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Hi fellow photographers,
Could you help me understaning scanning resolution.
I was browsing and came accross this site and I found the pictures so stunning, I wonder what scanner the photographer used to achieved this degree of quality:
Have a look for yourself:
http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/120,night
each photo was taken with film camera and WOW!
Cheers!!!
Seems to be lots of different photographers, lots of different cameras, probably lots of different scanners.
They're 645 and 6x6 so they're not going to need a huge dpi to get a decent web image. A flatbed might do for some at maybe 1200 dpi or 2400 dpi.
The more professional ones would likely be Imacon Flextight scanners, or they might go to drum scans. There are also some smaller desktop scanners, by Minolta I think.
See discussion here
Drum scanning here
Flextight datahere
Flatbed here
heres a fairly ordinary flatbed scan, 1200 dpi I think, but probably more than one pass.
I know just how you feel! First off, though you'd probably agree that the better the original image (From a good film camera) then the better the results are likely to be. So if you handle the camera well, and if you are skilled with Photoshop, then you should be able to manage some great conversions.
I don't do enough Medium Format film work to warrant a specialised scanner, and mine is a General Purpose scanner, a Canon, which processes 35mm negatives and transparencies. Therefore, the results I get are tolerable, but they could be better. That's about as much as I know about the merits or otherwise of scanners.
So for Medium Format SLR work I use a professional processing lab which provides a CD with 'Hi, Med and Lo' resolution scans. If you would like the URL, (Not cheap, but good) PM me and I will supply the details.
Regards AJ 
fiveprime sources from flickr. The vast majority of the extensive MF film users on there use the Epson 4490, 4990, V500 and V700, depending on how much they have to spend.
From personal usage, the 4490 doesn't do 35mm very well but produces excellent results with MF even at it's highest resolution.
I use an Epson V700 for medium format neg scanning and have found it to be excellent. Still feel it to be superior to digital, particularly 120 size black & white.
Great, i can't wait to buy a scanner and then shoot film and start scanning.
One further point, some films seem to scan better than others, I've found the new Kodak Ektar 100asa colour neg to be particularly good, both in 120 & 35mm size. Also FP4 & HP5. black & white.
Quote: Could you help me understanding scanning resolution.
Cheers!!!
On the basics if you scan the whole of a 35mm slide which is 1.5 inches long at 4000 dpi (a higher priced scanner) you have recorded 6000 pieces of information.
If you are happy to print using an ink-jet at 200 dpi on the print 6000 divided by 200 allows a print 30 inches wide without using interpolation software.
Note there is a difference between optical (best) and interpolated (second best) dpi.
Less often mentioned is D-max - how much density a scanner can handle. Ideally a high contrast slide film like Velvia needs around 4.5, other slide film around 4.2 and print film around 4. Lower priced scanners tend to have no more than 3 to 3.5 D-max making them less than ideal for top quality scans.
Quote: Quote:
Less often mentioned is D-max - how much density a scanner can handle. Ideally a high contrast slide film like Velvia needs around 4.5, other slide film around 4.2 and print film around 4. Lower priced scanners tend to have no more than 3 to 3.5 D-max making them less than ideal for top quality scans.
Could this explain why the new Kodak Ektar colour neg film with its wide contrast range, seems to produce more satisfactory scans than some of the more contrasty slide films, even with a top class scanner?
Finally i am happy with film, started to shoot if i remember by March or April, i bought V750 by then, was not so happy with it before, now i am almost satisfied with it even i still want better scanner like a drum scanner or at least Nikon Coolscan scanner [9000].
I shoot only medium format now, maybe later i will try 35mm, and i will start to shoot large format by next year i hope.
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