the end of film (for me)

AusDLK

AusDLK

Famous Photographer
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I am as angry has I can remember.

I just went to examine 10+ rolls of film that I had recently run through my Nikon 5000 scanner with a roll film adapter.

Each roll (plus four others I did later did for a friend) are increasingly miss-framed as the scanner got toward the end of end of 36 frames.

Forget the fact that I failed to examine the first complete roll to to catch this ~14 rolls ago. This had not happened to me before. I have always completely scanned every roll I take. Up til now, I have accepted the hassle of scanning as a fact of my photographic life.

But to go back and scan each of these rolls six frames at a time (I cut the film when the scanning is done) will take a ridiculously long time.

On top of that, I don't know happened to my scanner. Hardware? Did the horribly designed Silverfast software suddenly forget how to advance frames properly? And don't even mention Vuescan -- it is SO much worse from a user-interface point of view that it borders on pathetic.

I want to make pictures, not f**k with things like this.

So, film is history for me. Anyone want to make me an offer on a Leica IIIf + lenses, a Nikon S3 2000 + lenses, two 0.58 Leica M7s, and a possibly busted Nikon 5000 scanner, feel free.

I don't need this s**t any more.
 
Dave, i hate scanning film too as it take a lot of time. the solution i've found is to get my rolls developed and scanned at the lab. i get decent files and no hassle with spending my time with scanning. of course it's more expensive than having a scanner and just paying the lab to process the rolls, but it saves me a lot of patience and made me reconsider film (i too was feeling like getting rid of all film photography stuff, and considering going back to digital).
 
There are times when one must stop and reevaluate. Try not to dump every thing too quickly. Film is expensive and a lot of work but I still do it in preference to digital. I do have a lab do my scanning. There are times when I just have to get my M8 out and go shooting. Jim
 
Dave,
I came to this same conclusion at the end of 2009. I decided not to use film beginning January 1, 2010 and have stuck to this decision since then. Like you, I got tired of the workflow. I was tired of the scanning, tired of paying for film, and tired taking film to be developed and waiting for the results.
Digital works very well for me. I just don't have the hours and hours of extra time that film requires. And for me, the results from film are not as good as my results from digital.
Eric
 
Bummer. Well, at least you do have negs to re-scan. That's better than discovering you have 400 trashed images on a card that went bad. I'm still looking for the perfect answer. I have pretty much given up on 35mm film. It's hard for me to quit 120 though.
 
I only have the SA-21 adapter and not the full-roll version and generally have pretty good luck with the framing. This is true even on rolls where the frames are unevenly spaced. Have you performed maintenance on your adapter? The film feed rollers may need cleaning. Instructions are in the scanner manual.


Steve


(If that is not the problem, you can send the scanner to me. I need one for parts.)
 
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ahh at least you did not lose any shots. I mean they are not destroyed or anything, you can re-scan it. A month ago, I had to develop a roll with a tank I borrowed as mine was not available. During development, the spiral has been opened in the tank somehow and realized the film. So developer did not penetrated the film thoroughly causing most of shots damaged. I was able to save ~10 shots and a couple with post processing but I was pissed off to the hell. I said the same thing. That is it. Film is dead for me. I still shoot now. I just learned that I need to stick to the method and equipment I used to.
 
don't throw out the junk just yet. last thursday i went for a walk with a borrowed D7000, reportedly one of the best sensors available for less than the price of a car. i know what i'm doing, both shooting and processing, and still--burnt out highlights, closed down shadows, the range is not there yet (other parameters ok)

now as for storage...

:angel:
 
Thanks for this insightful post. You managed to convince me to pickup an enlarger, and print photos again. Hope to do so in the coming weeks :)
 
Crazy. I was just thinking the exact opposite this morning while scanning. I love the quality and the scanning can be done while folding laundry or doing other chores. Hindsight being what it is, you have now learned to check rolls after you scan them.

Good advice on cleaning the rollers. I should probably do that for the first time in the 7 years I have had the scanner.
 
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sazerac said:
Crazy. I was just thinking the exact opposite this morning while scanning. I love the quality and the scanning can be done while folding laundry or doing other chores. Hindsight being what it is, you have now learned to check rolls after you scan them.
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I'm with you. I always preview before doing the full scan, as to make sure what OP experienced doesn't happen to me.
 
"Dave, i hate scanning film too as it take a lot of time. the solution i've found is to get my rolls developed and scanned at the lab. i get decent files and no hassle with spending my time with scanning. of course it's more expensive than having a scanner and just paying the lab to process the rolls, but it saves me a lot of patience and made me reconsider film (i too was feeling like getting rid of all film photography stuff, and considering going back to digital)."

I've taken a different approach. I no longer develop my own film, and I've switched to XP2 to take advantage of ICE. The film is cut into 6-strips at the Lab (a Lab used mostly by pros (www.colorservicesllc.com), and they make a contact sheet for me. From the contact sheet I can easily pick out the "winners" (maybe ~10%).

I then scan (NikonScan) only the winners on my Nikon 4000 at the highest resolution, because the end product of my workflow is a fairly large archival print. So, I've never understood the need to scan the entire roll.

Of course, if the end product of one's workflow is a low res jpeg for web posting, and/or if the % of winners is typically very high, then my workflow wouldn't be appropriate.

Harry
 
To manage the stress that is scanning, I use a cheap quick digi-cam style scanner which lets me scan at pretty bad quality very quickly. These proofs let me choose which ones I wish to spend time on. If I had to scan all of them full res, I'd go nuts too.
 
sazerac said:
Crazy. I was just thinking the exact opposite this morning while scanning. I love the quality and the scanning can be done while folding laundry or doing other chores. Hindsight being what it is, you have now learned to check rolls after you scan them.
Click to expand...

Same here! It's a rainy day here in No. Cal. I've been scanning shots (5 at a time!! :eek:) from the seven rolls of film I shot at the Carnival parade last week—multitasking all the while—and loving the DR of film. It was a clear sunny day and most of the digital photogs who I shot with that day are complaining about blown highlights and unmanageable contrast (or they spent the day shooting in the shade).


/
 
Yes, I understand your frustration. At times I wonder if I'm crazy to still be using film. In a recent trip to Peru with my Peruvian girlfriend, I shot 20 rolls of color, and some of black and white. Then when I got back, I had all that color film developed and scanned by Precision Camera, and for not an insignificant amount of money. When I waited for the scanned images to return, I thought again: "am I mad?"

She uses a Nikon P90. I know it's not a fair comparison since the P90 has a small sensor, but still, we were both blown away by the color richness and trueness of Ektar 100 compared to her digital shots. The exposure latitude with digital is so tight, that unless the exposure is nailed precisely, the color is weak and just not that great. Even if my framing wasn't great, or my selection of subject wasn't truly artistic, nearly every single shot I took of the Ektra 100 came out really nice, with incredible color. The comparison between my shots and hers on the color saturation alone, convinced me that I did the right thing in the long run.

Now, if only I can improve on my artistic skill! :bang:

I have no doubt that at some time I'll augment my shooting with something digital. I'm just not sure what it'll be, nor am I sure it's quite there for me yet. I love shooting film, and as my girlfriend says: while I enjoy it, keep doing it.

I sympathize with the time spent scanning. However, I know those that use a digital workflow tend to spend a ton of time editing the millions of shots they took, then sending hours in photoshop getting things just right. At least in most cases if I got a decent shot with film, even with the scanning, I think I spend no more time then they do in post-processing. At least that's what I've observed so far.
 
Welcome home my boy.

darkroom.jpg
 
AusDLK said:
I am as angry has I can remember.

I just went to examine 10+ rolls of film that I had recently run through my Nikon 5000 scanner with a roll film adapter.

Each roll (plus four others I did later did for a friend) are increasingly miss-framed as the scanner got toward the end of end of 36 frames.

Forget the fact that I failed to examine the first complete roll to to catch this ~14 rolls ago. This had not happened to me before. I have always completely scanned every roll I take. Up til now, I have accepted the hassle of scanning as a fact of my photographic life.

But to go back and scan each of these rolls six frames at a time (I cut the film when the scanning is done) will take a ridiculously long time.

On top of that, I don't know happened to my scanner. Hardware? Did the horribly designed Silverfast software suddenly forget how to advance frames properly? And don't even mention Vuescan -- it is SO much worse from a user-interface point of view that it borders on pathetic.

I want to make pictures, not f**k with things like this.

So, film is history for me. Anyone want to make me an offer on a Leica IIIf + lenses, a Nikon S3 2000 + lenses, two 0.58 Leica M7s, and a possibly busted Nikon 5000 scanner, feel free.

I don't need this s**t any more.
Click to expand...

Just send it to Precision Camera there in Austin... oh, and I would love your IIIf!:)
 
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