IT-8 profiles

Brentwood Kebab!

A
Brentwood Kebab!

  • 1
  • 1
  • 46
Summer Lady

A
Summer Lady

  • 0
  • 0
  • 51
DINO Acting Up !

A
DINO Acting Up !

  • 1
  • 0
  • 31
What Have They Seen?

A
What Have They Seen?

  • 0
  • 0
  • 44
Lady With Attitude !

A
Lady With Attitude !

  • 0
  • 0
  • 42

Recent Classifieds

Forum statistics

Threads
198,765
Messages
2,780,595
Members
99,701
Latest member
XyDark
Recent bookmarks
0

Tony-S

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Messages
1,144
Location
Colorado, USA
Format
Multi Format
I did a search of the forum but no hits were returned. Does anyone have a good understanding of IT-8 targets and scanner profiling? Does one need different targets for different films? What's the process involved? I'm using mostly Fuji Velvia slide and Kodak Ektar negative film, but I have a few rolls of Kodachrome (35mm and 120) that I'll be shooting this summer. I use VueScan and an Epson V500.
 

Loris Medici

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
1,154
Location
Istanbul, Tu
Format
Multi Format
You need a transparency target for film, whatever make - the key point is to have and use the matching reference file.

BTW, IT-8 profiling doesn't work for negative film (I think that's due the orange mask), it's used only for color positives. May still help if you scan negatives as positives though, I haven't tested that myself...

A profiled scanner is real sweet; I was shocked to see how the color and tonal fidelity (especially in the shadows - way better separation) improved when I did it for the first time. (That's for color positives!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
OP
Tony-S

Tony-S

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Messages
1,144
Location
Colorado, USA
Format
Multi Format
OK, thanks. Do I need a different targets for different films? If I shoot Velvia and Kodachrome, would one target work, or do I need one for each type of film?
 

Loris Medici

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
1,154
Location
Istanbul, Tu
Format
Multi Format
To my knowing you don't need that. That would be like trying to match the monitor calibration tool to a specific monitor - if you get the analogy. Just make sure you have the correct reference data file (matching make, type and batch), if not you'll get bad / incorrect results.
 

Loris Medici

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
1,154
Location
Istanbul, Tu
Format
Multi Format
Yes. Go Dead Link Removed later to get the related reference data file.

OTOH, (even if I personally take it as some kind of marketing hype) see this.
 

Snapper

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
230
Location
Brighton, En
Format
Med. Format RF
I was looking at calibrating my Epson v750 using the auto-calibration in the supplied Silverfast Ai. You need to buy a calibration target from them, but there seems to be different targets for Kodak and Fuji - the Kodak 4x5 target is around 40 Euros, whilst the Fuji one is 113 Euros!

Does one need a different calibration for the film being scanned? And why the huge price difference?!!! Even 40 Euros sounds a bit steep.
 

gmikol

Subscriber
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
633
Location
Vancouver, W
Format
35mm
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned getting targets from Wolf Faust (http://www.targets.coloraid.de/). I've purchased from him a couple of times, and I'm very happy with the product and service. Standard disclaimer: I'm just a happy customer, I don't have any financial stake in his operation, etc.

Keep in mind...IT-8 targets are an international standard. You can buy an IT-8 target from any vendor, and use it with any software package that supports IT-8 profiling, as long as you use the correct reference file from the target vendor. Silverfast's prices are a bit expensive for some targets, IMO.

Wolf Faust (and other sites on the web, as well) maintain that you need different targets for Kodak and Fuji E-6. I'm skeptical, as I would have to imagine the spectral response of the dyes is very similar between Fuji and Kodak, though I've never run any definitive testing. Most people agree that you need a Kodachrome target if you're going to scan Kodachrome, as those dyes are significantly different. I haven't used SilverFast's Kodachrome workflow, though I think it's just merging 2 scans with different exposures to dig a little deeper into the shadows, which can be done, in principle, with other scanning software as well.

Lastly, you can generally profile with just a 35mm target (which tend to be cheaper). This is what I did for my Epson V750. You sacrifice a *tiny* bit of accuracy, since the 4x5 targets are typically individually read to generate the reference file, whereas the 35mm targets are "batch average". Some manufacturers will create 35mm targets alongside 4x5's on a larger sheet of film, so in those cases, the process control is very good.

Hope this helps--

Greg
 

Loris Medici

Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
1,154
Location
Istanbul, Tu
Format
Multi Format
My targets are from Lasersoft - I purchased them along with SilverFast years ago.

I thought about mentioning Wolf Faust, but since the price was considerably higher than B&H I just dropped the idea.

I'm sure Wolf Faust's targets are top notch, OTOH, price are in Euros and shipment also isn't cheap, therefore I think they wouldn't be the first choice of US customers... (I assumed the OP is from the States.)
 

gmikol

Subscriber
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
633
Location
Vancouver, W
Format
35mm
My targets are from Lasersoft - I purchased them along with SilverFast years ago.

I thought about mentioning Wolf Faust, but since the price was considerably higher than B&H I just dropped the idea.

I'm sure Wolf Faust's targets are top notch, OTOH, price are in Euros and shipment also isn't cheap, therefore I think they wouldn't be the first choice of US customers... (I assumed the OP is from the States.)

Not to be argumentative, but B&H's price is $40 with free shipping to the US, and Wolf's price for a Kodak target is $25 with $10 shipping to the US. (As of the date of this post. His US$ prices tend to move around a bit depending on the Euro-US$ exchange rate).

I don't doubt that either target will work fine. I happened to order from Wolf because B&H had been out of stock for quite some time when I ordered a couple of years ago.

--Greg
 
Photrio.com contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
To read our full affiliate disclosure statement please click Here.

PHOTRIO PARTNERS EQUALLY FUNDING OUR COMMUNITY:



Ilford ADOX Freestyle Photographic Stearman Press Weldon Color Lab Blue Moon Camera & Machine
Top Bottom