Article on digitalizing film with a digital camera, including color negatives

[Michael R]

I agree. They are glazing materials after all, not optical flats, so the glass itself might be less than perfect, and the coating process is not going to be up to the standards of optical components, especially given the comparatively huge surface areas to be coated. At the time my intended application was a 4x5 carrier but I was only experimenting to see if the glass was effective so I wasn’t as concerned with blemishes (these were free samples of the type normally sent to framers so I didn’t expect anything pristine). The larger the size you need the more difficult it will be.

I also found them finicky to clean.

For the type of application in the article, imperfections will be magnified, however since the process is digital I assume issues like this can be fixed in editing so glazing materials are probably worth considering as an anti-Newton ring solution.

Quite a few years ago now I went through a phase of trying to use Tru-Vue AR coated glass for contact printing. The problem was that it was very difficult to get large-enough pieces that were blemish-free, and after a while the routine of annoying the staff at the pro frame shop, looking for pieces that were sufficiently clean to meet the needs of my application rather than theirs, became more trouble than it was worth. Maybe I was just unlucky or had unreasonable standards; maybe the production process for coated glass has improved since then. But at least back then, it was a lot easier to get a pristine large piece of high-quality, non-coated glass than coated glass.

[r.e.]

I got interested in this when @Gabe was posting photographs in the "Large Format Landscapes" sub-forum in October/November. At the request of other forum members, he talks a bit in those posts about using a DSLR to scan his 4x5s.

[Greg]

Yeah, once a camera system is developed and setup properly, scanning becomes very fast, much faster than using a pro flatbed.

Last year I wanted to scan approximately 100 frames from four large reels of 16mm B&W film for our town's museum. Contained in those reels of 16mm film were several pans of the construction of a powerhouse in 1934 (one of the final images attached) and several pans of the two Francis turbines taken inside the building in1942. Merging the frames from the pans with Photoshop was my goal. I had some access to an Imacon and a Nikon scanner. I also own an Epson Perfection V750 PRO. Using either the Imacon or the Nikon to scan frames from the 16mm films was physically impossible. Test scanning some 16mm frames with the V750 was a pain to set up and the resulting scans were not the greatest. Decided to mount my Nikon D850 on my Multiphot and use its condenser with its collimated light source. Once I rigged up two 16mm reels on each side of the Multiphot and acquired a hinged glass 35mm film carrier I was easily able to pick out and scan all the 16mm frames in one afternoon. Tethering the D850 to my Macbook was a huge plus in every way. This whole rig worked out so smoothly that I then used it to scan a rather large bunch of 35mm and 120 color transparencies that I had always wanted to scan, but just never got around to doing. For these transparencies, if I was using the Imacon or the Nikon, the total scanning times would have been measured in days. Instead it was measured in hours. I also added a very slight bit of diffusion to the collimated light source and the resulting images were in effect "naturally" sharpened with no noticeable sharpening artifacts. Separation of tonalities in the shadows or the highlights was not noticeably affected which surprised me. Last off, from one of the 35mm Kodachrome transparencies I had made a Cibachrome print of it years ago, and it is hanging up in the house. I made a 11x14 print (Epson Stylus PRO 4900) from the same scanned 35mm Kodachrome. Side by side the two color prints do differ from each other, but I honestly can't say which I prefer. Both are excellent quality prints

[Michael R]

It’s a process which seems to be gaining in popularity as a potentially better, and also more convenient alternative to flatbed scanning. I think there have been some other threads on here about it.

Bill Schwab has also transitioned to this method and has a video about it on YouTube in his series.

I got interested in this when @Gabe was posting photographs in the "Large Format Landscapes" sub-forum in October/November. At the request of other forum members, he talks a bit in those posts about using a DSLR to scan his 4x5s.

[r.e.]

Bill Schwab has also transitioned to this method and has a video about it on YouTube in his series.

Thanks (substance starts at 2:35):

[Peter De Smidt]

Greg brings up a great point: tethering into something like Capture One is a very good option. If digitizing bw film, consider using a green light source, or a green filter on the lens. You will likely get slightly better detail. With all of this, the best way is to evaluate suggestions with your own equipment to see if any difference are worth the hassle.

[sanking]

The Valoi system looks interesting for 35mm and 120 roll film.

Course, you still need a good LED light source, high resolution digital camera, and good lens for macro work.

https://www.valoi.co/

Sandy

[r.e.]

The Valoi system looks interesting for 35mm and 120 roll film.

Course, you still need a good LED light source, high resolution digital camera, and good lens for macro work.

https://www.valoi.co/

Sandy

Interesting. The main competitor appears to be Negative Supply. Its components are significantly more expensive, but it offers 4x5 and 8x10 holders.

There are a fair number of videos on YouTube about both systems. Negative Supply has its own YouTube channel.

[r.e.]

This is Calgary photographer Todd Korol's to-the-point video on using a digital camera to do this. He thinks that it is not a replacement for a drum scan or even an Epson flatbed scan, but can be useful before wet printing or for uploading to social media. Korol demonstrates with a T-Max 400 black and white negative, a Kodachrome slide and a colour negative. If you aren't familiar with Photo Mechanic, it's an app used for importing, tagging and managing digital photographs. Korol does his actual processing in Photoshop.

[Drew Wiley]

Tru View glass is a relatively poor choice for dealing with Newton rings. Get real deal AN glass instead, unless you are willing to deal with the extra fuss of fluid mounting.