Is There Anything More Boring Than Scanning??

[maggieo]

Spotting a bunch of traditional darkroom prints by hand is way worse than scanning, because one slip and there goes an entire print. If you're printing from a damaged negative, it's even worse.

Hours of boredom and tedium, spiked with moments of terror, especially if you have to go and re-print the neg and ghod help you if you have to burn and dodge that sucker, too.

 

[Nikon Bob]

There must be something more boring than scanning film and if there isn't it just has not been discovered/invented yet.

Bob

 

[unclescarMT]

I'm in the middle of scanning a wedding I shot last weekend and yes, it is terribly boring. though many of the previous posters are correct: it IS an opportunity to multitask (editing & cropping, developing more BW negs, housework, and so on). doesn't make me enjoy the tedium of it any more, but at least it's not totally unproductive...

 

[tlitody]

There must be something more boring than scanning film and if there isn't it just has not been discovered/invented yet.

Bob

There is. It's talking about how boring it is.

 

[Nikon Bob]

There is. It's talking about how boring it is.

I knew I missed something, you are right.

Bob

 

[bensyverson]

Why on earth are you scanning 1000 frames?

For that kind of volume, outsourcing is the only sane solution.

 

[???]

I like scanning because it is akin in some ways to dropping the paper in the developer.

The time it takes and the problems associated with it could nicely be reduced, but I think they also add to the pleasure of getting the scan. I read somewhere that commercials on television actually made the shows more enjoyable because they added more anticipation, so maybe scanning (at least in reasonable numbers) is similar. For 1000... maybe not.

 

[yoyo22]

If you do need all those 1000 frames for some reason and they are whole rolls, get a roll feeder, that way at least you can do it unattended.

The roll feeder does not work with the Coolscan V. He would need a Coolscan 5000. Then he either gets the expensive roll feeder, or he modifies the included strip feeder to eat whole rolls. Did that with mine - works great. I used to hate scanning before I got that thing.

 

[Gradskater]

My solution was dual monitors and a Netflix account. Watch the movie while scanning. I usually pick a movie I have seen before, so I can half pay attention to it.

I do the EXACT same thing. Makes the time pass much faster.

 

[RayPA]

It was (5-6 years ago) when I started scanning 10 rolls of film containing motor-driven shots of a youth soccer match that I decided to buy a DSLR. Talk about boring! So, I am very careful about what I shoot to film (mostly personal work and 'special' family shots). Working this way has made scanning something that I actually enjoy and look forward to.

/

 

[sahe69]

Melting ice in room temperature without any aid?

 

[wgerrard]

Why on earth are you scanning 1000 frames?

For that kind of volume, outsourcing is the only sane solution.

As I said earlier, I'm not actually scanning 1000 frames. (It's just short of 1000.) While I am feeding everything into the scanner, I'm only scanning every third or fourth frame. I am letting the scanner preview each frame. That's my choice over a lightbox and a loupe, and is quick and pain free.

These are holiday snaps. Paying someone to scan them is out of the question.

As I've also mentioned, these are very unusual numbers for me. Happens maybe once or twice a year. But it does point out the downside of the so-called hybrid approach.

In truth, I usually switch to another window and start working in PS while the scanner grinds away.

 

[l.mar]

"Is There Anything More Boring Than Scanning??"

Yes. "Reviewing" with the little tiny screen at the back of a digital camera.

 

[MatthewThompson]

Sounds like a job to enjoy music with. I'd be scanning contact sheets and scanning one to two frames per roll after looking through them all.

 

[vdonovan]

[vent]

I'm scanning about 1000 frames of 35mm with my Coolscan V ED, one little strip at a time.

Good Lord, this is tedious.

[/vent]

No. I hate hours spent scanning. I hate hours spent dicking with Photoshop. Put me in the darkroom anytime and I'll be happy.

 

[jan normandale]

Cutting the grass is up there.

Personally I like the fact people don't enjoy scanning. It means sooner or later they'll migrate to digital, sell their cameras and lenses (maybe even a stash of film in the fridge) and I get to buy quality stuff.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

That's the perfect time for striping and waxing the deck outside the office. 😀 Anyone bored while sitting in an office on the mid-watch isn't properly applying themselves!

Now Quarterdeck watch is boring! Thankfully I only had to do that a few times, as it wasn't a normal watch for my rates.

Zane

I stood the very last quarterdeck watch of the last millennium aboard the USS John C. Stennis. I had to write the special New Year's entry and before I wrote it in-final in the log I had to have it approved by OOW and NavO. That was stressful.

The stripping & waxing comment makes me think you're a Chief 😀
Back in 1998 we were doing a S L O W transit across the Indian Ocean due to a tropical storm and I was still PO3 so I had to find myself "gainful employment" or the DivO was going to send me to the Wardroom Mess. I decided to strip & wax the O6 level Admiral's passageway with handheld green scrubbers, a small sponge and a few acid swabbing brushes. I put 3 layers of wax on that deck and it never looked better, even after they urethaned it in late 2000.

Good times, good times...

Phil Forrest

 

[Ronald M]

Scanning is not boring unless you put it on auto and expect decent results. Watching paint dry is next best fun thing.

 

[Morca007]

Spotting a bunch of traditional darkroom prints by hand is way worse than scanning, because one slip and there goes an entire print. If you're printing from a damaged negative, it's even worse.

Hours of boredom and tedium, spiked with moments of terror, especially if you have to go and re-print the neg and ghod help you if you have to burn and dodge that sucker, too.

Agreed, infinitely worse than scanning. At least with photoshop and a decent scratch-disk I have an absurd number of undos.

 

[filmfan]

Scanning is not too bad... You can scan and read simultaneously. Or, if you can't stand to stop reading every few pages to scan the next frame, just waste more time on RFF while the scans are going.