Software options for stitching Dslr scans

[Ardpatrick]

Obviously there's tons of interest from film users in the various approaches to Dslr scanning of film. A lot of the focus is on the hardware requirements, but I lack an overview on software options for stitching Dslr scans. Unfortunately I don't have a Dslr with multi-shot capability, but I've got enough micro-nikkors, bellows, and reversed enlarger lenses to get me as close to my medium and 4x5 negs as necessary. I lack experience of the various software stitching options & workflows. Any suggestions based on experience would be really appreciated.

 

[xkaes]

I can't help you out because I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish. "Stitching" means different things to different people. Are you trying to scan 120 & 4x5 slides/negs onto a digital camera? If so, how/where does "stitching" come in?

 

[Ardpatrick]

The purpose of 'stitching' in this instance is to increase the resolution of the final scan. I'll detail a scenario by way of illustration.

I have 6x7 negs. I load one into an enlarger neg carrier that I have, and place that flat on a Lightbox underneath my mounted Dslr which is positioned on a copy stand. The Dslr is fitted with a Nikon Af-D 105mm f2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens. That lens can focus to 1:1 ratio. Using a straight edge affixed to the Lightbox, I can slide the neg carrier across the field of view of my Dslr in such a way that I can easily shoot one half of the 6x7 neg, slide it over, and then shoot the other half. The camera remains stationary, as does the light source. Indeed with a little more effort I could easily shoot the 6x7 neg in quarters. The reason to do this is to double, or even quadruple the resolution of the scanned file, when the various exposures are stitched together in software.

Thus far I've limited my 6x7 scans to two exposures - each of which is on a 36 megapixel full frame sensor. Given my negs are 400 ISO, I'm getting sharp grain across the field of view. Combined files produce good, useful scans. I'd like to try scanning 4x5, using a similar set-up. Files need to be stitched, and for 4x5 that might become more cumbersome given I'd like to retain 4x5 resolution (within the limits of the system etc). Again, my question is about software options / workflows for stitching these files rather than going over hardware set-ups etc. Thanks for your help.

 

[OAPOli]

I've stitched camera-scanned film negatives (mostly panoramas) with ICE (Image Composite Editor). Easy to use and effective. It's no longer available officially but it remains easy to find.

 

[xkaes]

The purpose of 'stitching' in this instance is to increase the resolution of the final scan.

For that purpose, you have lots of software options. I'm sure many will give suggestions -- so you might want to mention your operating system & system specs.

For 6x7 you could easily do four scans per negative/slide, and with 4x5", SIXTEEN. That's more work, of course, and I have no idea if that is "worth" it. Others will chime in on that too.

Let us know how it goes. I'll be interested. So far, I've only done single 24MP scans of 35mm, 6x7 & 4x5' slides with a Tomioka 75mm f4.5 on a Sony a-900.

 

[Ardpatrick]

Of course!

I'm using Mac OS X. - An M2 Mac mini.

 

[Ardpatrick]

I've stitched camera-scanned film negatives (mostly panoramas) with ICE (Image Composite Editor). Easy to use and effective. It's no longer available officially but it remains easy to find.

I'll look out for ICE. Thanks.

 

[_T_]

I don't know what kind of budget you're looking at for the software, but you might find it beneficial to have photoshop. It can align and stitch your files, invert them, remove dust and scratches, and perform basically any other operation you find yourself needing in the course of digitization.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I've used nothing but Photoshop to stitch DSLR shots to panoramas and it does an excellent job turning out a single image with every source photo on a different layer.

 

[Steven Lee]

@Ardpatrick I am in the similar boat as Ralph. Why not start with the obvious: Adobe? I only do two-shot stitching, and Lightroom works really well for this. The advantage is that the stitched file is a DNG, with full editing capability. Here's the full-sized example of the two-shot scan (ignore the film scratches, that's me testing a new camera from eBay).

 

[Ardpatrick]

Thanks for the responses. I'm an on again / off again subscriber to Adobe because I'm focussed on analog work. I have had success with Photoshop on this before. I was wondering if people use other software, but maybe Photoshop is just the way to go. It certainly works.

 

[Snoop]

Since your work involves no particular distortions for the software to work out, I wouldn't think you would find much of a difference in result using something else extra other than photoshop.
(I have been using that and Hugin)

 

[Ardpatrick]

FWIW I'm also going to try a trial version of Capture One. It seems like great software and I do prefer the option to buy it outright over the subscription model. But only if the software gets the job done!

 

[L Gebhardt]

Both photoshop and lightroom will handle stitching very well in my experience. The only issues are scans of negatives with large even patches of sky. The software just doesn't have enough info to put those together sometimes.

 

[Ardpatrick]

Thanks Larry - good point. I guess if I start stitching together from tighter image crops off of larger format negs, that could become a practical problem. No such thing as a free lunch I guess.

 

[Snoop]

Thanks Larry - good point. I guess if I start stitching together from tighter image crops off of larger format negs, that could become a practical problem. No such thing as a free lunch I guess.

if you use those anti newton ring covers to go on top of the negative to keep it nice and flat you can mark some reference lines on them, the software can use the marks as points for stitching if there are large emtpy areas and they are easy to eliminate later on

 

[Ardpatrick]

Thanks Snoop. Right now I'm trying to find my Anti-newton glass from the old enlarger.

 

[L Gebhardt]

Thanks Snoop. Right now I'm trying to find my Anti-newton glass from the old enlarger.

The pattern from the Durst anti newton glass I’ve tried has been just barely visible when camera scanning at high resolution. That’s with the emulsion up so the anti newton glass is away from the lens. I’m looking for some finer textured glass.