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More and more film fun with something other than a Leica M

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
Same photo. #1 scanned by Lab and #2 scanned by me. F6 and Kodak T-Max 100. Any thoughts on which one looks better. What should I realistically expect? Thanks for looking. Cheers, Matt

1.


2.


http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
Matt,
It is hard to tell at such small sizes, but my observation is that you pulled a lot more detail out. Look at the shadows, you have detail, they have black. You could make a choice to place the shadows darker, but that would be a creative decision. At least you have the info in your scan to make that choice. Also, look at the detail on the instrument. Yours has more detail. You do have a green color cast on my monitor. I'm on my laptop right now, so not sure if that is your photo or my monitor. You could fix that green with a simple curve adjustment. It looks to me like your lab did ok on the sharpening. When I had my film scanned at Walgreens, they sharpened the heck out of it. Your lab scan looks to be of a pretty high quality.
 

Maggie O

Active member
I think Cindy is spot-on with her observations. I might back off a tiny bit on the local contrast or USM on your scan, but really, that's about the only thing I can think of, aside from what Cindy said about picking a black point. Your midtones are gorgeous!
 

m_driscoll

New member
Viablex1/Cindy/Maggie: Thank you all for you comments. I'm scanning the Fuji Provia roll right now on my VP750. It will be interesting to compare the lab, and my own, scans for that. With digital images, i have a clearer idea of what each camera system's capable of achieving. I'll have to reach that understanding with film. Creative decisions will vary the outcome; but, at least that defines the achievable parameters.

Cheers, Matt

http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Matt -- a good general rule of scanning is to keep things as natural and flat as possible in the scanner, and then do any real adjustments like curves or sharpening in photoshop. Most scanner software is a distant second compared to photoshop. At times, I have found that scanning negatives as a positive and inverting them in photoshop has also improved things. Turn off all sharpening and levels adjustments in the scanner, just set the black point at the start of your histogram, and the white point at the end. Then scan. You should get a flat, boring looking photo. But when you bring that into photoshop you have all the information available to work with. In a way it is a lot like how some take raw digital photos -- just concentrate on not clipping when you capture, and then make your adjustments later...
My scanner software is now much better, so I don't work this way anymore, but here is a before and after from a few years ago. Not a great photo, but demonstrates the difference and what my initial scans looked like...

Before:




P.S. Nice shot Ocean! Great light you captured...
 

Maggie O

Active member
A few photos from the one and only roll of film I ever ran through my Rollei 35S. It was stolen with the second roll inside of it. Stupid thief. I liked that little camera.

Baskin-Robbins Bike, Minneapolis, MN, 1987


Doghouse Chair, Minneapolis, MN, 1987


Rabbit Roof Wendy, Minneapolis, MN, 1987


Bus Pass, Minneapolis, MN, 1987
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
These Rollei 35 photos are very nice, Maggie. What a shame that yours was stolen. I've often thought that I would like to upgrade my scale focus Minox EL to a Rollei 35, but haven't done so yet.
 

Maggie O

Active member
These Rollei 35 photos are very nice, Maggie. What a shame that yours was stolen. I've often thought that I would like to upgrade my scale focus Minox EL to a Rollei 35, but haven't done so yet.
Thanks, Cindy! I've toyed with getting another one, but back in '87, after the Rollei was stolen, my dad gave me his Olympus XA and it's been my wee camera since then.
 

m_driscoll

New member
I went back to the Lab's scans. My color scans sucked! This film stuff is tricky. I'm sending my latest rolls to North Coast Photo tomorrow. Here's a couple i processed today. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Matt.

1. Nikon F6; 50mm f/1.4G; Kodak T-Max 100


2. Nikon F6; 50mm f/1.4G; Fuji Provia 400


http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
 

m_driscoll

New member
Early morning at Hong Kong Harbour. Olympus OM2N with 50/1.4 (Fuji Velvia film).
Ocean: Nice photo. The framing, detail, and colors are excellent.

Matt -- a good general rule of scanning is to keep things as natural and flat as possible in the scanner, and then do any real adjustments like curves or sharpening in photoshop. Most scanner software is a distant second compared to photoshop. At times, I have found that scanning negatives as a positive and inverting them in photoshop has also improved things. Turn off all sharpening and levels adjustments in the scanner, just set the black point at the start of your histogram, and the white point at the end. Then scan. You should get a flat, boring looking photo. But when you bring that into photoshop you have all the information available to work with. In a way it is a lot like how some take raw digital photos -- just concentrate on not clipping when you capture, and then make your adjustments later...
My scanner software is now much better, so I don't work this way anymore, but here is a before and after from a few years ago. Not a great photo, but demonstrates the difference and what my initial scans looked like...
Stuart: Thanks for the guidance. I'll try that, and keep working at it. My software is Silverfast Ai Studio; not the easiest to work with. Their manuals are very obtuse.

A few photos from the one and only roll of film I ever ran through my Rollei 35S. It was stolen with the second roll inside of it. Stupid thief. I liked that little camera.
Rabbit Roof Wendy, Minneapolis, MN, 1987
Maggie: Nice work. Nice hair on Rabbit Roof Wendy (???). Reflections provide additional dimension. :cool:

Cheers, Matt

http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
 

m_driscoll

New member
Here's one that I'm going to have to keep reprocessing. There's two others from that roll that i'll also work on. Need to advance my CS5 skills. Some photos just take you back. Thanks, Matt

My good friend Diane in the 1970's; Nikkormat; Tri-X Pan


http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
 

shtarka1

Active member
Early morning at Hong Kong Harbour. Olympus OM2N with 50/1.4 (Fuji Velvia film).
A few photos from the one and only roll of film I ever ran through my Rollei 35S. It was stolen with the second roll inside of it. Stupid thief. I liked that little camera.

Baskin-Robbins Bike, Minneapolis, MN, 1987



Rabbit Roof Wendy, Minneapolis, MN, 1987

L]
I went back to the Lab's scans. My color scans sucked! This film stuff is tricky. I'm sending my latest rolls to North Coast Photo tomorrow. Here's a couple i processed today. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Matt.

1. Nikon F6; 50mm f/1.4G; Kodak T-Max 100



http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
Here's one that I'm going to have to keep reprocessing. There's two others from that roll that i'll also work on. Need to advance my CS5 skills. Some photos just take you back. Thanks, Matt

My good friend Diane in the 1970's; Nikkormat; Tri-X Pan


http://mdriscoll.zenfolio.com
Super Images Here Y'All!
 
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