Workflow for pano (24x54mm)

[Igor.Burshteyn]

I got 135W back for Bronica ETRSi, now I am wandering how to get 24x54mm negatives printed/scanned. I guess XPan negatives are of similar dimensions (24x65mm?), and XPan workflow would fit. Any chance minilabs can print from pano negatives, and scan them? And if not, what scanner/workflow do you use?

 

[laptoprob]

My Horizont makes negatives 24x58mm. I am thinking of scanning them in two pieces (ordinary 35mm film scanner), cleaning in tiff, saving as jpg and stitching them with the software I got with the first generation of Canon Elph (=Ixus) digicams.
I'd rather stitch them as tiffs but that doesn't work. I wouldn't know how to stitch in photoshop.

 

[bobwith2bees]

My Horizont makes negatives 24x58mm. I am thinking of scanning them in two pieces (ordinary 35mm film scanner), cleaning in tiff, saving as jpg and stitching them with the software I got with the first generation of Canon Elph (=Ixus) digicams.
I'd rather stitch them as tiffs but that doesn't work. I wouldn't know how to stitch in photoshop.

Rob:

I also have a Horizon 202 and I just purchased a scanner last week.


(Approaching Farwell Canyon, BC - click for larger view)
C-41 iso: 100 scanned with Epson 4990, 1/8" F8

I have a pile of Pano negatives (35mm & 6x12 format) which will now keep me busy until summer rolls around


bob

 

[chrishayton]

I scan my xpan negs on a flat bed scanner, scan them whole and requires no stitching, the quality of them is very good too.

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

The best quality I got from panoramics taken with the Noblex 135 S (24 x 66mm) were scanned on a Nikon Coolscan 4000 (now upgraded to the Nikon Coolscan 5000). I had to scan them in two pieces, as the Coolscan only allows 24 x 36mm, but you then have enough overlap in both picture halves to do a perfect stitching. Stitching in Photoshop is quite straightforward, but it is time consuming as well.

I also used a basic software made by Canon with a stitch option, results were surprisingly good. It also corrects for slight colour nuances between the two picture halves. Alas, I don't recall the Canon software's name.

I haven't tried a flatbed scanner, but it seems to be the easiest solution.

 

[laptoprob]

stitching

stitching

The best quality I got from panoramics taken with the Noblex 135 S (24 x 66mm) were scanned on a Nikon Coolscan 4000 (now upgraded to the Nikon Coolscan 5000). I had to scan them in two pieces, as the Coolscan only allows 24 x 36mm, but you then have enough overlap in both picture halves to do a perfect stitching. Stitching in Photoshop is quite straightforward, but it is time consuming as well.

I also used a basic software made by Canon with a stitch option, results were surprisingly good. It also corrects for slight colour nuances between the two picture halves. Alas, I don't recall the Canon software's name.

I haven't tried a flatbed scanner, but it seems to be the easiest solution.

The photoshop method is very manual, right? There is an update for Canons PhotoStitch which promises to handle Tiff files as well. I will try that out tonight.

 

[Igor.Burshteyn]

I scan my xpan negs on a flat bed scanner, scan them whole and requires no stitching, the quality of them is very good too.

Sounds good to me, in addition to 35mm pano I'd like to scan 6x4,5 and 35mm as well, and flatbed scanner sounds the only economical option. Though my concern is that flatbed scanners were not that good at scanning 35mm negs when I last looked at them a few years ago. Maybe new good and cheap scanners emerged that I am unaware of?. What scanner do you use?

 

[Igor.Burshteyn]

Btw, nobody mentioned minilabs - are they lost case and will neither scan nor print from 35mm pano negs? How do you print your panorama images - wet prints from negs? home ink jet prints from scans? upload scanned data to service provider? Finally, what paper do you use?

 

[bobwith2bees]

Igor:

I have had pano cameras for many years, both 35mm (24x62) and MF 120 (6x12). All of my B&W were "wet" developed and prints made in the traditional way by enlarging on photographic paper.

My C41 (& chromes) were sent out to my local pro-lab who has a special machine and could make "direct" prints onto 5" roll paper. If you wanted 8"W panos they could also load 8" roll paper. I used to get prints 5" x 12/14" dependant upon neg format. All of the other labs in Western Canada did not have this "special" machine (which could print up to 6x12 directly from the negative). I was also getting 16x20 "direct" machine prints. Actually, the owner had special neg "masks" made up for me, and they were at a very good per print cost

http://www.gkingphoto.com/ <--- link here

I intend to stop by there soon and discuss with the new owners, as I am re-discovering film.

disclaimer: I have nothing to do with this company, other than as a customer. but I have dealt with them for many years and have been satisfied with their service.

 

[didjiman]

While I do have a Nikon LS-8000 with the glass carrier so I scan my own, it would be convenient to have some place that develops and scans to at least get a rough scan. Google does not show anything in US (one in UK?). Anyone know of a place in US that does that? E-6 slides preferred.

 

[Ramersdorfer]

Someone mentioned in one of the other threads about putting two panorama pictures into one file and getting the file printed in "normal" size e.g. 30x20cm at any high street lab, giving two pictures of 30x10cm on the one sheet.
I tried it - worked out OK and was cheap.
My local lab doesn´t handle X-Pan negatives. They developed the film and returned it uncut. I scanned them on an Epson V500 flatbed which allows to scan each frame complete, i.e. without the need for stitching.
I´m tempted to try a specialised lab. I saw an advertisement for The Darkroom (I think??) in the UK who develop and print XPan frmat as well as offering a scanning service at reasonable price. Does anyone here have any experience with them?? Is the quality good?

 

[szekiat]

the latest photoshop version all have an autostitch feature.

 

[robertdfeinman]

Stitching in older versions of Photoshop is simple. Put both halves of the scan in one file as layers. Make sure to set the canvas size of the receiving layer large enough so that you don't cut off the pasted in new layer. I usually set the width to 200% and the height to 105% with the expanded canvas on the side where the new image will be placed. Set the top layer mode to "difference".

Then use the move tool while viewing at 100% and move this image until the overlap area goes black. At that point the two images coincide. Because your two scans probably have slight differences in rotation and/or focus you won't get the whole overlap to go black so just concentrate on the edge where they transition from one to the other.

After you have them aligned properly change the view mode back to normal and flatten the image. If the canvas is now too big just crop around the image.

I do this frequently with my Noblex images and it only takes about 2 minutes for all these steps.

 

[JonP]

Since my local processor retired I've been sending all my films to The Darkroom, the turn round is very fast and I find the quality superb. They do scan, but the file sizes are limited so I do my own on an Epson flatbed with a holder from the States. Now to get scanning the 2 rolls from my new Fuji G617, processed by The Darkroom - and boy do they look good!

edit, the one I'm talking about is in Cheltenham UK

 

[Ramersdorfer]

That´s the one i was thinking of.
Thanks for the recommendation - I´ll try them when I´ve run a few films through the XPan.
It´s a pity the scans are low res - I´d have liked to avoid having to do them myself. Partly due to lack of experience, and also because i felt my scans on the V500 were not particularly sharp. I have to practice more.

 

[Shin Oyama]

I use an Epson GX-900 flatbed for my scans. I've outfitted the carriers with anti-Newtonian ring glass. The results are surprisingly sharp.

I've tried stitching but I'm no good at it.