First time C41 processing at home - scanning question

Hi everyone,
I'm still fairly new here and would be grateful for any advice.

I developed my first roll of C-41 yesterday (Unicolor C41 kit). It was a roll my daughter shot with an old Minolta P&S. I processed it and scanned it. Since this is the first C-41 roll, I'm not sure how much processing is involved after scanning (I have a Canoscan 8800 and use Vuescan). Should the negatives be good to go right after scanning? Or is there processing involved?

The colors on the scanned file are all off, which is why I'm asking. I'm intending on shooting a quick roll with another camera and different film.

Thanks!

When you say the colours are "off" what do you mean exactly? what colour shifts are you seeing? what film was used? If the colours are shifted it could be either your developing or scanning? you need to be more specific about what the problem is.

Photo Chemist said:

Hi everyone,
I'm still fairly new here and would be grateful for any advice.

I developed my first roll of C-41 yesterday (Unicolor C41 kit). It was a roll my daughter shot with an old Minolta P&S. I processed it and scanned it. Since this is the first C-41 roll, I'm not sure how much processing is involved after scanning (I have a Canoscan 8800 and use Vuescan). Should the negatives be good to go right after scanning? Or is there processing involved?

The colors on the scanned file are all off, which is why I'm asking. I'm intending on shooting a quick roll with another camera and different film.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Very often the white balance is off when scanning color negative film. My guess is your developing was fine and that you need to adjust the white balance in software.

TonyB65 said:

When you say the colours are "off" what do you mean exactly? what colour shifts are you seeing? what film was used? If the colours are shifted it could be either your developing or scanning? you need to be more specific about what the problem is.

Click to expand...

That was pretty vague, wasn't it? (sorry) It was a roll of Fuji S-400. My daughter chose to take pictures inside, and I didn't realize it was with flash (it was automatic). I don't think it was a colour shift (but I don't know, this is my first roll). Rather, I think it was the white balance as @RattyMouse pointed out. I've posted 4 images below, the first set of 4 is what the scanner gave me (generic negative scanning). The second set of 4 is after a quick white balance adjustment. (Please, don't judge the pictures...I just needed a test roll).

I honestly just don't know if it's the developing or scanning. It could be that it's all correct and that it's normal that there are white balance tweaks needed.

What settings in Vuscan on the Input Tab> Options: Basic, Standard, Professional did you use?
Can you post an image of the negatives (a strip) on a light box? A blank text document opened full screen with the negatives held over it works fine.

@shutterfinger - All were scanned with Professional. The images on the left (top and bottom in the image above) Color>negative vendor>Fuji, Color>negative brand>Super G, Color>negative type>400 Gen 1. the images on the right (top and bottom in the image above) were Color>negative vendor>generic, Color>negative brand>color, Color>negative type>negative.

In the image below/attached, the first two rows were scanned with a Fuji preset, the bottom two rows, were scanned as generic.

Looks like a magenta/blue cast, the later shots look better, presumably sorted by white balance correction after scanning? Don't beat yourself up about it, we've all been through it, takes a little time to get the confidence and understand what you're doing, looks like you got the temp right anyway. The critical temperature is the developer, the rest ( Bleach, fix, stab) can be a few degrees either way and it won't be a problem.

You are definitely in the correct ballpark. Good scanning is like good photography, it takes some testing and experience.
I've done both C41 and E6 at home. Temperature control is essential. A temperature shift of 1°F during development can cause color a shift, .5°F is the limit either side of the stated optimal temperature.
Check that the profiles for your scanner and monitor are correct. Volumes have been written about color management in the digital workplace.
When testing change only one variable at a time.
Was the film fresh or out of date?
The Unicolor C41 kit won't last more than 3 or 4 weeks properly stored. To get the maximum from it develop as many rolls per session as possible and follow the instructions for number of rolls processed compensation.

Thanks! I was at 108 when I developed it. I'll try again tomorrow with a closer temperature match. My monitor is properly calibrated - the scanner...who knows? (I'm still getting to know vuescan - the Canon software isn't recognized by the updated OS so I had to get something new ...) I was curious to see how terribly off i was in the processing, so I pulled out a negative from earlier this summer that I had sent out to a lab to be developed and scanned (on the left). On the right side, is an image from today. Top is the way the printer delivered it, bottom is my processing (camera was a Yashica Mat 124G). Not too far off, but I now see that there is quite a bit of processing involved as well with film. And, more importantly, I see now why all the images from that particular lab all feel the same.

Thank you, @shutterfinger, for all of your help.

shutterfinger said:

You are definitely in the correct ballpark. Good scanning is like good photography, it takes some testing and experience.
I've done both C41 and E6 at home. Temperature control is essential. A temperature shift of 1°F during development can cause color a shift, .5°F is the limit either side of the stated optimal temperature.
Check that the profiles for your scanner and monitor are correct. Volumes have been written about color management in the digital workplace.
When testing change only one variable at a time.
Was the film fresh or out of date?
The Unicolor C41 kit won't last more than 3 or 4 weeks properly stored. To get the maximum from it develop as many rolls per session as possible and follow the instructions for number of rolls processed compensation.

Click to expand...

I'm with you brother.
From all my testing your negs should be fine.
Send a couple of them out to be "wet" printed by a lab.
I can print a photo in my darkroom, and a neg scan in that program will look nothing like it.

Don't play with all the "doo-dads" in the scanning program.
I use the manual color setting, and only adjust the "brightness setting" to correct the image.
You can do the rest in your photo programs.

Sometimes, what developers can do with computer programs.
Only screw stuff up............
(K.I.S.S.) it.
"keep it simple stupid".

I have a Epson V700, V500 and Plustek 7600i.
I use Epsonscan and Vuescan for the Epson's. In Vuescan I use Professional mode, select the film type under the Color Tab, and save the RAW in the Output Tab.
I scan at the scanner's optical limit as stated by the manufacturer then adjust in PS.

I don't agree with 3rd party actual resolution statements. Test instruments and targets used for testing are more accurate than one's eye.
Use what suits your quality requirements.

So, it turns out that it was the scanner. I ordered a V850 and the colors were amazing right out of that scanner. They probably still need some tweaking, but nothing like i had to do with the old scanner.

Photo Chemist said:

So, it turns out that it was the scanner

Click to expand...

Likely the cold cathode lamp was starting to fail, not putting out a pure white light. Sensor failing would be the second but distant cause.

Thanks for the update.