Color Fringing on Lab Scans

Hello folks, hope everyone is well! I recently began working a position at a local film lab, and one of the perks of the job is that I get free developing and scanning of all my film. Not bad, right? Previously I couldn't afford high quality scans from the lab for the amount of film I was shooting, so I had invested in an Epson V600 to scan all my negatives. Now that I'm able to get those high quality scans for free, it seems like a no brainer to stick with that. However, I've noticed some very ugly purple/green color fringing in the lab scans that never appeared on my Epson scans. The scanner we use at the lab is a Noritsu S4, and while the sharpness and overall color rendition does seem superior to the results I got with the Epson, this color fringing is really really nasty and I don't know what to do about it. I attached some photos comparing negatives I scanned on the Epson vs the same ones scanned on the Noritsu. It's so strange that the Noritsu produces such noticeable color fringing--I would expect much more from a professional scanner, especially since I would normally be paying $10 per roll for these scans. I pointed out the issue to my supervisor at the lab, concerned of course not only about the quality of my own photos, but about our customers not receiving the quality they actually pay for. He told me that it was an issue with the film, not the scanner, because my shots were long exposures which he says produces the color fringing. I have no idea if this is really the case, but if it weren't a problem with the scanner, why does the fringing not show up on the Epson scans as well? I suspect our scanner is perhaps not calibrated correctly, or the software we use to scan and edit the negatives (which is pretty dated) could somehow be causing the issue. I would really appreciate any thoughts on this matter! Thank you in advance.

 

Epson (left) vs Noritsu (right), zoomed 1:1 in LR:

 

I recently began working a position at a local film lab

 

Say nothing more to your supervisor and just keep using the V600.

 

and one of the perks of the job is that I get free developing and scanning of all my film. Not bad, right?

 

Be happy to be getting your films developed for free. Forget about their scanning if it produces scans like that. There is obviously a major problem with their scanning process and perhaps it's not your job to sort it out for them, you've just started working there.

Agree with the above. Embarrassingly poor scans. The explanation is also worryingly off-putting. This is why most of us abandoned film + commercial scans year ago. The Noritsu scan is higher resolution I notice.

You did not mention the specific Noritsu scanner yet sounds as it has not been properly maintained. It may just be out of adjustment or needs a part replaced.

Noritus as with many commercial level products have detailed maintenance manuals and procedures to test for problems and how to repair.

Here is a link to a service manual to several Noritsu scanners (PDF). A fair amount of work for proper maintenance yet pretty step by step. I would bet high end pro labs stay on top of this yet it would not surprise me if some smaller shops wait until a customer complains or the machine breaks to have maintenance / calibration done. The link gives an idea that it is a known process yet I suspect it needs someone that has the training to do so.

 

The fact that you were brushed off could be that you are new and being marginalized or just did not want to be bothered (e.g. too busy with other stuff). The explanation from your supervisor does not make sense to me as the issue would show up on all scans even other types of scanners if it were in the negative itself. I have seen the color fringing yet usually from certain lenses in certain parts of the field of view along high contrast edges (which would also show up in all scanners).

 

Hard to know how to proceed depending on the culture of the lab cause you could be bucking the system if they believe the scans are good enough because they don't have customer complaints.

 

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Since you are showing this at 1:1 (100 percent zoom), yeah, that scanner is seriously in need of repair. Looks like something is out of alignment with the individual R/G/B sensor. This is utterly unacceptable.