Scanning Color Neg Film

[Peter Natscher]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi Leica Forum,

 

I recently purchased a Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED and am starting to learn about scanning my 35mm color negs. taken with my M7, using Fujicolor Reala 100, and 35 Lux at f/2. The images are scanned at the default 4000 dpi producing a 67MB TIFF. When I open up the scanned file in PS and magnify the view at 100% crop, I see many white pixels throughout the entire image. The image looks a bit sugary. What are these artifacts? See the example of this in the two attached images below: 1. uncropped image, 2. 100% crop of central area of same image. The sugary appearance of the image at 100% crop appears more pronounced while viewing it in PS on my LCD monitor than it does in this attached image.

 

Thanks, Peter Natscher

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[pleeson]

I see a combination of grain and dust there; and maybe less than optimal focus.

Is the digital Ice feature turned on?

It's pretty effective at removing the dust specks.

Grain is grain, I leave it alone and figure it's what makes film unique.

[Peter Natscher]

No, I haven't turned on the ICE, yet. So, you think this speckled pattern is film grain? they look very digital to me. They are white pixels scattered throughout the entire image. Film grain wouldn't be white.

 

I've scanned another frame from a Ektar 100 strip. It's a 300% crop from a different shot. See below. It exhibits the same sugary artifacts. These can be seen only zoomed in on the 4000 dpi scanned image. They are not visible after I reduce the image size in PS to 9 in. x14 in. at 300 dpi.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[erl]

Peter, there may be several issues here.

 

First, scanning is an art you must develop. It does not work well automatically.

 

Second, I assume you are using NikonScan that came with the scanner. It is OK, but there are better software options that will make a difference, once you establish a technique. Personally, I prefer VueScan fom VueScan Scanning Software. You can download a free trial version for an unlimited time. It is cheap to purchase if it suits you style.

 

Third, and probably most immediate for you is the viewing magnification you are using on your scren. About 50% mag. simulates 'real life' viewing. Greater than that and you are pixel peeping to no aesthetic advantage.

 

P.S. Your scanner is a good one, so you only need to learn to drive it.

[tgray]

I find Nikon scan is pretty good for color negatives. I wouldn't worry about the white dots. I don't think it's a result of your scanning techniques, but possibly of the devloping?

[Peter Natscher]

You might have something here -- I scanned a couple of 3-year old slides (Ektachromes) made with past SLRs and they exhibit no white pixels at high magnifications. Perhaps, my photo processor who developed the Ektar and Reala is not doing such a good job. I'm going to try using another photo processing store here in town.

 

Thanks to all who replied to my questions!

 

Peter

[cmatter]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Short of using an Imacon with their FlexColor software... I agree that VueScan is the way to go. Assuming a decent scanner; negative scanning is all about software... and experience. It's an art in itself and almost never works optimally right out of the box or automatically.

Looks to me like your scan has focus problems. The film grain is nowhere near sharp.