the best film for scanning

[k._rivkin]

Thank you very much for your time (you are reading this :) )

 

After I started to scan my 120 on Epson 3170, I've encountered the

issues that I did not see before - my scaning tends to lower contrast,

but the main pain are color profiles (there is no vuescan for 3170).

 

Are there "good" slide and negative films for scanning - low iso

preferred ?

 

I've tried so far Reala 100, Superia 100, Konica Impresa 50, Portra

160VC, NPH 160.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

K.Rivkin

[rich815]

While some films may be more forgiving and "easier" to scan (some Portra films, C-41 type B&W films, to mention a couple) I find that more important is proper exposure of the negs in the first place. Nothing's harder to scan than a deeply underexposed negative or for that matter one in which the highlights were blown. But that said there is no "magic bullet" push-button approach to the best scans as your subject matter, lighting conditions, and of course, what results you want in your personal photographic approach, dictates what would work best. I feel that finding a film you like and then practicing and testing it to get to know how it will scan best for you on your hardware and your chosen scanning software (I like Vuescan) is the best way to go rather than thinking if you just try lots of films and lots of people's advice you'll hit on it.<p>Reala 100, as you mention, should scan beautifully for you, and the Superia 100 will not do bad either though if you use Reala 100 I think you should forget about Superia 100. Never heard of NPH 160 but if you mean the NPH 400 then you will find it more unforgiving but you can indeed get good scans. Consider Kodak Portra 400UC too.

[ilkka_nissila]

Reala, Supra 200, and the latest Kodak and Fuji iso 100 films are excellent for scanning.

[imaginator]

I totally agree with Richard about exposure. My film scanner is low-end and has limited dynamic range (d-max) This means it can't get much info from the dense parts of the film (underexposed slides, overexposed negs) Basically, the better scanners can handle denser images. Here's a few films mentioned by Scott Eaton in a recent thread: NPH, Portra UC, and Reala. Fuji Superia 400 is not as good as NPH, but still scans OK, and suprisingly, the new Kodak High Definition 400 seems to do OK as well. Fuji Astia (also consumer version Sensia) has been recommended, and Fuji Provia 100 has given me good results. My scanner has trouble with Velvia, but a scanner with high d-max can "see" into the shadows better. As mentioned, the light and conditions are big factors for film choice. For a scene with high range of brightness (sun and shade) try Astia or Sensia, or print films, and for dull diffuse light go with a film with more contrast/saturation like Velvia. The most difcult film I've tried so far was Kodak T-max 100 black and white... scanner doesn't like it. I'm still new to this, so I'm also trying several films... including: Fuji Sensia , NPH, Reala and Velvia (in my case, only for overcast and shade), and Portra UC. Bracket exposures or you will get confusing results and it won't be a fair comparison. I shoot 35mm so don't know if all these films are available in 120.

[scott_eaton]

I have to disagree that Reala in 120 is a good film to scan. This emulsion is lower in contrast than 35mm Reala and not quite adept at scanning because it's older technology. I would hardly classify it as bad as older NPS was, but 120 Reala can be tricky without a dedicated profile. Once you nail it though, the stuff looks really good. Konica Impresa has always been easy to scan for me, but I simply find it too slow (does best around EI 30) and a bit limited in terms of it's color palette.

 

The new Fuji NPH is much better than it's older version in terms of scanning, but Kodak Portra UC has to take the award for best scanning print film. I have yet to see a scanner it won't work with. The other Kodak Portra films are OK, although in 120 there's not much need for Portra NC vs UC 400.

 

For slides, I'd start with materials like Astia, then move up to trickier films like Provia or E100G. Sensia/Astia is by far the easiest slide film to scan regardless of format in my experience because of it's high lattitude, but it's soft contrast can leave a bit desired for non portrait subjects.

[k._rivkin]

Was kind of afraid to make a presumptios statement, but it's exactly my feelings - Impresa scans good, with good contrast, Portra even better, but Reala/Superia sometimes seem to have problems with scanning.