mfogiel
Veteran
Woolen Mammoth
The obvious cure for blown highlights is to scan as positive. If they are still blown, it means that you plainly overdevelop your negatives.
AndrewNYC
The Vuescan settings need some experimenting, but you have a lot of control-
So the basic tips:
- set the output to tiff or raw, I use tiff
- set the input to b&w negative and select Tmax 0.4 CI settings in the colour tab
- set the bits to 16 ( scanning as 48bit rgb only makes sense if you use a staining developer),
- display the histogram in the preview - if the histogram does not go to zero on the right side, scan as positive
- make sure after the preview,to set the scanning area so that it does not include transparent film, if your histogram does not adjust after you have taken the transparent areas out, redo the preview before scanning
- untag ICE and sharpening
You should be set. Remember to keep the negatives as flat and dust free as possible.
The obvious cure for blown highlights is to scan as positive. If they are still blown, it means that you plainly overdevelop your negatives.
AndrewNYC
The Vuescan settings need some experimenting, but you have a lot of control-
So the basic tips:
- set the output to tiff or raw, I use tiff
- set the input to b&w negative and select Tmax 0.4 CI settings in the colour tab
- set the bits to 16 ( scanning as 48bit rgb only makes sense if you use a staining developer),
- display the histogram in the preview - if the histogram does not go to zero on the right side, scan as positive
- make sure after the preview,to set the scanning area so that it does not include transparent film, if your histogram does not adjust after you have taken the transparent areas out, redo the preview before scanning
- untag ICE and sharpening
You should be set. Remember to keep the negatives as flat and dust free as possible.
clayne
shoot film or die
It's recommend to not use any of the b&w negative film types whatsoever. Set b&w vendor to GENERIC, b&w brand to COLOR, b&w type to NEGATIVE. There is never a need to scan as positive or monkey around with the histogram.
The goal is to have a flat scan and not have VueScan modify anything (since one is going to be doing it after the fact anyways). Setting Tmax contrast indexes will definitely burn in a contrast to the scan that you're better off doing in a dedicated editor like PS, LR, or Aperture - allowing one to preserve the flat and original scan.
If the histogram is not appropriate for the scene, the black point (or exposure) is not set appropriately for the film base - resulting in a misrepresentation of black and artificial shifting of tones. This is what has to be corrected.
The goal is to have a flat scan and not have VueScan modify anything (since one is going to be doing it after the fact anyways). Setting Tmax contrast indexes will definitely burn in a contrast to the scan that you're better off doing in a dedicated editor like PS, LR, or Aperture - allowing one to preserve the flat and original scan.
If the histogram is not appropriate for the scene, the black point (or exposure) is not set appropriately for the film base - resulting in a misrepresentation of black and artificial shifting of tones. This is what has to be corrected.
srtiwari
Daktari
Clayne,
Your Tutorial on Flickr is great. Any way for me to download the entire sequence for Offline viewing ? I prefer to make a file and keep it as links often break down. Simply using a "feed" and then making a pdf file does not provide large enough pics of the settings. Downloading each picture separately is more difficult to keep the order right.
Thanks,
Subhash
Your Tutorial on Flickr is great. Any way for me to download the entire sequence for Offline viewing ? I prefer to make a file and keep it as links often break down. Simply using a "feed" and then making a pdf file does not provide large enough pics of the settings. Downloading each picture separately is more difficult to keep the order right.
Thanks,
Subhash
Lilserenity
Well-known
Not that this helps much but I have a Coolscan LS30 and do scan with it. However, I find my best results come from printing the negs in my darkroom on to a decent sized print (8x10 or above) and then scanning on my relatively cheap Canon flatbed scanner. I get much more pleasing results that way, especially with the cost of darkroom + flatbed or Nikon Coolscan compares favourably - plus you have the joy of developing your own prints. Not for everyone though I guess.
Hope you don't read this as a "Don't do digital" reply - not at all, I just know from experience that scans straight from the negative require much more fiddling with in photoshop than scanning from a print. I'm a photoshop whizz (been using it since 1995 so I should be) but in the evening after work I'm glad not to open it!
Hope you don't read this as a "Don't do digital" reply - not at all, I just know from experience that scans straight from the negative require much more fiddling with in photoshop than scanning from a print. I'm a photoshop whizz (been using it since 1995 so I should be) but in the evening after work I'm glad not to open it!
robertdfeinman
Robert Feinman
Tips
Tips
I have a bunch of tips relating to scanning on my web site. Just follow the tips link on the home page.
Some of the topics include how to scan B&W. How to use color negative film to emulate color filters when making B&W prints. How to properly sharpen scanned negatives to make up for shortcomings of scanners.
Tips
I have a bunch of tips relating to scanning on my web site. Just follow the tips link on the home page.
Some of the topics include how to scan B&W. How to use color negative film to emulate color filters when making B&W prints. How to properly sharpen scanned negatives to make up for shortcomings of scanners.