Dust or scratches?

[ctrlFmylife]

Hi all,

Picture 1
Picture 2

My scans looks horrible. Could someone if it's dust or scratches that affect the picture? Dust I can hopefully remove when I have better tools but scratches would indicate that I need to process it somewhere else.

(raw scan with epson v500, epson software no ICE, fuji superia 200, olympus xa).


Thanks,

 

[begona]

Ups.. I see your Picture 1 without dust 🙂

And it is dust and hairs...In most of that Photostudios they do not care about negatives so negatives are full of dust... Scratches are on film if you have straight horizontal lines over whole negative.

Cheers

 

[Jack Conrad]

dust..........

 

[Jack Conrad]

I recently read that when drying your film, blow up a balloon, rub it with a cloth
and hang it near the drying film. Static electricity will cause the dust to stick to the balloon and not your film.

 

[ctrlFmylife]

Interesting method Jack Conrad! I have my film developed so unfortunately I cannot test it (for now).

What's the general opinion of flatbed scanning, post processing the dust out or finding methods to properly clean film before scanning?

 

[cabbiinc]

Interesting method Jack Conrad! I have my film developed so unfortunately I cannot test it (for now).

What's the general opinion of flatbed scanning, post processing the dust out or finding methods to properly clean film before scanning?

For flatbeds pick up an antistatic cloth. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/24592-REG/Ilford_1203547_Antistaticum_Anti_Static_Cloth.html
Also and antistatic brush for the negs/slides http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/26192-REG/Kinetronics_KSSW030_Model_30_Plastic_Handle.html

and if you find that the dust is in the same spot on multiple negatives check the cleanliness of the glass both in the flatbed and the lid inside and out. On my HP Scanjet G4050 I finally just removed the glass in the lid and that made a tremendous improvement. It also voided anything left of the warranty.

 

[johnny.moped]

Or just buy a decent film cleaner:
http://kinetronics.com/store/staticvac1.html
http://kinetronics.com/store/kse.html

Cinemas and professional Labs are using these.

 

[Ronald M]

Digital files are always ( well almost always) clean. My film has a certain amount of dots that need cleaning. These dots do not show on wet prints 99% of the time even with Leica enlargers and lenses. I am convinced the dots are emulsion defects. Chemicals are fresh, never reused, water goes thru a 3 micron water filter, air is filtered with two HEPA air filters. Film is immediately cut and filed as soon as completely dry. Still I get dots. Tanks and lids are cleaned well after every use and stored were they remain clean. Chemicals are in glass bottles which I keep clean. Never squeegee or wipe film-drain ie gravity

Most film these days goes thru Leica brass cassettes so the film never touches anything. They are filled from 100 foot reel to reel with a bench winder in the dark. Nothing comes near the film.

Scratches are handling problems. Trace them down.

healing tool or spot healing tool in photoshop are best.

 

[crispy12]

If you have photoshop, the healing tool does wonders. Can clean up your scans in about half a minute, just by painting over the lines. It looks seamless too.

Better to avoid it by having clean negs but there will always be some dust and worst, scratches which cannot be cleaned. I've stopped using ICE software in favour of photoshop.