Scanning film on a budget

First of all, I did not come up with the entire idea myself, I watched this video http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom#p/u/7/AgOTk4ApEYs where they use their computer screen as a backlight.

To digitalize your film you need a lens which focuses close enough. You have to be able to take a frame filling photograph of a single negative to get the maximum resolution. If you don’t have a macro lens / extension tubes you can crop the digital photograph but you’ll lose resolution. However keep in mind that since most of us own a camera with a DX sensor you don’t need to have a 1:1 magnification. I use a 70-210mm lens and extension tubes so I can change my magnification by zooming and focussing. And I always include some extra space, you can always crop it out in post production but it gives you a black control point for when you are “developing” your colour negative. (see chapter colour)

To get a good photograph you need some light coming in from the back. Just open a new document in Microsoft word and you get a large equal light coming from the back. Keep in mind that the computer screen is built up from pixels, so keep some space between your negative and the screen.

To keep the negative in place I use a simple box, and I just put the negative in one of the folds of the box so it will stay put. I intent to make something more sophisticated because film has a tendency to roll up again, which results in depth of field issues, but haven’t yet. [UPDATE: i use a slide projector frame]

Once you have the photographs, you load them into your computer. This doesn’t mean you’re finished. You have to “develop” the negative image in a positive one. Open your photo program and go to the curves menu and invert the line, normally the line starts in the lower left corner and ends in the upper right one. The only thing you need to do is to make the line go from the upper left corner to the lower right corner.

From here the process for black and white and colour film differs:

Black and white

Depending on the desired result you can desaturate your photograph. (your digital camera adds a sepia tint to your black and white negative) I have noticed that my photographs from negatives are a bit flat, so I add some contrast to the photograph. From here on, it’s basically a normal work flow and up to your own personal preferences.

Colour

Colour photographs are a bit trickier to digitalize because the negatives also show a colourcast. Until now I only have experience with Fuji Superia film, and this film shows an overwhelming blue colourcast. 

You can eliminate this colourcast with the colour picker tool. With these tools you tell your computer what part of the photo is supposed to be black, white and 18% percent gray. Sometimes you don’t have a perfectly black spot in your photograph, this is why I include just a little more in my digital photograph of the negative. The borders of the photograph (unexposed part of the film) should be black, so that’s my first reference point. You will see that it already looks much more a good photograph and it will be easier to spot where to place the other colour pickers. 

Then you place the white spot, and after that the colour correcting can begin with the neutral one.

Even though the colour pickers are quite precise you don’t always get your desired colour. But that’s part of your regular digital workflow as well, and I guess that’s up to personal preference how you finish your photograph.

I hope this article made some sense to you, if not don’t be afraid to leave a question / send me an email. Thanks for reading,

Koen 

The psychological advantage of shooting film

There are loads and loads of discussions on the internet about film vs digital. Both have their pros and cons. Of course digital is cheaper, and you get instant feedback, yet there are lots of people who prefer film over digital because of the mood film gives you, and sometimes, the quality. I won’t go into this since I don’t have the right gear to do a thorough test, and it’s not a really interesting discussion I think. Just do whatever feels right.

Anyway lets talk about the psychological side of this discussion. This summer I went to Kyiv for a course, and most of the people who study environmental sciences joined me. They all  brought their cameras. (seriously anyone brought a camera) and millions of pictures have been taken. Except by me, I only shot 36 to be precise. Usually I would carry my DSLR and people would expect me to take the group shots etc. But I brought my grandfathers old SLR, and no one expected anything of me. I didn’t feel the pressure of taking photos of my friends, I just took the photos I wanted to take. People in the street of Kyiv (and the ring of soot from a previous fire in the fuse box in the hotel). I almost didn’t take photographs of my fellow students and they didn’t expect me to, even though I was carrying a large camera.

I observed more and shot less. When I look back at my trip to Rome, I took around 250 photographs. I have to admit I found less to photograph in Kyiv than in Rome, and I would probably have used more rolls of film in Rome. But I would never reach that 250 photographs. Somehow this gives you a peaceful feeling. You aren’t chasing shots, you are observing again. I think I would have experienced Rome better if I would’ve taken a film camera. With this in mind I took the same SLR with me on my holiday with my girlfriend. I filled another roll of film, and while I filled it I discovered that this is a far more relaxed way of photographing your precious moments. You only take photographs of the really important events, so you will have your memories. But you aren’t documenting anymore, you aren’t the guy anymore who is one meter away to take the photograph, you are part of the group again.

Of course this statement is a bit bold, I certainly did enjoy my holiday in Rome and I didn’t feel closed out. But I experienced my “film-holidays” more intense than my digital ones.

And besides the experiencing factor, it somehow feels great to use the same technology on my holidays as my father used during his holidays when he was around my age.

So in conclusion, I will take my film camera on my next holiday and I will only take one or two rolls of film.

thank you very much for reading,

koen