Scanners and contact sheets

[bkrystad]

New here. I'm still trying to find a process/path to follow with my adventures in film, and scanning is one of the forks in the road I want to evaluate.

My intention is to shoot B&W 35mm (still trying different films to settle on one) and for now I'm developing at A&I and asking for pearl contact sheets instead of digital proofs. I like contact sheets for a) good chemical positives and b) ease of storage. For the few shots I take that I want larger prints of, I can handle specific frames at a place like A&I.

What would be the pros/cons of scanning these contact sheets on a flatbed and enlarging a few frames from there for the sake of proofing on screen and sharing on the web? I'm not interested in a lot of post processing, I just want to share the chemical positives I'm getting from A&I.

On the surface, this sounds reasonable to me. I'm not as excited about scanning the developed negatives and doing a bunch of digital processing myself. I guess you could say I'd like to see the results of wet processing while keeping my hands dry.

Anyone tried this? Is this a workable solution? Or nuts?

 

[Pablito]

Hi, can't comment too much on the main thrust of your post except to say you're not nuts. I do the scanning bit from time to time but I much perfer "real" contacts. However, I would advise against pearl contacts because it's much harder to judge focus on pearl contact sheets. Glossy may not be as applealing but it's smoother and thus there is much more clarity in the contact print when you examine it under a loupe. The image is not broken up by the bumpy pearl surface.

 

[bkrystad]

Thanks for the thoughts on pearl v. glossy, I wasn't aware of the effect on perceived focus.

My original post is a ramble, I know, but I also forgot a couple questions. If I'm going to scan 8x11 contact sheets of 35mm frames, what is the lowest-end scanner I can get away with for decent web-quality sharing? Best DPI level? Best scanner for reflective B&W scans?

 

[Tim Gray]

I'm not an expert on flatbed scanners, but the Epson V100 seems like a decent scanner for the money for web usage. It's about $100. My brother just got one and I'm going to borrow it soon to test it out on some wet prints and negs I have, but for web use it should be fine.

 

[kaiyen]

If you're scanning reflective materials (rather than "transparent" stuff like film), then just about any flatbed would be fine. They long ago perfected that technology. So, as expressed before, you have to consider the texture of the item (pearl vs glossy), but most scanners would be fine.

This is a perfectly sound idea, unless you want to show a more finished print than a straight contact sheet crop.

allan

 

[Xmas]

I'd suggest develop yourself and scan negatives for proof on computer screen, then ink jet or wetprint enlarge. If it is a hobby and you have time you may regret not going the whole hog early.

Noel

 

[ddutchison]

My experience with using a flat-bed scanner for contacts is that the images are pretty mushy when enlarged to any decent viewing size.

I do find the exercise worth the effort for evaluating frames (in particular, I like to "photoshop" an image before I go into the darkroom to get an idea of where I want to go with it in printing), but if I want to share pics on line, I have to enlarge the frame to 3-1/2 X 5 and scan that to get decent sharpness.

Maybe flatbed scanners have improved in the last 3 years, I know mine wasn't the most expensive one available. I guess you could always take a good contact sheet (on glossy paper, made with the negs in actual contact with the paper - not through a transparent Print-file neg holder) to your local computer shop and test out the scanners for yourself. If you can find a good enough scanner, it'd be a great idea.

 

[mc_vancouver]

Dave, do you use a film scanner as well? I've been thinking of getting one, so my negs go to digital. I can't do my own processing, no space, etc in apartment. SO the cost in Vancouver to dev and contact is around $11 and to d&p black and white is an astronomical $25 which is ridiculous. Suggestions welcome

 

[ddutchison]

Dave, do you use a film scanner as well? I've been thinking of getting one, so my negs go to digital. I can't do my own processing, no space, etc in apartment. SO the cost in Vancouver to dev and contact is around $11 and to d&p black and white is an astronomical $25 which is ridiculous. Suggestions welcome

No film scanner as yet (When they stop making photo paper altogether, or when the very best scanners made today are available - used - for $100 or less, then I'll get one 😉. I expect the latter will happen soon enough, I hope the former never does.).

Somewhere on this site there is a huge thread comparing film scanners, you might want to have a look for it, it'll be quite helpful. Given your situation a film scanner seems a good solution (btw, you don't need a darkroom to develop film, just a tank, a film change bag, three good bottles and a thermometer. If you have any questions please feel free to p.m. me, I don't want to take bkrystad's post too far off topic.

cheers...