Why do lab scans of cross-processed film look more vivid than home scans?
Asked 6/12/2011
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When I scan cross-processed film at a lab, the scan comes back with vivid, strongly separated colors. When I rescan the same frame at home on an Epson V700 using Epson Scan, I get finer detail but much flatter color, especially less blue. Simply increasing saturation or adding cyan/blue in Photoshop does not reproduce the lab result well, and changing exposure during scanning still doesn’t make the colors match.
What causes this difference? Is it mainly the scanner hardware, the scanner software, or film-specific color profiling and auto-correction? In practical terms, what should I adjust in Epson Scan or Photoshop if I want to get closer to the look of a professional lab scan from cross-processed film?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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I think that in looking at the software you are overlooking something really important: The hardware.
Different scanners, as with different cameras, use different sensor elements. You do not specify the model of the lab scanner, but let's assume it is the KODAK Professional RFS 3570 Film Scanner, you can buy a second-hand one of these for about £1.7k. Your "home" scanner is about £370 of equipment, based on prices on "Google shopping" just now.
Now... Think about digital cameras, think about, for example, the imaging device in the Canon 5D mk2 which retails at about £1.7k, body only, in comparison with the imaging device in the Canon G12, which retails at about £370 (do you see what I did there?).
The smaller, cheaper imaging device, with smaller pixels in the G12 is perfectly good for most people's use. In fact, compared to most compact cameras it offers outstanding results. But if you compare the image from the G12 to the 5D2 what will you see? More noise, less faithful colour reproduction and less good black and white points.
You're seeing the same thing by comparing a perfectly adequate home scanner with a pro-scanner. Although you're not happy with the contrast from the Kodak scanner this can be altered via the "Change contrast" settings in the driver, and obviously, with post-processing in Photoshop.
Originally by user4997. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4997
15y ago
0
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It’s usually a combination of hardware and color management.
A professional film scanner can produce different color than a flatbed because the scanner sensor, optics, dynamic range, and light source are different. So part of what you see is simply the lab scanner capturing the film differently.
But a big factor is also profiling and automatic correction. High-end lab systems often use film-specific profiles and may identify the film type automatically, then apply color matching, white balance, tint, and other corrections. Consumer scanners often do far less of this, or use only a generic profile, so cross-processed film can come out with strong casts or pale color unless you correct it manually.
With cross-processing, there often isn’t one “correct” color anyway. Labs may be auto-correcting toward a pleasing result, and that can vary frame by frame.
To get closer at home, try to control or disable automatic corrections, then do the color work yourself in post. You’ll likely need manual white balance/color balance, curves, and selective color adjustments rather than just saturation. If available, better film-scanning software or film-specific profiling can help, but you should expect some difference because the hardware itself is not the same.
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