Scanning Film Negatives and Slides

[lexharris]

The site looks great! Have you had many sales yet?
Most of my good shots were taken prior to the switch to Digi but if your still doing this for a while I could send some through when I build some up.
Cheers, Joe.

Josef, why limit yourself to digital? Get your good film shots scanned and submit them

[Josef]

You are right Lex...even just to have them more accessible for myself to look at. Its funny you know Im only a young fella yet when digi cameras first started appearing I thought I would never switch. Yet now you have just highlighted to me how complete a switch I have ended up making!
Cheers mate, and thanks.
Joe.

[lexharris]

You are right Lex...even just to have them more accessible for myself to look at. Its funny you know Im only a young fella yet when digi cameras first started appearing I thought I would never switch. Yet now you have just highlighted to me how complete a switch I have ended up making!
Cheers mate, and thanks.
Joe.

Yeah, my thousands of slides were just stored away for years. Who wants to come over for a slide show these days anyway So I got myself a scanner and my images started becoming so much more accessible. And then I got myself a second, better scanner that can do MF as well . I like using film. Digital is good in some ways, film is good in some ways. I like digicams for quick p&s and film for more serious work where I take my time and enjoy the process. Whatever suits you, the good thing is there's still a choice.

[Josef]

Well...I got all inspired just now and took a walk in the Western Arthurs through the old Hanimex Rhondette!
Feeling a bit inspired about the slides now. I dont have thousands, probably only a couple of hundred that I would want to scan. What would the best way to go about this be?
ie get some one else to do them V's getting a slide scanner? Costs etc.
When scanned do you need to do any digi work eg, dust removal etc.
Can you use a normal scanner or should you use a specific slide scanner.
You Have some great shots on RT Gallery lex.
Cheers, Joe.

[Son of a Beach]

I hope you guys don't mind, but I think these posts are a worth splitting off to their own topic.

[lexharris]

I hope you guys don't mind, but I think these posts are a worth splitting off to their own topic.

Thanks Nik, a separate topic is better

Joe, for a few hundred slides it's probably not worth the cost and effort of doing it yourself. Scanning well is not that easy unfortunately, there's a big learning curve curve involved. Cheap flatbed scanners generally won't give you the best results, and dedicated film scanners, well even for a 2nd hand one you're probably starting at around $500 upwards. You can try a local 1-hour type place, they will probably do scanning at a cheap price but quality may not be suitable for gallery work. For that I'd suggest you contact a local pro lab. Price usually varies according to scan resolution and also the type of scanner used. To submit to say RT Gallery you would aim at something around 10-12MP, say around 4000pixels on the long axis. I suggest working with 16-bit TIFFs, not jpegs. You can save to jpeg after all the post processing is done.

Once the slides are scanned there will be some post processing to do. First of all dust and scratch removal, then usually levels, curves, colour balance, crop etc, etc - similar to working with camera RAW files. Depending on the film type and scanner type, dust/scratch removal may be automatic during scanning. Automatic removal works well with E6 slides and colour negs, but not with Kodachromes.

[Josef]

Thanks lex,
Thats helpful, Some one in Alice Springs will be able to do it I imagine. Ill ask around..
Do you use photoshop or something else?
Joe.

[lexharris]

Thanks lex,
Thats helpful, Some one in Alice Springs will be able to do it I imagine. Ill ask around..
Do you use photoshop or something else?
Joe.

Yes, Photoshop, very powerful and widely used but like all such things has a big learning curve too. Even after years of using it I'm still learning and far from being an expert

Here are some of my earlier scanning efforts from a Western Arthurs trip I did in 2001, all Kodachrome 64 scanned on Nikon Coolscan 5000ED.
http://www.lexharris.net/gallery2/main. ... ?g2_page=1
Looking at them now I can see I could do a whole lot better, both in scan quality and post processing. I'll get around to redoing them, one day...

[Josef]

Two traverses of the western arthurs in two days all from 400km NW of Alice Springs!
I was looking at your first high moor shot thinking you had much better wether there than me. Then I read the comment in the following shot! We had the identical thing happen. Perfect wether over a couple of days then tent bound at High Moor. In My Arthurs images High Moor is where the record ends as we saw almost nothing due to rain and fog from that point on. What an incredibly stunning/ rugged place though.
If I eventually get my slides scanned Ill send try to post some here.
Cheers,
Joe.

[Robbo]

and dedicated film scanners, well even for a 2nd hand one you're probably starting at around $500 upwards.

Hello All

I have a large number of slides, and some 35mm negatives, that I would like to scan. What scanning equipment do you use, or would you recommend, that gives reasonable quality and that is not too expensive?

I have been a Photoshop user since version 4, and am also a Mac user - but it seems most of the quality scanners are both Windows and Mac friendly - so the learning curve may not be too great...?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful.

TR

[photohiker]

Personally, unless you have the patience of a saint, I'd suggest getting really ruthlessly critical with which slides are worth scanning, and then get them scanned commercially.

There is nothing quite like the boredom that sets in after the first hundred...

[Robbo]

...get them scanned commercially.

Yes you may well be right.

TR

[lexharris]

I have a large number of slides, and some 35mm negatives, that I would like to scan. What scanning equipment do you use, or would you recommend, that gives reasonable quality and that is not too expensive?

Hi Robbo. You really have two broad choices:

1. Have them scanned commercially.
Advantages:
- quick and easy, no learning curve, no hassle
- for a small number of images, cheaper than buying a scanner
Disadvantages
- scan quality (at an affordable price) generally lower than scanning yourself on a moderately good scanner
- no control over scan parameters
- for a large number of images, more expensive than buying a scanner

2. Buy a scanner and do them yourself
Advantages:
- better scan quality
- you control the scan parameters to get the best from each image
- for a large number of images, cheaper than scanning commercially
- it's fun and you learn a lot!
Disadvantages:
- big learning curve and requires a lot of time. Getting really good scans is not a trivial matter
- for a small number of images, more expensive than scanning commercially

So the best choice depends on a number of factors:
1. How many images do you want to scan?
2. What quality are you prepared to accept?
3. Do you have the time and inclination to learn how to scan well?

If you decide to buy a scanner, for 35mm I'd suggest a Minolta Dimage 5400 or a Nikon Coolscan 5000ED. If you're thinking of Nikon, read this first:
http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00CTcF
Not all Nikons have this problem, but be aware that some do. Minoltas don't seem to have this problem.

Cheers, Lex

[Robbo]

Thanks, Lex

I had a quick read of the issues noted on the link. Very useful information.

THanks again

TR

[Ent]

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Last edited by Ent on Thu 11 Nov, 2010 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[north-north-west]

When last I looked proper high-quality slide scanners started at the $5,000 mark - even second hand. *sigh* Doubt I'll ever be able to get all my old stuff online. Pity, there are some decent images there.
Still, that gives me more time for bushwalking.

[lexharris]

When last I looked proper high-quality slide scanners started at the $5,000 mark - even second hand. *sigh* Doubt I'll ever be able to get all my old stuff online. Pity, there are some decent images there.
Still, that gives me more time for bushwalking.

Scavenger, you shouldn't need to spend anywhere near that to get a decent film scanner. Nikon 5000EDs were about $1700 new (they were recently discontinued) and you could probably get one for half that on eBay. The Coolscan V was even cheaper new, about $900 I think.

Though not certain I believe with slide film and decent lenses the practical maximum resolution is 16 to 20 mega pixels but that is only something I once read and this might be web fiction.

Nikon scanners scan at 4000ppi (about 20MP from 35mm). Minolta 5400 at 5400ppi. My Imacon scans 35mm at 6300ppi (about 54MP from 35mm). Other models can scan 35mm to 8000ppi. But there is little point scanning at these very high resolutions unless you have an ultra-sharp image on super high resolution film. In practice, with most 35mm images, there is nothing to be gained by scanning higher than about 4000-6000ppi.

[Ent]

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Last edited by Ent on Thu 11 Nov, 2010 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[lexharris]

Hi Lexharris
Thanks for the information. It appears that with a few slides it is line ball between commercial scanning and a purchase. Can such best do negatives? Or would you use Photoshop and such things?

Cheers Brett

Hi Brett,
Film scanners will scan both transparencies (slides) and negatives. If you scan a negative it comes out as a positive, the scanner does the conversion. Keep in mind though, whichever way you go, commercial scanning or DIY, you'll still need something like Photoshop because very few if any scans will be perfect straight off the scanner. Nearly all will need some adjustments (dusting, levels, curves, colour balance, etc etc).