Godfrey
somewhat colored
Film and digital sensors simply see light differently and have very different response curves/capabilities. Getting acutance and dynamic range to match exactly between a film and a digital exposure is mostly a waste of time and effort.
The Trick is to accept the behaviors of whichever medium you choose to use for a given shooting session and work the results in rendering to get results that please/satisfy you. A hybrid workflow ... original capture on film, edit original via scanning, final result using digital imaging ... nets a wider range of possibilities than an all film and chemistry workflow does and some additional potential range of possibilities over what an all digital or all film workflow can offer, as well as some asymmetric constraints. Key to getting results that please/satisfy you is to experiment broadly with film development options as well as image processing options ... There's no "one magic formula" that does the right job for all possible purposes.
Canon FD lenses are good quality, in general, and can return very nice scans. I have used Nikon, Olympus, and Leica lenses in my film scanning experiments, as well as film and 'combination' (film and print) scanners (I've been scanning film into the digital domain since about 1994). Another workflow is to render large scale positive prints in the darkroom and then scan and render finals from those ... My old buddy Don did this with Minox 8x11mm negatives and taught me his techniques. Using that workflow, we were able to make presentation gallery sized prints for exhibition ... I have a 20x24" print of a WWII fighter plane he produced this way that you would swear was made with a 4x5" camera.
Just don't expect your hybrid photo efforts to be immediate and automatic. Experiment, try different things (both film exposure/processing and scanning/rendering) to learn the limits of capabilities, and then push those capabilities to make satisfying, pleasing photos of the quality you're after. There are few shortcuts.
G
Ringo, Phoebe, Sabina - Fourth of July Party 2024
Minox EC (8x11 format)
APX 100 developed in HC-110 (1:49, 8 min @ 70°F)
Captured with Leica M10 Monochrom, Summicron-R 50mm f/4 and Leica Focusing Bellows-R
Rendered in Lightroom Classic
The Trick is to accept the behaviors of whichever medium you choose to use for a given shooting session and work the results in rendering to get results that please/satisfy you. A hybrid workflow ... original capture on film, edit original via scanning, final result using digital imaging ... nets a wider range of possibilities than an all film and chemistry workflow does and some additional potential range of possibilities over what an all digital or all film workflow can offer, as well as some asymmetric constraints. Key to getting results that please/satisfy you is to experiment broadly with film development options as well as image processing options ... There's no "one magic formula" that does the right job for all possible purposes.
Canon FD lenses are good quality, in general, and can return very nice scans. I have used Nikon, Olympus, and Leica lenses in my film scanning experiments, as well as film and 'combination' (film and print) scanners (I've been scanning film into the digital domain since about 1994). Another workflow is to render large scale positive prints in the darkroom and then scan and render finals from those ... My old buddy Don did this with Minox 8x11mm negatives and taught me his techniques. Using that workflow, we were able to make presentation gallery sized prints for exhibition ... I have a 20x24" print of a WWII fighter plane he produced this way that you would swear was made with a 4x5" camera.
Just don't expect your hybrid photo efforts to be immediate and automatic. Experiment, try different things (both film exposure/processing and scanning/rendering) to learn the limits of capabilities, and then push those capabilities to make satisfying, pleasing photos of the quality you're after. There are few shortcuts.
G
Ringo, Phoebe, Sabina - Fourth of July Party 2024
Minox EC (8x11 format)
APX 100 developed in HC-110 (1:49, 8 min @ 70°F)
Captured with Leica M10 Monochrom, Summicron-R 50mm f/4 and Leica Focusing Bellows-R
Rendered in Lightroom Classic
Last edited:
ifaynshteyn
Member
Godfrey, thank you for the candid and detailed response. I will play with it!Film and digital sensors simply see light differently and have very different response curves/capabilities. Getting acutance and dynamic range to match exactly between a film and a digital exposure is mostly a waste of time and effort.
The Trick is to accept the behaviors of whichever medium you choose to use for a given shooting session and work the results in rendering to get results that please/satisfy you. A hybrid workflow ... original capture on film, edit original via scanning, final result using digital imaging ... nets a wider range of possibilities than an all film and chemistry workflow does and some additional potential range of possibilities over what an all digital or all film workflow can offer, as well as some asymmetric constraints. Key to getting results that please/satisfy you is to experiment broadly with film development options as well as image processing options ... There's no "one magic formula" that does the right job for all possible purposes.
Canon FD lenses are good quality, in general, and can return very nice scans. I have used Nikon, Olympus, and Leica lenses in my film scanning experiments, as well as film and 'combination' (film and print) scanners (I've been scanning film into the digital domain since about 1994). Another workflow is to render large scale positive prints in the darkroom and then scan and render finals from those ... My old buddy Don did this with Minox 8x11mm negatives and taught me his techniques. Using that workflow, we were able to make presentation gallery sized prints for exhibition ... I have a 20x24" print of a WWII fighter plane he produced this way that you would swear was made with a 4x5" camera.
Just don't expect your hybrid photo efforts to be immediate and automatic. Experiment, try different things (both film exposure/processing and scanning/rendering) to learn the limits of capabilities, and then push those capabilities to make satisfying, pleasing photos of the quality you're after. There are few shortcuts.
G
Ringo, Phoebe, Sabina - Fourth of July Party 2024
Minox EC (8x11 format)
APX 100 developed in HC-110 (1:49, 8 min @ 70°F)
Captured with Leica M10 Monochrom, Summicron-R 50mm f/4 and Leica Focusing Bellows-R
Rendered in Lightroom Classic