have a camera stand.   Add in a cheep expansion tube set as I didn't own a Macro lens for the DSLR.  I can "scan" faster and for some reason have much less of a dust issue.  I'll never go back to flatbed scanning for film negatives again.

[250swb]

11 hours ago, marchyman said:

I'll never go back to flatbed scanning for film negatives again.

I use an Epson V700 for creating digital contact sheets but like you I wouldn't go back to either a flatbed or a dedicated film scanner such as a Plustek for high resolution scans. I use a Nikon digital camera (24mp is enough but I use more), a macro lens (Nikon mount are cheap), a light pad (Kaiser) and a copy stand. For negative carriers I use either old flatbed holders or make my own. The camera 'scans' are far superior compared with flatbed or film scanner, they are sharper and you have no chance of introducing digital noise so film grain is authentically recorded. 

[Susie]

Guys,

Sorry if this has already been answered, but when 'camera scanning' using a stand do you have the film emulsion side up or down?

[Susie]

Guys,

Sorry if this has already been answered, but when 'camera scanning' using a stand do you have the film emulsion side up or down?

[250swb]

22 minutes ago, Susie said:

Guys,

Sorry if this has already been answered, but when 'camera scanning' using a stand do you have the film emulsion side up or down?

I use glossy side up.

[marchyman]

And I do the opposite.  Can't tell you why as I don't remember.  Possibly something I read or saw on-line.  Let me see....

Ahhh... maybe because I read this from the guy who created Negative Lab Pro:

In most cases it won’t make much of a difference, but I recommend shooting with the emulsion side (matte) facing the camera. And then flipping in Lightroom afterwards. You can select all the images you want to flip in lightroom, and do it at once, so it really isn’t difficult to do.

Shooting the matte side should also lower the chances of reflections being picked up on the film surface during digitization. (The reflections would be barely noticeable until you go to convert the negatives in Negative Lab Pro, and then you would see orange blobs.)

[250swb]

11 hours ago, marchyman said:

 

Shooting the matte side should also lower the chances of reflections being picked up on the film surface during digitization. (The reflections would be barely noticeable until you go to convert the negatives in Negative Lab Pro, and then you would see orange blobs.)

Did he not think to switch off the room lights (if that's what the orange blobs are)? I mean it's sort of an answer to a problem that shouldn't exist, he could just have easily said 'don't have anything around that can reflect onto the negative'. And given the miniscule DOF used when scanning a negative it's going to be one heck of a reflection for the camera to 'see' it. But I look at it shiny side up or down from a practical point given I think reflections are a red herring. It's better and easier to clean and blow dust off the shiny side of the negative and have this facing up if one side or the other is going to get dust landing on it (sticky dust isn't unique to digital sensors). And although not common many people do use ANR glass to keep the negative perfectly flat and this needs to weigh the negative down on the negatives shiny side. But that's just for me, if emulsion side up is a habit hard to break it's fine to do it, I'm just sceptical about 'reasons'.

Edited July 22 by 250swb

[hansvons]

I use my SL2-S and the super-sharp Sigma 70mm macro @ f11 for scanning my negatives in a film holder, and an LED light behind the film holder.

The quality is remarkable (nothing left to be desired), the scanning speed is superior to any other method, and the dust problem is much less pronounced than using a scanner (besides wet scans, of course).

The Sigma macro plus the film holder amount to roughly the same price as a dedicated negative scanner.

[ianforber]

I use a V500 with Silverfast software. I did try to use a camera to “scan” but didn’t get very good results, particularly on transparencies. 

[Doug A]

For a number of years I scanned my 35mm b&w negatives with a Fuji X-T20 with a Leitz BEOON copy stand, a Schneider 50/2.8 and a Logan light box. While I was looking for a second BEOON to put together another scanning rig for a relative I read about an Indiegogo campaign from VALOI for an all-in-one 35mm scanning system that requires only a live view digital camera and a macro lens. It replaces the camera stand, extension tubes, film holder and light source.

As a program sponsor I received an easy35 a few weeks ago. I am using it with the same Fuji camera and a 55/2.8 Micro Nikkor lens that I have owned for a number of years. The easy35 is even smaller and easier to use than the BEOON setup. It fits in a small desk drawer and charges from a USB-C source. Viewed at 100% the grain is even sharper in the corners of the image than I saw with my BEOON scans. I don't know if this is because the film is held flatter or because with an APS-C sensor I am only using the center of the already very highly regarded Nikkor lens. 

I invert and edit my scans of b&w negative and color slides with Affinity Photo. For color negatives I scan with the digital camera and then scan the resulting file with Vuescan Professional which I bought years ago to use with an Epson flatbed scanner. My inkjet prints from recent scans of 50+ year old negatives are much better in every respect than the darkroom prints I made from the same negatives back in the day. 

Edited August 1 by Doug A

[gfweir]

On 7/21/2023 at 4:11 AM, Susie said:

Guys,

Sorry if this has already been answered, but when 'camera scanning' using a stand do you have the film emulsion side up or down?

Emulsion to emulsion was the rule I grew up with .... so emulsion to sensor would be my guess

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[Borna]

I found this video while surfing around Youtube. Very interesting video I have to say, although not optimal but for someone like me that have a quite cheap and old Epson scanner similar to this man, this video comes handy. Will experiment when I have a nice photo that I need ultra-sharp.