Likely Very Naive Question, sheet film then scan to produce a digital print.

[Bernice Loui]

Discussions and questions and strong emotional conflicts happen often here based on the entire topic of scanning sheet film then applying the digital print making process post process.

Question is, why scan sheet film if the print making process is digital. Seems it would be easier and more productive to start with a large digital file created with a the very best current digital camera instead of scanning sheet film then feeding that data into the digital print process.

Does not appear to be the ideal print making process to combine a hybrid system where there appears to be better means of achieving high quality digital based prints today.

Done the sheet film scanning thing with an Epson 4990, never warmed up to the results or process, but that is likely just me.

~Discuss.


Bernice

[BrianShaw]

I can’t believe that you just said it... and in writing. Yes, why?

Only reason I could propose is to utilize the perspective controls of a view camera and to benefit from the relative inexpensive film vs some sort of LF digital capture device... while still exploiting a path to digital manipulation and presentation.

[Bernice Loui]

Digital back on a digital specific view camera can easily achieve traditional view camera movements (perspective control, tilt-shift-swing-rise-drop and....) as needed.

Does not make rational sense to me to use a sheet film camera to produce a digital data file when high quality digital is easily available.

~I'm trying to understand this.~


Bernice

I can’t believe that you just said it... and in writing. Yes, why?

Only reason I could propose is to utilize the perspective controls of a view camera and to benefit from the relative inexpensive film vs some sort of LF digital capture device... while still exploiting a path to digital manipulation and presentation.

[BrianShaw]

Digital back on a digital specific view camera can easily achieve traditional view camera movements (perspective control, tilt-shift-swing-rise-drop and....) as needed.

Does not make rational sense to me to use a sheet film camera to produce a digital data file when high quality digital is easily available.

~I'm trying to understand this.~


Bernice

Yes, of course. The operative word I was using and, perhaps, should have visually emphasized... inexpensive.

I’m not alone in having plenty of LF camera/film but not a single digital back/camera suitable for movements.

Not trying to be argumentative, Bernice, but just saying that “easily available “ might not be a universal assumption that can be made.

[alan_b]

Digital back on a digital specific view camera can easily achieve traditional view camera movements (perspective control, tilt-shift-swing-rise-drop and....) as needed.

Have you priced high-end digital MF systems? For low-volume low-pressure work, a film camera is cheap, doesn't depreciate, and you can pay for film/developing/scanning as you go.

As soon as you start talking movements w/ MFDBs, things like microlens ripple, color crosstalk, LCCs, demosiac artifacts, color desaturation at edges of the image circle, micron-scale parallelism, etc. all start pointing you at Very Expensive Things. Think $5-10k camera bodies, $6-10k lenses, $20-50k backs...

[neil poulsen]

Digital back on a digital specific view camera can easily achieve traditional view camera movements (perspective control, tilt-shift-swing-rise-drop and....) as needed.

Does not make rational sense to me to use a sheet film camera to produce a digital data file when high quality digital is easily available.

~I'm trying to understand this.~

Bernice

My sentiments exactly! A good term for this is direct imaging (versus indirect imaging with scans), and it's what I've done.

I purchased a Phase One P45+ digital back from Digital Transitions for about twice the price of a good digital camera. Not the case with most refurbished backs, mine had less than 2500 activations, and it came with a year's factory warranty. The price was a bit steep, but it's about 8% of what they were new. Resolution is 39MP from a 24mmX48mm sensor. (That's twice the size of a "full-frame" sensor.) Enough resolution for what I will ever need, this will give me a 16x20 print with some room to spare.

I use it with an Arca Swiss 6x9 view camera and film lenses. I already had 47mm, 58mm, and 75mm lenses. For wide angle, I found a 35mm Rodenstock f4.5 lens for a quite reasonable price. This lens demonstrates some chromatic aberration, but not enough to worry about. And besides, it can be corrected in Capture One, free software that's available when processing files from Phase One digital backs. (Capture One corresponds to Adobe's Lightroom. It's first rate imaging software.) This lens has huge coverage for a digital back, so for super wide angle, stitching is an option. With lenses of this small focal length, one has to be careful that the back of the lens doesn't interfere with the rear standard of the camera. To avoid this, I have a special "N" standard, Arca ground glass and adapter.

I'd been working toward this capability for quite a while, so I already had the camera and all but one lens. Still, it was a tad bit expensive, but maybe not quite so bad, when one considers the cost of a good scanner, film, and all the time and frustration that can go into getting decent scans from color negatives.

[Sal Santamaura]

....I purchased a Phase One P45+ digital back...Resolution is 39MP from a 24mmX48mm sensor...

The Capture Integration specs say this sensor is 49.1mm x 36.8mm.

[BrianShaw]

... or another... habit.

[Sal Santamaura]

...why scan sheet film if the print making process is digital. Seems it would be easier and more productive to start with a large digital file created with a the very best current digital camera instead of scanning sheet film then feeding that data into the digital print process...

For color, there is no reason, unless one is enamored of spending time digitally spotting out dust.

For black and white, there's only one possible reason, namely, to take advantage of the extremely long life expectancy exhibited by polyester-based, properly processed and stored negatives. That's why HABS/HAER/HALS is willing to accept inkjet "contact prints" but still requires such negatives.

[Bernice Loui]

Reminds one of what happened with ToyStory.. They almost lost the data base.
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/how...d-toy-story-2/

Difficulty with digital data files, they demand a matching digital system to access them. They are not accessible without the compatible digital data system. What happens to the data base if there are no compatible digital data systems?

Food for consideration:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-e...t-in-100-years

There are photographic plates, films and images that date back to the very beginnings of photography, they do not need any special hardware to view them. They contain the visual information in a format that is mostly agreeable with the human visual system.


Bernice

For color, there is no reason, unless one is enamored of spending time digitally spotting out dust.

For black and white, there's only one possible reason, namely, to take advantage of the extremely long life expectancy exhibited by polyester-based, properly processed and stored negatives. That's why HABS/HAER/HALS is willing to accept inkjet "contact prints" but still requires such negatives.