Epson 4180 Colour neg. or slide film

JeffWorsnop · Dec 29, 2006

Have got a 4180 for Xmas and been playing with it.
I get the feeling that scanning negs does not produce as good quality for printing (on Epson R1800). Is this correct or is there a particular technique for negs? :confused:
Also would there be a noticeable difference in printing at A4 and A3 from full from 35mm and 15 on 120 negatives and slides?
I know I could go throught he whole process of taking test pictures with both sizes of film but any shortcuts would be very welcome and anyhow at the moment my scanning techniques might not be up to testing standards!
I am just dipping my toe in the murky waters of digital output having up to now been entirely a chemical in the darkroom worker but having been gifted the R1800 I feel I should explore the digi side of photography.
Cheers
Jeff

JeffWorsnop · Dec 31, 2006

Evidently not a good question.

P C Headland · Dec 31, 2006

Hi

Don't expect to get good scans out of this (or any) scanner straight away, especially if it is your first foray into scanning. Many people will tell you that flatbeds don't cut it for 35mm, and that you need a dedicated film scanner, whereas they will suffice for MF. I find them fine up to a certain point for 35mm, and more than adequate for my MF needs (I shoot mainly classic cameras). Dense slides will present a challenge, so if you like shooting them, Astia or Provia will be easier than Velvia.

When I first started out with my 3170, my 35mm scans were rubbish, even for 6x4". My 6x6 scans were OK.

Now I can get a decent B+W scan from 35mm that prints well to A4. This is probably as large as you'd get from 35mm on this flatbed, and obviously it will also depend on the subject. My 6x6 and 6x9 scans print great up to A4 (paper size limitation on my printer!).

Scan in professional mode, and set scanning to low or off. Open the scanned file in you image editor, do your cropping and dust spotting, levels and sharpening. Sharpening on flatbeds is where you make or break your image. You need to experiment quite a bit till you get a process that works for you - straight USM, multiple passes of USM, or sharpening kit, etc.

I like to do a local contrast enhancement pass after spotting, cropping and levels. I save this as my "master. I then do a fairly agressive sharpen before resizing. Then another lighter pass of USM depending on the subject matter and film before printing.

Good luck, be patient and experiment a lot!

JeffWorsnop · Jan 1, 2007

P C Headland said:
Hi

Don't expect to get good scans out of this (or any) scanner straight away, especially if it is your first foray into scanning. Many people will tell you that flatbeds don't cut it for 35mm, and that you need a dedicated film scanner, whereas they will suffice for MF. I find them fine up to a certain point for 35mm, and more than adequate for my MF needs (I shoot mainly classic cameras). Dense slides will present a challenge, so if you like shooting them, Astia or Provia will be easier than Velvia.

When I first started out with my 3170, my 35mm scans were rubbish, even for 6x4". My 6x6 scans were OK.

Now I can get a decent B+W scan from 35mm that prints well to A4. This is probably as large as you'd get from 35mm on this flatbed, and obviously it will also depend on the subject. My 6x6 and 6x9 scans print great up to A4 (paper size limitation on my printer!).

Scan in professional mode, and set scanning to low or off. Open the scanned file in you image editor, do your cropping and dust spotting, levels and sharpening. Sharpening on flatbeds is where you make or break your image. You need to experiment quite a bit till you get a process that works for you - straight USM, multiple passes of USM, or sharpening kit, etc.

I like to do a local contrast enhancement pass after spotting, cropping and levels. I save this as my "master. I then do a fairly agressive sharpen before resizing. Then another lighter pass of USM depending on the subject matter and film before printing.

Good luck, be patient and experiment a lot!

It's a steep learning curve.
Sounds like MF slide film is the way to go if I want to do half decent A3 prints.
I'll certainly need to do lots of experimentation.
Thanks

Ted Harris · Jan 1, 2007

MF or LF . Your scanner is adequate but just barely. It is a step under the 4990 which is generally considered the entry level 'prosumer' scanner from Epson for serious fim scanning for eventual prints in the 8x10 to 11x14 range (and some print larger).

This i snot to say that you will not get a scan that will give you a decnt print in smaller sizes, you will but both detail in the shadows and sharpness will be lost.

JeffWorsnop · Jan 2, 2007

Ted Harris said:
MF or LF . Your scanner is adequate but just barely. It is a step under the 4990 which is generally considered the entry level 'prosumer' scanner from Epson for serious fim scanning for eventual prints in the 8x10 to 11x14 range (and some print larger).

This i snot to say that you will not get a scan that will give you a decnt print in smaller sizes, you will but both detail in the shadows and sharpness will be lost.

Thanks for the reality check!
Aspirations downsized to A4 prints from MF.
Cheers
Jeff

Epson 4180 Colour neg. or slide film

JeffWorsnop

JeffWorsnop

P C Headland

JeffWorsnop

Ted Harris

JeffWorsnop

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