DSLR Scanning Tips

[Steinberg2010]

I've been getting into scanning my bw negatives using a D810, 60mm g, and Nikon ES-2 adaptor kit with a light tablet. The results have been fine, but I suspect I can do better - I'm curious what advice/tips people can give me to help with this. My process has been:

a) Mount camera on tripod with lens etc. facing down onto light tablet.
b) Insert film into holder
c) Manually focus in live view after composing
d) Set Manual exposure (exposing to the right)
e) Use external release to fire shutter
f) Edit raws in rawtherapee/gimp as necessary

I'm particularly interested in camera settings as well as RAW development settings - I'm often finding I'm setting the black point and contrast 'high' in rawtherapee - but it's not clear to me how high would be normal for this process. I haven't fiddled with the 'negative' setting in rawtherapee beyond activating (I know that the main slider adjusts contrast when inverting the raw).

 

[Huss]

a/ Why are you using a tripod? No need with the ES-2. I just point it at the light tablet, hand held.
c/ Why are you manually focusing? Use AF in Live View. It nails focus on the grain in an instant and for me has been much more accurate than using manual focus in Live View.
d/ Use auto exposure. Set base ISO as low as it will go. Set lens aperture to F11.
e/ No need to use external release or delayed release. I just hand hold with the ES-2 as it is one rigid unit.
f/ If you have LR Classic, use negativelabpro.com. It is fantastic, super easy and super quick. I bought LR Classic just for this.

I have been using the above techniques with a D750, D850 and now Z7. No issues.

Example:

 

[Steinberg2010]

a/ Why are you using a tripod? No need with the ES-2. I just point it at the light tablet, hand held.
c/ Why are you manually focusing? Use AF in Live View. It nails focus on the grain in an instant and for me has been much more accurate than using manual focus in Live View.
d/ Use auto exposure. Set base ISO as low as it will go. Set lens aperture to F11.
e/ No need to use external release or delayed release. I just hand hold with the ES-2 as it is one rigid unit.
f/ If you have LR Classic, use negativelabpro.com. It is fantastic, super easy and super quick. I bought LR Classic just for this.

I have been using the above techniques with a D750, D850 and now Z7. No issues.

a) The tripod just suited my workflow - even lighting across the frame and no need to keep picking the camer up etc. ditto for the shutter release - it was just ergonomic that way.
c) Originally I tried using entangle (a linux tethering app) - it seemed to run in AF-C and it was hard to tell whether it was actually in focus on my monitor. I was having better results with MF. It's possible that I need to fine calibrate my lenses.
d) Would this be tricked/affected by the black neg holder (which is in the frame) and cause the cam to overexpose (I should probably just test this out...) - I'm as much asking if there's a consensus on scanning exposure. Am I exposing to the right to gain as much highlight detail when inverted?

 

[lukx]

I used the EF-1 before, together with a Micro-Nikkor 55 2.8.
I found that, since the holder directly attaches to the lens, I lost focus again and again after a couple shots, since moving the film through the holder wiggles the lens barrel. Also, the turning front of the ES-1 meant I had to watch out for frame alignment. I don't know whether the ES-2 behaves differently.


I now use a Novoflex macro repro stand (quite rare) and two macro focus rails for vertical and horizontal shifts of the camera. It sits on the light pad with a Kaiser negative holder on top, so no connection with the lens. A medium format bellows provides shade and blocks reflections. Works great. Expensive setup to build, though. Some might consider it overkill.

 

[css9450]

d) Would this be tricked/affected by the black neg holder (which is in the frame) and cause the cam to overexpose (I should probably just test this out...)

I worried about this too but I meter using Centerweighted pattern so any influence coming from the black edges is minimized. I doubt there is enough to effect the exposure. I have the size of the centerweighted area set fairly large.


But for 35mm negatives, I am able to fill the frame, so there are no dark edges like I get with 120.

 

[AlwaysOnAuto]

I tried a setup a lot like yours when I first scanned slides. I decided the best way to get the best exposure was to limit the light hitting the sensor to only that which is part of the picture being scanned.
I ended up with this setup in post #834 of this thread:



https://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161028&page=21

 

[Scottboarding]

a)
d) Would this be tricked/affected by the black neg holder (which is in the frame) and cause the cam to overexpose (I should probably just test this out...) - I'm as much asking if there's a consensus on scanning exposure. Am I exposing to the right to gain as much highlight detail when inverted?

I use the ES-2 with a lens that causes a fair amount of black edges. I find that setting the auto exposure to +2/3s of a stop results in good exposure. I found setting it to +1 stop resulted in clipping. I'm also using a Canon which has a completely different metering system so that number might be different for a Nikon.

I will say that I still use a tripod despite that not really being necessary for the ES-2. I find it easier to handle that way. But as Huss said, the self timer/shutter release isn't necessary for this setup.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

My suggestions for your recipe:
1. Mask light from outside the image area; dim or darken room
2. Use bright daylight light source (video light gives ~1/100th, flash is great but harder to rig)
3. Test for best f/stop. There will be some film un-flatness; I find f/8 helps
4. I like MF in live view magnified, but opinions vary
5. Exposure +1EV vs camera meter. Or, if you want to judge ETTR, ignore R & B, judge only by the Green channel. Check this in RAWDigger or other RAW inspector if you want more precision. My camera histograms are misleading (show red clipping when it isn't happening in RAW).