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First some background:

I am a photographer who likes to use film negatives, and who mainly shoots 6x6 medium format (Hasselblad 500CM) and some occasional 35mm (Pentax KX).

I own an Epson v550 flatbed scanner. The scans are acceptable, but they seem quite soft to me, especially if I inspect the negatives for sharpness with a magnifier.

Things I have tried to improve sharpness/resolution:

  1. Scan at higher DPI: this only adds more noise above ~4800 dpi
  2. Scan directly on the glass plate: apparently, the focus plane is already calibrated somewhat above the surface, as this technique resulted in a loss of sharpness for me (in addition to the appearance of Newton rings).
  3. Scan using the holder with ANR glass slide on top. The ANR glass sometimes produced strange artifacts and seems to increase the noise in the scans, especially for 35mm film.

Also, I feel that the dynamic range of the scanner is not capable of capturing the full dynamic range of the film.

Because I am frustrated with the inferior quality of my scans, I would like to give "scanning" with a DSLR + macro lens a go. My question is the following: What DSLR + macro lens setup should I buy, considering it is used only for scanning film?

(a Pentax lens that would fit my KX would be a bonus, but not a requirement)

I imagine I have the following requirements:

  • Price: of the total setup should be under 500 euros. Second hand/older models are not a problem.
  • Lens: can be a fully manual lens, as long as its a sharp macro lens with something close to 1:1 reproduction.
  • Camera should be able to shoot in RAW
  • To get the most out of the dynamic range of the negatives, I imagine a HDR mode would be extremely helpful (yes, I am shooting slide film too)
  • Resolution: I am not really familiar with all the megapixel requirements, as I am a film photographer, but I think it should at least be above 10 megapixels. (preferably more)

I understand that it might be hard to give a definitive answer to this question, but I feel an answer would be helpful to this site, as film photography still is quite popular and people are using DSLRs more and more to scan film.

Edit 1: as pointed out in a comment, my goal is to shoot one negative frame in multiple parts, and stitch them together using software on the PC.

Edit 2: I will mainly be using color negative and positive film, but also the occasional black and white film.

Edit 3: The reason why I am considering a camera setup instead of a dedicated 500 euro negative scanner, is because tests have pointed out that you can get much more detail from your negatives with a camera setup compared to for example a drum scanner: http://petapixel.com/2012/12/23/why-you-should-digitize-your-film-using-a-camera-instead-of-a-scanner/ Also, I use different film formats (for now 35mm and 6x6, but definitely 4x5 in the future) and like the flexibility a camera setup offers. However, if it turns out that there is a viable scanner alternative, I will consider it.

Edit 4: Here are two examples of the results I'm getting. 120: https://flic.kr/p/KfJdw1 35mm: https://flic.kr/p/xFE6BJ There are more examples on Flickr. I feel there is a lack of sharpness, but I'm not sure if this is due to too high expectations or limitations of the current setup. Camera/lens/film details are included on the photo page.

lightproof
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Ruben
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  • Your requirement of "scanning" true medium format using a 35mm camera and a 1:1 lens implies stitching to me. Is this intentional or do you want to avoid stitching? – null Aug 11 '16 at 20:53
  • Stitching is indeed necessary, I will update the question, thanks! – Ruben Aug 11 '16 at 21:01
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    So you're willing to spend 500 euros on a lens because your 100 euro scanner isn't good enough? Have you looked at the quality of scans you could get from a dedicated film scanner in the 500 euro price range? – Michael C Aug 11 '16 at 21:33
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    Color negatives, or B&W? The DSLR setup can be quite good for slides (see http://www.scantips.com/es-1.html ), however color negatives have the orange mask to be removed, which is about out of range for editor software. Shifting colors so much clips at digital 255. The Photoshop Curves tool has a Color Negative Profile that shows this. Whereas scanners instead remove the orange in analog, by increasing scan time of the blue and green channels, which is unlimited, no clipping. – WayneF Aug 11 '16 at 22:29
  • @MichaelClark which film scanner do you have in mind that costs under 500 euros and can scan 35mm, 6x6 and possibly 4x5? If that is the better alternative I will happily consider it. See edit 3 for a more detailed answer. – Ruben Aug 12 '16 at 06:43
  • @WayneF I am planning on using color negatives. I read that you can already overcome this problem in camera by adjusting the white balance and shooting in RAW. I also read that some people are using a blue filter to partially compensate for the mask. But this is definitely something that has to be considered. – Ruben Aug 12 '16 at 06:46
  • Key sentence from the PP article: "And please ignore the tonality; this is a shot from a color negative, and I’m struggling a bit to find a suitable curve:" – Michael C Aug 12 '16 at 06:57
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    I've seen much better results from V700 and up than the author of that PP article was getting. So have most of the folks leaving comments. Read the one by "niccolo" in particular. – Michael C Aug 12 '16 at 07:13
  • @MichaelClark I can't seem to find the comment by "niccolo", and I am interested in what they have to offer. The tonality is indeed a point of concern, but I think it can be solved by using for example a blue filter and correcting the white balance. But, your advice would be to ditch the camera and just use a scanner? – Ruben Aug 13 '16 at 12:34
  • @Ruben Not necessarily. I'm just saying you should investigate how others seem to be getting better output using scanners than what it seems (without an example the rest of us really don't know what your results look like) you are getting. For B&W the camera is a more viable option, not so much for color. correcting for the color cast of color film is nowhere near as simple as you seem to think. And different film substrates have slightly different colors. Most higher level scanning software include custom profiles for many of the most common films from the past and present. – Michael C Aug 13 '16 at 19:44
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    Those profiles are created using true color management processes: taking a photo of a legitimate test chart, developing the film, scanning it and then using proper tools to measure the output and create a profile with correction curves. – Michael C Aug 13 '16 at 19:46
  • The comments to the article you cite are powered by "Disqus". You may need to register an account with "Disqus" to see them. Niccolo's comment is near the bottom as it was posted about 8 months ago. – Michael C Aug 13 '16 at 20:14
  • @MichaelClark thanks for your detailed and insightful comments. The Epson software also does not have these color profiles unfortunately. I will post an example of what I get for 35mm and 120 from my Epson v550. – Ruben Aug 14 '16 at 17:17
  • You can use better software with an Epson scanner than what is supplied with the V550. The V800 or V850 are better scanners than the V550. I also believe they are supplied with much better software than the V550, but even if they aren't the software is out there that can be used with them. – Michael C Aug 15 '16 at 03:12
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    If it's a one-batch only scan, rent a NIKON Coolscan 9000ED. Buying 2nd hand still would be too much for your budget (but hey, you get an effective resolution almost down to film grain). – FarO Dec 01 '17 at 15:58

2 Answers2

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One thing to watch out for - most lenses use a curved area of focus rather a planar one. For example, if you have your focus set at 1m, everything in 1m radius should be in focus, which is a curved shape. Since you're shooting a flat object, a negative, it's worth noting.

There are exceptions, notably the Zeiss Planar lens.

There are slide duplicators like this. One would hope their optics would account for the planar issue.

One thing I'd suggest is to get a professional scan done on at least one image to create a baseline for what you want from a good scan.

Jeremy S.
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  • Thank you for the suggestion about the planar field of focus. The slide duplicators would be an option for 35mm, but I can't find any for 120 or 4x5. – Ruben Jul 04 '17 at 20:43
  • Almost all true Macro/Micro lenses are very well corrected for field curvature, especially when using them at their optimal aperture setting around f/5.6-f/8. Since you have total control of the light illuminating the slide/negative as well as the length of exposure, that shouldn't be a problem. – Michael C Mar 07 '23 at 04:04
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You might want to look at a used Bowens Illumitran - these were purpose designed for slide copying, and apparently (with the right holder) can go up to around 4x5" (though I'm not sure if that applies to all the versions). Basically, a flash unit (with optional contrast control) and a bellows unit.

see (for example) http://members.bitstream.net/tlmartin/copiers.html for more info, or just do a web search.

JerryTheC
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