can anyone tell me how to scan pro 400h or ektar successfully?

Hi all
I self develop and then scan on an epson v500 with Vue scan9.

I can scan most films perfectly but struggle with kodak Ektar which scans with a cyan cast and fujipro400h which scans with a magenta cast. I normally send my pro400h to a lab (ukfilmlab) as have given up with my poor results.

I just wondered if someone or there knows how to do this! ?

Thanks
Paul

I find when I scan Ektar I usually see the shadows shift blue. In some cases I see an overall cyan cast. When using Ektar I always make sure I expose well for the shadows because they seem to shift to a purple color that's hard to correct if underexposed. I use VueScan and can get close if the film is exposed correctly but I usually have to use the RGB color curves in an image editor to get the final look right. A picture is worth a thousand words in this case so I am attaching before and after screen captures that I think will give you an idea of how to do this. In the scans I am using the tone curve to correct for too much blue in the shadows but you can use the same method to correct any color cast. Don't give up. It takes a bit of trial and error but once you figure it out you will be happy with your results. It's just the nature of scanning color negative film.

Before Correction.....




After tone curve adjustment of the blue curve only......

Thanks lamar. A great reply and pics too. I will dig out an old ektar neg and try this out. Nice pic btw! I really like the ektar rendering so hopefully I can crack this. I have PS5 so will try in that. Thanks again for taking the time. Paul

No problem, glad to help. BTW, I just took a look at your flickr stream. I like your work! Really nice shots!

10speeduk said:

Thanks lamar. A great reply and pics too. I will dig out an old ektar neg and try this out. Nice pic btw! I really like the ektar rendering so hopefully I can crack this. I have PS5 so will try in that. Thanks again for taking the time. Paul

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You could purchase a IT 8.7 calibration target from Wolf Faust and use it with VueScan to calibrate the Ektar. It takes the guessing out of the scan process for negative film.

jens g.r. benthien said:

You could purchase a IT 8.7 calibration target from Wolf Faust and use it with VueScan to calibrate the Ektar. It takes the guessing out of the scan process for negative film.

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How do you use a calibration target for color negative film? My understanding of this is that it doesn't work. I certainly couldn't get good results when I scanned as a positive and applied a profile before inverting the negative.

I tried Ektar 100 taking bracketed shots. I found it difficult to find the "correct" negative to work even with contact sheets. Post adjusting just wasn't easy. I just can't "nail" the color easily in post. So I went back to Velvia 50 where you can look at the chrome and know immediately which of the bracketed photos was exposed correctly. While there are less stops with Velvia, it's just easier to work with for me. YMMV. (I use the V600 scanning flat with the Epson supplied software and do adjustments in LR3).

I have tried Portra and with it the colors are corrected easily. Of course you have to like the Portra palette. It's a little bland for landscapes although great for people.

You need a reflective target in A4 format. Shoot the first two images of an Ektar film with it - filling the frame up as much as possible with the target. Then scan it with vuescan and go to -> Menu -> Profile -> Profile scanner. Check that the grid matches the one of the target. Now you need the disk that comes with the target, or download the data from Wolf Faust. Go through all steps of the scanner calibration and save this profile. Before scanning just load the profile you've made.

I'm not convinced you can effectively profile a scanner for negative film. I prefer to do everything manually: scan as positive, set black and white points for each channel independently, then invert and make final adjustments in PS or wherever. Yes, it seems like a pain, but I enjoy it and the out-of-scanner file is usually pretty good.

BTW, I love Portra for landscapes, as long as it's overexposed by a full stop or so. And Alan's right, it does scan easily.