Feedback request: thoughts on contrast in b&w photos

[rich815]

bml, I'd stick to APX 100 and 400 for your trip. Perhaps take a roll of XP2 for the heck of it. Have fun, I love London.

Your raw scan looks alright. I'll try to fool with it later tonight when I'm home at my "digital darkroom" workstation. One thing I'd recommend off the bat is to crop before your scan down to not include the dark edges of the film outside the frame of the image.

Also, download and try Vuescan with the 4490. I much prefer it to either NikonScan or EpsonScan myself. It can be found at www.hamrick.com

 

[bml]

I've read before than cropping the junk out before scanning helps, but I don't think I've noticed a difference. Even scanning one frame at a time versus eight simultaneously doesn't seem to matter, unless I haven't tested enough to notice...

I mucked around with Vuescan for a couple days a month or so ago, but I should probably try it again now that I have a somewhat clearer idea... (Too bad it's not freeware, phooey.)

 

[robertdfeinman]

Scanning

Scanning

The two biggest things which affect scanned film are the type of scanner and the software used.

I didn't notice if you stated what scanner you are using, but good 35mm scanning requires a scanner with at least 2700 dpi resolution. Minolta (RIP), Nikon and Canon have good models. If you are planning bigger enlargements than you should aim for one of the 4000+ dpi scanners.

The second point is the software. I have found that none of the vendor supplied software is much good. I suggest giving Vuescan from hamrick.com a try. It is shareware so you can evaluate it for free.

The main thing when scanning is not to lose any values by having data clipped at either end. I think I see some of this in your postings in the highlights. Most scanner software clips in order to give a punchy look.

Next you shouldn't be afraid to apply some unsharp masking to the scan. Even good scanners blur the image and this needs to compensated for. A good try would be a radius of about one to two pixels for the type of scanner I suggested. Contrast and brightness are best controlled using the curves feature in Photoshop. It is much more flexible than levels or the other easy tools. As long as you have developed enough for good shadow density in the negative you can get any "look" you wish by adjusting the curve.

Finally after you make your edits you may want to apply another sharpening step to match your output device. Web viewing at 72 dpi has different needs than a print at 300 dpi. Some people keep their edited image and make separate output copies for each use.

A good place for advice is the scantips.com site. I also have some tips on scanning on my web site which you may find useful. Film, lens, developing and all the things we used to fret over in a traditional darkroom are not as important as a good digital workflow.

 

[Dan States]

I just did a bit of twiddling with the contrast and brightness, then burned in the white spots a bit. Totally usable image with some minor adjustments. APX is a hard film to scan well. The best I have found so far is ACROS.

 

[tetrisattack]

Well, I don't know what use this is, but here's another version, this one mine.

Mostly a lot of local curves adjustments (done with adjustment layers and layer masks) and some cleanup and toning work.

Out of respect, I rarely do this to others' work but this one seemed fun.

 

[rich815]

Ok, quick version of my take before I head out for a business dinner. Your scan is pretty good overall I think.

I really like that film.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

There are so many different variables between processing and scanning, it's almost overwhelming...

<snip>

I also use an Epson 4490, which is somewhat of a frustrating beast, since the Epson Scan software is somewhat limiting, and any changes in the software's histrogram, etc. do not seem to affect the final scans very much. (In my bit of testing experience, anyway.)

Very nice images. And great before- and after- images.

I always recommend Silverfast, but with the Epson flatbed scanners, VueScan is certainly more than enough. Don't use multi-sampling with the Epson flatbed, it's a waste of time, imo.

VueScan is a heaven-sent compared to the Epson software.

Nice job.

 

[bml]

Cool, cool.

It's great to see how other people approach editing the original scan. It gives me ideas on how to best refine my own approach, and I'm thankful that you all took the time to share!

Thanks! Very useful.