Too dark images. Why?

[Bill58]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2447125827/

Shot in daylight using CLA'd Gossen Luna Pro, Fomapan 400 film, Canon L1 with J3. soryy don't remember settings, but exactly as meter called for.

What's the reason? Operator or equipment error?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[charjohncarter]

Who developed, are the negatives thin, dense, and have you used the same combo with a different camera?

 

[Matthew Allen]

How's the negative look? If it's fine then it's a scanning problem.

Matthew

 

[Bill58]

How's the negative look? If it's fine then it's a scanning problem.

Matthew

Good tip--I'm gonna get another shop to scan the same negatives, then see what I get.

 

[Matthew Allen]

But do they look well exposed? (Not too dense, not too thin.) You can tell simply by inspecting them.

Matthew

 

[Bill58]

But do they look well exposed? (Not too dense, not too thin.) You can tell simply by inspecting them.

Matthew

I'm not sure of what I'm looking at, but the negatives look OK. Should I get prints or another CD made by the 2nd shop to check the 1st scans?

There are SO MANY variables in this!!!

 

[Bill58]

If your light meter was CLA'd, I can't think of a reason why not to trust it.

If your negatives were overexposed, certain parts of the scene would appear brighter than some others. Your would also have MUCH more detail in the shadow areas, and from looking at your scanned print, this is not so.

If they were underexposed, in this instance, you wouldn't be able to see the wrinkles in the fabric. It would be just one solid color, black.

From what little I know about photography, I'd be willing to bet that it was just the scanner, not a problem caused by you or your meter.

Cheers!

I guess that's good news--we'll see when I get new scans.

 

[craygc]

Without knowing anything about the neg, the example scan is not well scanned and/or processed. It has no contrast due to having neither the black or white points set. It would likely improve with a little post-processing but a better scan to address the shadow detail is more in order.

 

[Bill58]

Without knowing anything about the neg, the example scan is not well scanned and/or processed. It has no contrast due to having neither the black or white points set. It would likely improve with a little post-processing but a better scan to address the shadow detail is more in order.

I just dropped off the negs at another shop (Kodak) and the guy there said they were "underdeveloped" and will try to correct in a second scan--we'll see.

The first lab is supposed to be a "pro lab", but pretty cheap-$5.00/roll of 36 for processing/ scanning. Maybe you get what you pay for.

 

[Bill58]

The second scans are perfect. Now, I've got some good images. Thanks very much to everyone who gave me advice.

Bill