Noll
Well-known
Hi all
I've had my eye on this camera for some time now. As a botanist who photographs tiny plant parts, wants keep bulk & weight to a minimum, and shoot & scan film, this appeared to be one camera that could "do it all" for me. A couple weeks ago I finally broke down and bought one.
Previously I used a Panasonic G3 to scan film. This worked well, but the color never thrilled me, nor did the noisy sensor. I could stitch 4-6 photos on a 35 mm frame, but keeping everything level was a headache. My practical limit was 2-3 shots at about 1:2.5 reproduction. This was plenty to work with in theory but, again, the colors & noisy output. Once I broke the LCD, it was time for an upgrade.
Up first is a 35mm Velvia 50 slide. Shot with an OM-4 and 24 mm f/2.8 OM Zuiko.
Full frame shot, imaged with an EM-5 Mk II and 35mm f/3.5 Zuiko (4/3 system). NR turned "off" (or as low as it lets you go)
16 mp jpeg crop, uprezzed to 40 mp equivalent:
40 mp jpeg crop:
Clean output, hi res, and color that comes fairly close to the slide...for the first time since I started, scanning is exciting again! Because, finally, I am getting results that begin to equal the quality of the image on the film. 7100 pixels on the long end roughly equals 200 pixels per mm, or 5000 pixels per inch when imaging a full 35mm frame. No Epson comes close, a Coolscan 5000 can't match this, nor can a 16 mp equivalent digital.
It's not all perfect. I am still struggling to keep shadows and highlights balanced. I suppose bracketing with some kind of post-processing HDR technique would remedy this. But considering that I mostly shoot jpeg, I am not inclined to lots of post-processing. Any suggestions or links to tutorials on how to do this would be appreciated. Also, I suspect my refrigerator produces enough floor vibration when running to cause slight artifacts to show during a 40mp exposure! Let me know if I've cranked the saturation too high, my monitor has very muted colors.
But so far, I'm very happy with the results....more to come 😀
I've had my eye on this camera for some time now. As a botanist who photographs tiny plant parts, wants keep bulk & weight to a minimum, and shoot & scan film, this appeared to be one camera that could "do it all" for me. A couple weeks ago I finally broke down and bought one.
Previously I used a Panasonic G3 to scan film. This worked well, but the color never thrilled me, nor did the noisy sensor. I could stitch 4-6 photos on a 35 mm frame, but keeping everything level was a headache. My practical limit was 2-3 shots at about 1:2.5 reproduction. This was plenty to work with in theory but, again, the colors & noisy output. Once I broke the LCD, it was time for an upgrade.
Up first is a 35mm Velvia 50 slide. Shot with an OM-4 and 24 mm f/2.8 OM Zuiko.
Full frame shot, imaged with an EM-5 Mk II and 35mm f/3.5 Zuiko (4/3 system). NR turned "off" (or as low as it lets you go)
16 mp jpeg crop, uprezzed to 40 mp equivalent:
40 mp jpeg crop:
Clean output, hi res, and color that comes fairly close to the slide...for the first time since I started, scanning is exciting again! Because, finally, I am getting results that begin to equal the quality of the image on the film. 7100 pixels on the long end roughly equals 200 pixels per mm, or 5000 pixels per inch when imaging a full 35mm frame. No Epson comes close, a Coolscan 5000 can't match this, nor can a 16 mp equivalent digital.
It's not all perfect. I am still struggling to keep shadows and highlights balanced. I suppose bracketing with some kind of post-processing HDR technique would remedy this. But considering that I mostly shoot jpeg, I am not inclined to lots of post-processing. Any suggestions or links to tutorials on how to do this would be appreciated. Also, I suspect my refrigerator produces enough floor vibration when running to cause slight artifacts to show during a 40mp exposure! Let me know if I've cranked the saturation too high, my monitor has very muted colors.
But so far, I'm very happy with the results....more to come 😀
