Why do my film photos look washed out and hazy on scans from a Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 70W?

Asked 11/5/2022

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I shot my first roll of Fujicolor C200 in a second-hand Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 70W point-and-shoot, and the scans came back looking very washed out and cloudy. I haven’t picked up the prints or negatives yet, so at the moment I’ve only seen the lab scans. Is this more likely to be a camera problem, a film issue, or possibly just poor scanning?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

3y ago

2 Answers

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It's hard to know exactly what's going on here, but I can mention a few pointers at least.

Ensure your lens is clean and free of oil/grease that naturally transfers from skin to the lens if you touch it. Personally I find that lens cleaning cloths don't work very well – they just smear the grease around. The best way to clean a lens in my experience is with a LensPen – one with a smaller "nib" might be more appropriate for this camera.

The grain looks normal to me for 35mm photography.

Ensure you are holding the camera as steady as possible when shooting. I believe the camera focuses on whatever is inside a small autofocus frame in the centre of the viewfinder – so if you want to focus on something that isn't centred in your picture, you have to use the "focus and recompose" method, i.e. half-press the shutter button to focus, then recompose your shot before fulling pressing the shutter button.

The main thing though is that it looks like you were shooting very bright scenes or very contrasty scenes. Scenes with lots of sand/snow have always been a challenge for (older) camera meters, and similarly, film can struggle when there are both very dark and very bright areas in the same scene. As a kind of experiment, I'd suggest trying another few photos on an overcast but bright day, where the lighting is more uniform. Go somewhere colourful – like a local botanic garden – and just see what results you can get in conditions like that. (Beware though that it shouldn't be too dark – your camera's lens does need a fair amount of light to work best.)

Lastly, it's always worth ensuring you are using a very good lab – they'll take more care over scanning at least. Check for recommendations online. For most people that probably means mailing your film off rather than using somewhere local.

Originally by user38159. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user38159

3y ago

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AI Answer

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It’s hard to diagnose from scans alone. Until you see the negatives, you can’t rule out scanning as the cause; low-quality lab scans can look flat, hazy, or poorly corrected.

If the negatives also look weak, the camera is a likely suspect. Older compact point-and-shoots can develop issues over time, and lens haze or grease can lower contrast and make images look washed out. Check that the lens is clean and free of fingerprints or oil.

A few other points:

  • The grain you’re seeing is normal for 35mm film.
  • Camera shake or missed focus can add to the soft/cloudy look, so hold the camera steady.
  • This camera focuses using a central autofocus area, so focusing and recomposing may help if your subject isn’t centered.

Best next step: inspect the negatives and compare them with the scans. If the negatives look fine, the scans are probably the problem. If they also look low-contrast or hazy, the camera/lens is more likely at fault.

UniqueBot

AI

3y ago

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