I had 20 drum scans made from 2-1/4 inch negatives. This was based on the assumption that the scans I'd already made (and laboriously color corrected, burned/dodged etc.) with my Epson 4800 wouldn't be good enough for exhibition prints. I dreaded the project, since it meant doing all the work over again, but I wanted the prints to look as good as possible. To this end I ponied up and had the scans done by the lab with the best reputation in NYC.
Now that I'm working on the scans, I'm not at all sold on the quality. They're sharper than my unsharpened epson scans, but not the sharpened versions. And shockingly, they have worse dynamic range. I see more shadow detail in the epson scans than I do in the drum scans.
I also find the color in the drum scans to be exaggerated. The greens are almost fluorescent, and all the colors need to be desaturated somewhat (the film used was Fuji portrait film ... not velveeta or anything similar).
Does this sound odd? I've never had drum scans done before. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really didn't expect this.
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