medium contrast curve or set black and white points?

[ericdan]

Hi,

I am editing DSLR scanned 35mm film, both B&W and color neg.
I am wondering whether what I am doing is correct?

My DSLR doesn't have an AA filter, so I apply no sharpening.
For color images I set the white balance. The only other thing I do is set black and white points to get better contrast.

Is setting the black and white point basically the same as adding a contrast tone curve?
Not every photo has pure black and white, so I am wondering if in that case I can or should be using curve adjustments instead?!

Dead Link Removedare some sample shots on which I used the black and white point adjustment. I don't know if they came out this contrasty because of the orange filter or because of the adjustment. But

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Doyle Thomas]

HMHo BW should always have a pure black or a pure white. COLOR should always have both a pure black and a pure white.
The eye needs reference points, clues to where the color is starting from.


" Is setting the black and white point basically the same as adding a contrast tone curve? "

no, setting the bw points is a levels adjustment and compresses the midtones while a midtone curve bump can pull in your bw points while holding midtone contrast.

 

[ced]

Digitising via DSLR

I looked at the images & I feel that the Shadows & 3/4 tones are a bit too dark and this might already be due to the actual transfer from the camera digitisation stage. I would try without setting the Black end points only the white. You could set a standard on one slide & or neg and set the border of the slide as the darkest point and save it as a starter. Finally adjust the midtone to give you your desired effect contrast wise.

 

[Alan Klein]

Is the DSLR providing jpeg "scans", RAW or what?

 

[Alan Klein]

Here is a reference for DSLR scanning
ColorPerfect: Digitizing negatives with a digital camera | black and white negatives