Sony Camera Upgrades - Color and Pixel Shift

[Romanko]

I use Sony A7R4 for scanning but I only used pixel shift once to create a 230 MP copy of a slide. I am not sure if it makes any difference.

Better color = better light and negative conversion software.

Shadow detail/noise/dynamic range = HDR (taking bracketed exposures).

I actually tried HDR with a 100-year old glass plate that had an insane dynamic range and it worked well and the process was very straightforward in Affinity Photo.

You didn't tell us what format you shoot and scan. For 35 mm color negative film I doubt that you can get noticeable improvement in image quality by increasing sensor resolution.

 

[Romanko]

So RGB scan lighting? Makes 3 separate exposures?

That would be ideal. Add infrared channel for dust removal and convert your camera to monochrome full spectrum.

 

[silvergelatin]

I use Sony A7R4 for scanning but I only used pixel shift once to create a 230 MP copy of a slide. I am not sure if it makes any difference.

Better color = better light and negative conversion software.

Shadow detail/noise/dynamic range = HDR (taking bracketed exposures).

I actually tried HDR with a 100-year old glass plate that had an insane dynamic range and it worked well and the process was very straightforward in Affinity Photo.

You didn't tell us what format you shoot and scan. For 35 mm color negative film I doubt that you can get noticeable improvement in image quality by increasing sensor resolution.

I have never tried HDR, but it may be worth a shot for something like Ektar in hard lighting.

 

[loccdor]

I don't know about the Sonys, but on the Pentax K-1 the high dynamic range and pixel shift settings are not able to be used at the same time. You could of course take your own several exposures and combine them in software. I've tried that a few times - it's a very rare shot where the gains are worth it, usually something like a picture of a window where you try to get the interior and exterior looking good.

 

[BobDavid]

Pixel shift has come up a couple of times in this context here on Photrio, but I don't recall anyone reporting any significant practical benefit.

Pixel shift is great for reproducing artwork. It does afford truer color and there is a slight increase in overall sharpness. I use 4-shot mode on the Sony A7r 4. 16-shot isn't worth the trouble.

 

[isaac7]

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole about pixel shift and scanning negatives. Looks like there can be a decent improvement scanning 35mm B&W with pixel shift because it lessens grain aliasing. The bigger the format the less of an issue it is.