Scanning: negative vs contact print

[Curtis Nelson]

What are the advantages to scanning a 4x5 negative as opposed to a 4x5 contact print? Can I get just as good results from the contact print from the same scanner?

[memorris]

It is very difficult to get the same look from a negative scan as from a print scan. The quality would be very close but it depends on the time you are willing to spend, your skill in printing quality 4X5 contact prints, and what you plan to do with the scan. U scan the negatives because I use them as a digital contact sheet and do not make final prints form the negative scans. If I wanted to print digitally I would probably scan the print.

[Bob McCarthy]

The advantage of scanning in this case is editing in photoshop is easier and more precise than waving one's arms around in a light column.

bob

[Curtis Nelson]

Sorry for the misunderstanding. After re-reading my post, it's clear I didn't really word the question correctly.

If I have a 4x5 negative, and a 4x5 contact print of the same negative, and I scan both the negative and the contact print, which one will yield a higher-quality scan, and why?

Thanks

Curtis

[Ron Marshall]

Any copy will have less resolution than the original, in this case the negative.

[Nathan Potter]

As Ron explains, any second generation image (in your case a print from a negative) will introduce artifacts from the duplicating process that will misrepresent, however small, the characteristics of the original. Sometimes the alterations are what you might desire, sometime not - you need to decide that for yourself or your client.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Stephane]

You dont get newton rings when scanning contact prints, you might when scanning negatives.

[Vaughn]

If I am not mistaken (again!LOL!), the range of values that film can capture is higher than paper can. So there seems to be some loss or compression of information going from negative to print. So scanning the negative will provide more of the original information than scanning a print.

So it will depend on what use the scan will be put to. Just to reproduce the print, scanning the print sounds the easiest way to go. To take the image beyond the print, scans from the negative would be a better way to go.

[Curtis Nelson]

Thanks everyone.

I ask because I am wanting to build an 8x10 pinhole camera, with the idea I would just contact print the images. But, if I ever get a nice image, I would like to scan it, but my scanner is not capable of 8x10, so I would just have to scan the contact print and work from there.

[domaz]

Scanning prints means that the scanner is going to be scanning the grain/texture of the print when you really get down to it. A negative doesn't have this problem since it's on a transparent base.