Novice: Color negative film, scanning advice

[jsimoespedro]

Hi,

I might try C-41 processing at home with the intent of later scanning.

My question is: how hard is it to scan C-41 film?

Currently, I only have a flatbed scanner, which is very poor for B&W film. Its Dmax is very low.

So, is color film more or less "dense" than B&W film? Is slide film easier to scan?

Thanks a lot.

 

[DREW WILEY]

Rough rule of thumb: the smaller the film format, the better the scan you need. Don't expect quality results with a home flatbed, but it won't
hurt to try. Most amateur scanners handle slides better, but the devil is in the details. It's not so much a matter of DMax as the nature of color
negs per se, which include an orange mask. And obviously, a lot depends on your personal expectations. If your current scanner does a poor
job with black and white film, it will probably do much worse with color neg film.

 

[mweintraub]

Currently, I only have a flatbed scanner, which is very poor for B&W film. Its Dmax is very low.

Is this a flatbed scanner that can scan film with a back light attachment?

 

[thegman]

Hi,

I might try C-41 processing at home with the intent of later scanning.

My question is: how hard is it to scan C-41 film?

Currently, I only have a flatbed scanner, which is very poor for B&W film. Its Dmax is very low.

So, is color film more or less "dense" than B&W film? Is slide film easier to scan?

Thanks a lot.

Personally, I find scanning colour negative like Portra 400 fairly easy, but I mostly use medium format or 4x5, so you can get away with a lot of loss of quality.

If I were you you, I'd shoot a roll of your favourite colour negative, get it processed at a lab, and trying scanning the negatives in your current scanner. Only you can decide if the quality is up to your own standards.

For me, if you're just putting photos online, just about any scanner is good enough. If you want to print bigger than 8x10, then it might start being a problem.

 

[Rick A]

Shouldn't this conversation take place on our sister site: DPUG

 

[adelorenzo]

Yes, we don't talk about those things here. Even though many of us do them.

Maybe try the I shoot film scanner group on Flickr, it's fairly active.

 

[DREW WILEY]

... if you're lucky enough to find anyone on a digi forum that even understands film anymore.... More BS on some of those threads than on
Boy Scout logos.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

... if you're lucky enough to find anyone on a digi forum that even understands film anymore.... More BS on some of those threads than on
Boy Scout logos.

Yep. Telling it like it is!
Besides which, the discussion involves film and obtaining an image from film and there are a few other pertinent discussions on APUG that are related.
I suggest people not be too excited about what is and is not suitable for DPUG. As far as I am concerned, that group is a non-event and profoundly lacking in a credible knowledge base.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Shouldn't this conversation take place on our sister site: DPUG

Yes

 

[Truzi]

Isn't there a sub-forum or group here to discuss scanning, though only in so far as to put examples up? (Not as part of an hybrid process.)

 

[Sean]

I would try posting this in the APUG hybrid social group here: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

or on DPUG http://www.dpug.org

Thanks