Settings to scan 35mm Negatives ????

kirbinster

I have an Epson Perfection V500 scanner with negative tray and would like to start scanning lots of old 35mm negatives I have laying around. What is the best way to do this? What resolution and DPI settings should I use? Am I best to use the software that comes with the scanner, or is there better software to use for this task?

colourbox

All of the answers depend on what your final goal is.
Family archive or fine art/magazine quality?
TV/web viewing only or enlargeable to very large print sizes?
etc.

pathfinder

Scanning positives or negatives can vary from a simple, easy task, to a quite complex undertaking, depending of your requirements in terms of image quality, as Colourbox alluded to.

The software that came with your V500 will work ok.

A lot of folks who scan professionally like and use VueScan I have used scanning software from www.hamrick.com for a decade. VueScan will operate almost all film and flatbed scanners on the marker. It is now 64bit aware and compatible too. Cheap too.

basflt

Epson driver will do fine
there are other software's , but they need your original Epson software to work
[ cant hurt to check their site for newer version though ]

scan at a high resolution , but ,
there is no need for real high resolution , as it will not overcome original resolution of the film , it just takes longer to scan
if you can see original pixels its ok
its a bit of try and find out

whats more importend , is
both the film and glass-plate are clean
and with clean , i mean spotlessly clean
every dust fiber will be visible

and , my idea ,
forget these so-called "auto" stuff
just scan , save , and use photoshop or other editor to finish it off

kirbinster

I guess what I am looking at is good enough quality so that I could make an 8x10 of the image if I wanted to. I only want to do this once, so I want to make sure to do it at a high enough quality that I don't have to search through negatives and do it again. So, given that info what bit depth and resolution should I shoot for. Thanks.

basflt

what I am looking at is good enough quality so that I could make an 8x10 of the image if I wanted to

you gave the answer ............

scanning at higher res will only take longer
just find the balance that works best for you [ and your scanner ]
to high res is waste of time
do some scans at different settings , than compare and choose your settings that work best for you

save to disk , then edit , [ from a copy ] ,you only have to scan once

pathfinder

8 x 10 inches at 300 pixels per inch -> 2400 x 3000 total pixels should be more than adequate for what you need - 2400*3000 = 7.2 Mpxls which is a pretty big file. You may be satisfied with a smaller file size 200 ppi x 8 = 1600, 200x10 in= 2000 2000*1600 = 3.2 Mpxls

I would scan in 16 bit myself, as it collects more data, and there is less likelihood of posterization of skies and large areas of smooth color. Do a good job once, and you will not have to come back and do it again later. Some folks will scan to 8 bit, but your file will be much more brittle when edited.

An important point is picking a good black and white point in your scans.

Scantips is a great source for unbiased information about scanning negatives, positives, and prints....

Remember, this is all digital, so other than your time, it is "free" so play with it a while and get a feeling for what you can and cannot do. The Epson V500 is a nice flatbed scanner ( I own a V 700 ) .

DavidTO

pathfinder wrote: »

The Epson V500 is a nice flatbed scanner ( I own a V 700 ) .

PF,

How does that scanner do with negatives? I'm buying a panoramic 35mm camera. I plan on processing the b/w film myself and then scanning. I'm looking for an inexpensive solution, and I'm wondering if I can get by with a flatbed or if I need to get a film scanner.

EDIT: Also, I should mention that each frame will be roughly 2x as long as a conventional 35mm frame, so conventional scanner set to scan a 35mm frame would mean that I'd have to stitch them afterwards, which is something I'd like to avoid.

kirbinster

The V500 is working quite well for me with Vuescan.

pathfinder

A flat bed scanner should work fine, since it will not be limited to a 24x36mm window. A flatbed v700 will scan 4x5 or 8 x10 negatives. Since your negatives are B&W you do not have to be concerned with color negative emulsion issues.

VueScan has settings for B&W negative scans too.

BinaryFx

Resolution = the highest *optical* value that the scanner offers (not interpolated).

Size = 100% or same size as the original

Bit Depth = The highest that the scanner offers.

If the software does a good job of inverting (easy) and removing the colour mask (not as easy), then use the scanner controls to make this positive and acceptable "true" colour. Otherwise, scan as a neg. and one can use Photoshop to invert, remove the colour mask and balance the colour. Some may use Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw to "develop" their negs scans, as they can quickly sync. settings over batches or multiple scans (parametric edits as opposed to traditional pixel level edits).

You will save more time making sure that the images are clean before scanning, than dustbusting after scanning.


Regards,

Stephen Marsh

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