Joel Wilcox wrote:
> A caveat about negative film: the fact that it is easier to scan does not
> necessarily mean that one will like the end result better. Negative film
> inherently shows more grain and when saturation and contrast are optimized
> for the final result, this is only made worse
I haven't noticed any grain with current C-41's up to and including
400ASA. When I scan at 1200 or 2400 DPI in Vuescan, I get pixels if I
get in close enough, but nothing caused by grain. One thing I have
noticed with most consumer grade C-41 is that optimal flesh tones with
flash are hard to get without darkening the image, which is what most
minilabs don't do. Reala overcomes this somewhat, but. . . .scanning in
some old family slides, I was really impressed by the flesh tones from
what looks like an E-6 (or Dupe of a Kodachrome) from 1963! With a
little color correction, these flesh tones--via flashbulb-- are better
IMO than what I can get from color neg today.
. Secondly, the same problems with D-max that
> affect shadows in slide scanning can affect highlights in negative scans.
True, but in a well-exposed neg. the white highlights bother me less
than shadow noise in a slide.
> The interesting thing is that while VueScan has a profile for many
> different types of negative films, including three different versions for
> Reala (!), there are only two for slide film: Kodak and Generic.
I guess this has to do with the differing orange base in each color
neg., and also as a digital parallel to the seperate "channels" set up
by C-41 printing machines. A slide positive, by contrast is "WYSIWYG,"
and the subtle shifts of say, blue or magenta, are better addressed in
the "crop" algorithms you mentioned. Ed Hamrick has been working on
these in recent versions of Vuescan, and there is one option that tries
to locate that part of the image that is white, and make it as neutral
as it can. . . .a good starting point for slides (if they have any white
parts!)
Morgan Sparks
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