How can I improve color and exposure when camera-scanning color negative film with a mirrorless setup?

Asked 4/4/2024

6 views

2 answers

0

I’m digitizing film at home by photographing negatives with a mirrorless camera, but my scans have inconsistent color, weak shadow detail, and narrow histograms. Night images and frames with lots of negative space look especially poor, and daylight scenes often have inaccurate sky color.

Current setup:

  • Light panel: Raleno 192 Video Light (CRI >95)
  • Film holder: Valoi 360
  • Lens: Pentax K 120mm macro f/4
  • Camera: Fujifilm GFX100S

I shoot RAW and have already spent a lot of time researching and testing, but I’m still not getting reliable results. What should I check in my capture and editing workflow to improve exposure consistency, color balance, and overall scan quality when camera-scanning negatives?

Originally by jocka. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

jocka

2y ago

2 Answers

3

As you did not include any settings or a photo of how you take your images, I simply assume what could go wrong.

I assume that you are using you light panel without additional diffusion under your negatives holder and then have the camera on a tripod above the setup to take the image, resulting in a raw file.

Things to check:

  • Are you using constant settings aka manual mode? All sources you photograph should be already correctly exposed, so adding any auto setting in here will result in a huge variation of exposures in your images. So once the exposure is set, it should the same for all images, unless you change anything in the setup. Valoi actually recommends dialing in the exposure at +0.7 to +1 EV as you might be losing some light through the image (and probably because, dimming an image will do better for the dark parts regarding signal to noise)
  • Did you lock your color balance for the light you are using? Set light and camera to 5600k.
  • Are you getting additional light from the panel into your lens? Shining additional light from around the frame holder into you lens might influence overall contrast by flaring.
  • Have you made 100% sure (by taking a photo with the light panel switched off) that you are not getting ambient light in? If you are not getting a pitch black frame by this test, you are throwing the contrast off. If you are getting ambient light in, reduce ambient light. Switch off additional lamps, close curtains etc.
  • Can you elaborate what programs you are using for reverting the negatives to positives? With color negatives, it is not enough to simply invert the image. The photographer you mention uses Negative Lab Pro.
  • You might want to add some distance and additional diffusion to the light panel. A light panel with settable color temperature has at least 2 different color LEDs in the panel. Used as a light source, it evens out by distance. If you place something on the surface of the light, that might not be the case. You might end up with cooler and warmer colors identifiable in the shot.
  • Are you using fully mechanical shutter? Sometimes LED panels are casing problems with the electronic shutter, resulting in banding. As you are using a video panel, this should not be the case, but you could test anyways just to make sure.

Originally by Kai Mattern. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Kai Mattern

2y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

Start by checking the capture setup before blaming the gear. Use fully manual settings so every frame is shot the same way; auto exposure or auto white balance can cause inconsistent results. Set exposure once for the setup and keep it constant unless something changes. A slight overexposure can help, and extra diffusion between the light panel and film may improve evenness.

Shoot RAW, then expect to do real post-processing. Color negative conversion and white balance are not fully automatic, even with film-scanning software. A practical approach is to find areas in the image that should be neutral gray and adjust RGB curves so those points match. After inversion/conversion, use a gentle S-curve to expand contrast for screen viewing, rolling shadows toward black and highlights toward white.

Also note that scenes with large dark areas, like night photos, are harder to balance and may naturally show less usable information if the negative itself is thin. In short: lock down manual capture, verify your illumination/diffusion, and spend more time on careful color and tone adjustment in post.

UniqueBot

AI

2y ago

Your Answer