FINALLY, a decent scanner!

[Xia_Ke]

Woohoo! Finally, a decent scanner. Picked up an Epson 4490 direct from Epson, refurbished, for under $100 shipped Anyway, here's a few of my first scans. The cat shot was taken with an Olympus OM-G w/50mm f/1.8 and Tri-X. The other shots were with the Canonet and Plus-X. The Oly shots came out good but, the Canonet shots were a good stop or two overexposed but, nothing some Lightroom couldn't fix. Also added a little vignetting. Yep, I'm addicted. It's film for me now, though I feel like I need to relearn everything

[Greg McCary]

Those are nice looking scans Aaron. How many rolls have you developed? TriX seems to have more contrast than TMax?
Greg

[Xia_Ke]

Those are nice looking scans Aaron. How many rolls have you developed? TriX seems to have more contrast than TMax?
Greg

I've only processed 4 rolls so far, 2 rolls of Plus-X, 1 roll Delta 100, and 1 roll of Tri-X. The contrasting of the Tri-X had more to do with the harsh lighting of bright sun coming through the windows to an otherwise unlit room. I'm scanning some Delta 100 now which I'll post in a little bit

[I_Fly]

Those are really nice shots Aaron.

Have you used Lightroom much? I'm curious to hear your opinion of it.

[Xia_Ke]

Those are really nice shots Aaron.

Have you used Lightroom much? I'm curious to hear your opinion of it.

Thanks I_Fly I LOVE Lightroom For photography I would take it over Photoshop any day of the week. I posted my full review here.


Aaron

[I_Fly]

Thanks for the link! Sounds like something I'll be interested in soon.

[Xia_Ke]

Greg, here's some shots with the Delta 100 in the Canonet. I have some TMax 100 I'll be processing tomorrow night which I'll post for comparison.

[Xia_Ke]

Some more from the Canonet Delta 100 roll...

[Greg McCary]

You're getting some detail out of the sky. It's easy to blow a sky out with the Canonet. Did you process these at all?
Greg

[Xia_Ke]

I did a little... straightened the horizons, toned down the highlight levels, and added some vignetting all in Lightroom.

[schrackman]

Wonderful shots, Aaron!! Now you've got me wanting to try a roll of Delta 100, LOL.

Glad the scanner is working out for you too.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Ray The Delta seems to be good so far. It's definitely got quite the following. I'll say this much, my D50 couldn't come close to matching the shadow detail of the Delta 100. I expected most of the detail, particularly in the last shot of the trees to be completely blacked out but, in the negative at full resolution you can clearly see every last tree. I just hope I can find another awesome deal on a brick of it but, I doubt I'll get that lucky again...LOL

[livin4lax09]

the shot of the rocks with the tidal streams is an awesome shot! what resolution does the scanner do?

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Brent Optical resolution on this scanner is 4800dpi. So far, I really can't complain for being under $100 shipped. The only thing I haven't liked is the Digital ICE sucks! Maybe I'm doing something wrong in my settings, but it totally screws any gradual tonal changes and makes it choppy. I've just been scanning with it turned off and any dust, etc can be taken out easy enough in Lightroom.

[freygr]

Thanks Brent Optical resolution on this scanner is 4800dpi. So far, I really can't complain for being under $100 shipped. The only thing I haven't liked is the Digital ICE sucks! Maybe I'm doing something wrong in my settings, but it totally screws any gradual tonal changes and makes it choppy. I've just been scanning with it turned off and any dust, etc can be taken out easy enough in Lightroom.

That strange as the Digital ICE works real well with my Nikon Film Scanner. But then there is a different program to enhance the photo GEM. If you are setting it to scan in JPG with the ICE truned on try scanning to a TIFF and see it the problem goes away.

[Xia_Ke]

Not sure freygr. I really haven't played around with the settings that much. I've been scanning at 4800dpi 16-bit Grayscale TIFF. I tried both quality levels of ICE and was the same with both. When I get home tonight, I'll post a scan to show you what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm doing something wrong

[schrackman]

the shot of the rocks with the tidal streams is an awesome shot! what resolution does the scanner do?

I agree! That one and the one with the feather and the one with the chair on the rock. You've got some nice frameable/sellable prints, Aaron. You'd better make some money with them!! LOL

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks schrackman Not sure I think they're quite to that point yet but, I do really like the feather one. It's my favorite shot so far. Thank you for noticing it :thumbsup: I'm hoping that this Winter I'll be able to get some sort of "guerilla darkroom" going to start making prints of these. Then I might look into some of the local galleries if they come out well but, that is a LONG ways away and I have A LOT to learn still. I'm enjoying every minute of it though

Aaron

[mtbbrian]

MMMM FILM!!!
Keep scanning! You'll get the hang of the scanner and it's capabilities.
:thumbsup:
Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Brian Yeah, last night I was too excited to just get some scans to really sit down with the manual and see what this scanner to do. I'll give it another run tonight.

Aaron

[photophorous]

...Yep, I'm addicted. It's film for me now...

And so it begins. :thumbsup:

The scans look great! Looks like you made a good choice. Sorry I didn't comment last night. I got pulled away from the computer before I could respond. You have some really nice shots here and your developing is turning out great too. I think the new tech films (delta, tmax, acros) scan very well...but then they lack that gritty grainy look too. You should try Fuji Acros 100 before you buy a brick of Delta...not that there's anything wrong with Delta.

Digital ICE won't work with true black and white film. Turn it off, or try it with C-41 or E6 film. I'm not sure I have this completely right, but I think ICE shines an infrared light through the film and where it is blocked by dirt or scratches, it knows to repair those areas. The silver particles in B&W film block the light the same way dust and scratches do, so the scanner thinks your film is incredibly dirty and tries to fix it all. Something similar can happen with Kodachrome, too. But, normal C-41 and E6 films are dye based, so the infrared shines right through it.

I use an antistatic cloth to wipe down my negatives and then after they are in the holder, I blow them off with canned air...carefully. You also have to make sure the glass is clean in your scanner...really really clean. You will still end up with dust, but this will knock out most of it.

Paul

[mtbbrian]

Thanks Brian Yeah, last night I was too excited to just get some scans to really sit down with the manual and see what this scanner to do. I'll give it another run tonight.

Aaron

Aaron,
No Worries!
I think we can all relate.
Brian

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Paul. I thought I might have been something wrong but, what you say makes perfect sense. Here's an example with the ICE turned on for those interested...