Bad Quality Photos

[fky463]

Hello, everyone!

First of all my English is very bad, sorry for that. I will try my best today.

My camera is Contax G 1 w/ 28mm lens.
Scanner Epson V600

So the problem is, that I cant get any sharp photos. There is no detail quality, I shoot like 3-6 rolls, trying to take all photos with perfect exposure. I dropped some pictures for example. I was trying to sort it out by myself, but nah. Im lost. Cant find anything what Im doing wrong. Im quite new on film shooting. So all the pictures is almost the same. I tried to develop in Lab, now im doing it by myself, Lab quality was the same. I hope u can understand the point Im trying to explain. At least, if u know how contax can be sharp just try to compare my ****ty photos. Please any1 save me. THX SO MUCH.

(sorry if this thread shouldn't be there)


https://imgur.com/a/VNpQr8d

 

[gavinlg]

The photos don't look soft but they look like they're lacking detail in the scans. A few them are pretty badly underexposed which makes them grainy too. Try to expose for the darkest parts of a scene - film loves overexposure.

The v600 takes some learning to get acceptable scans out of, but will never reach the resolution of a dedicated scanner like a Nikon coolscan or a plustek. Scan at a high resolution without grain reduction or sharpening etc and then treat the scan like a raw file in your editor of choice. You'll have to figure out how to sharpen the scans too.

 

[citizen99]

Just a suggestion; if you want to assess the camera performance independent of your V600/workflow, it might be worth exposing a test film with a range of exposures/apertures and sending it to a professional lab for development+scan.

It appears that you are in the UK (? as that's where your uploaded pictures were taken). If so you could try https://www.ag-photolab.co.uk/
I use them and am very satisfied with their output. You get a choice of prices depending on the resolution (low/medium/high) and whether you want jpg or tiff files, and prints or not.

 

[Bike Tourist]

I think attention to proper exposure would solve most or all of your problems. Most of your examples seem under exposed. The result is flat grey and grainy images that lack deep blacks and contrast.

Your English seems very good to me!

 

[olifaunt]

The focus sharpness seems fine.

Underexposure can cause excessive grain. With negative film, you can reduce grain by increasing exposure. Overexposing a stop or two should help. Box speed is a suggestion, but often negative films look better when overexposed a stop (or more) over box speed.

Another overlooked cause of excessive grain in scans is if you have sharpening on in the scanner software settings or (if you use one) post-processing software. Sharpening will make grain worse, because each grain itself is sharpened. Some scanner software have sharpening on by default, which is really wrong. Turning off sharpening can improve things.

The white spots and hairs are dust on your negatives.

 

[charjohncarter]

Here is a good tutorial that uses your scanner software. It is for color but it can also be used for B&W.

http://www.coltonallen.com/getting-the-most-from-color-negative-film-with-your-epson-flatbed/

 

[fky463]

Guys,
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ANSWERS!!!

THX for your time.

I will do some test to sort it out what was wrong with it.

 

[chipgreenberg]

If you can get chrome film and have it developed that's the best way to take all other imaging chains out of the equation. Professional scans can also adjust based on the films exposure and might not really reflect what's going on.

Guys,
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE ANSWERS!!!

THX for your time.

I will do some test to sort it out what was wrong with it.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

The G1 is a really nice camera, with excellent metering, but be sure to read the manual and be sure you understand how to get the best metering with it, as it is not really just “point and shoot”. As others have said, many of the shots are underexposed, which can happen if aiming the “meter” at the wrong spot. Also, there is no shadow detail in a lot of these, over and above the underexposure. That may be a film, or a processing error. I do not know if this is the case here, but should mention that it would be a good idea to use nothing but fresh, high quality film until you get your technique down. Then you can try other films later, but, at first, always a good idea to eliminate every possible variable you can, which might cause poor photos.
That 28mm G lens is an extremely sharp lens, so problems with the photos should not be due to the equipment, except in rare instances. Some of the photos look like there is motion blur, which would not be unusual for someone starting out with film, especially trying to capture some of what look like night or dusk scenes. Try to not shoot anything slower than 1/250 or 1/500 at first, being careful to be very smooth with the shutter release. You can experiment with slower speeds later.
You are fortunate to have one of the better camera lens combinations made in terms of sharpness and metering, and ease of use. So, it is probably either technique, processing, film choice, or scanning. All of that can be fixed, so that’s good news.
Good luck!