Slide Scan better than negative?

[Eddie1664878514]

I heard that scanning slide can get better result than scanning

negative print film? It that true? If yes, how serious is the

different?

 

In case this issue has be discussed many times before, kindly point

me to the relevant thread(s) (I tried but failed to find them)?

 

Many thanks.

[Ed_Ingold]

You heard right! Of course, sometimes it's the other way around.

 

Negative film has a greater dynamic range, but color balance is subjective. Reversal film is easy to compare with the scan results to match colors.

 

I scan more negative film, because I find the greater dynamic range more suitable for my purposes. However, I don't find one more difficult than the other. I use a Nikon LS-8000 and SilverFast AI6.

[curtis_dalpra]

My experience is that different scanners have different strenghts. I use both an Acer 2740 and a Canon 4000. The Acer eats slides all day long, but negatives require a lot more fuss to attain the poper exposure and color balance. The Acer has software profiles for different film types.

 

I'm less happy with the canon for slides (dark), but it swallows negatives gladly withour having to specify a film type. YMMV.

[steve_swinehart]

You need to define "better." As in the previous post, slides are easier to scan because you can compare on-screen to the original positive. Negatives are a bit harder to scan depending upon the scanner because the orange mask is not consistent from film-to-film and between manufacturers (look at the difference between Kodak and Fuji negative films).

 

Also, most scanner software seems to be optimized for transparencies and not negative film. If you work with negative film a lot, you'll find out the scanner settings that work best for a given type of film.

 

I've been scanning some 14 year old Kodak negative film (400MC) and NONE of my scanner's built-in negative film profiles gave a good translation of the film, because the film profiles setup for current films don't match the old film's dyes and mask. At that point you just have to get "close" and then tweak the rest in Photoshop. No problem with scanning transparencies of the same age.

 

However, once you get your system down for negative film, the results should be as good as transparency film with added detail in shadows and highlights.

[dzeanah]

My impression was a little different.<p>

 

I thought scanning slides was <i>harder</i> than scanning negative film, because the dmax was higher in the blacks, so you needed a really good scanner to get most of the detail out of the slide.<p>

 

The problem, as others mentioned, is interpretation. If I were scanning for myself, I'd likely stick with neg film.

[Eddie1664878514]

Thanks for all your advice! Very helpful.

[scott_eaton]

Simply put, scanning color negs is easier for scanner hardware because of less density range, but more difficult for the software to handle because of the orange mask. Slides being a positive and not having an orange mask *usually* makes it easier for desktop scanners to handle.

 

So it all depends on how good the software and profiles in your scanner are. Yes, you need a better scanner in terms of hardware to make the best scans from tricky transparency films like Velvia, etc.

[beauh44]

For the most part, I've gotten much better results scanning color print film negatives than I have scanning slides. There's a lot more "wiggle room" with color negs - they don't have to have a near-perfect exposure like the slides do. Just my experience - YMMV! ;-)

[andrus_suitsu]

My solution for color negative scanning is to take a reference picture of a GretagMacbeth ColorChecker chart on the same film. PictureWindow Pro 3.5 software knows how to match the picture of the chart to actual colors and based on that it will automatically correct your picture. It works on both the curves and the color correction and will actually achieve the color mask removal and inversion too all in one step. You can save these settings and use them later on other pictures taken in the same light. It works quite well for me on negatives and I achieve reasonably accurate colors and contrast. Maybe I was a bit vague but I think you can download the trial version of the software (or just the manual) to have a look. Look for the "Match Color Reference" command.

[arie07]

I find much easier to scan negatives with the help of Hamrick's Vuescan.

Vuescan has profiles for almost any negative film in the market while only 2 types of slide film are covered - Kodachome and "other" films.

Dense slides are almost impossible to scan satisfactory and I prefer negative films for scanning.

As for the color precision... unless you are into forensic photography I do not see the importance of the argument that slides are more color accurate... color control is one of the best and most creative tools a photographer has in the digital age.