[rollei_list] Scanning sheets of colour negatives
- From: "John Wild" <JWild@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:22:04 +0100
My results so far have not been very successful. However, I did use a
multifunction office machine for the test; the idea being to try to make
the process quick, painless and cheap. Best results must be the age old
silver contact print but this is rather time consuming and costly for a
large number of films (and requires a darkroom)!
One problem with colour negatives, scanned in colour using a flatbed
scanner, is the resultant granularity. I guess it's to do with the pixel
spacing on the scanner head (ie one pixel for each colour in a group).
When scanned as a greyscale, the grain is considerably reduced. Contrast
is also very low. This is not a problem, as such, for an index print of
a roll of film but fine detail, such as facial expression or blinking on
a portrait becomes indiscernible with 6x6 negatives. 35mm would not be
practical at all using this method.
I tried using a lightbox on top of the negatives but also found that, by
leaving the scanner lid open, there was sufficient light from overhead
flourescent lighting to achieve adequate backlighting. Colour cast from
the overhead lighting is different to that from the flourescent lightbox
(as expected) but the scanner seems able to handle one or the other but
not both at the same time.
Removing the orange colour mask from the scanned negative image is
simple in thoery but tricky in practice. The result is a bit 'coarse',
in that it seems to strip out fine colour detail from the image. I would
think that this is partly due to the pixel spacing and grain size of the
scan. Basically, according to articles on the internet, open the image
in Photoshop, open 'levels' or 'curves', click on the white eye-dropper
and then click on an area of clear orange mask between frames (not at
the edge, because colour can be slightly different)and this sets the
mask to transparent, which will then print as black in the positive. The
sample size should be set to 5x5 pixels. Other image adjustments may
then be required.
The colour results look like an old 'Autochrome' print and the
greyscale, like some of the very first B&W photographs. Adequate to give
an idea as to what is on the roll but not to determine which negative is
worth scanning for an enlargement.
More experimentation required....................
John
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