# Working with Rollei Redbird



## Vautrin (May 29, 2010)

I had a question on scanning Rollei Redbird.

I'm not sure if anyone here has used redbird before, but basically it's a film which is loaded backwards in the canister.

So with normal film the red layer is in the back, with redbird the red layer is in the front, resulting in some very interesting results.  (You can find sample images and information here)

So I got a roll of the 120 redbird and it says you can shoot it either as ISO 400 or ISO 800, but that the best results come from metering for ISO 640

So here is an example of my shot from switzerland:







(This was shot with a Mamiya RZ67 then scanned with a Canoscan 8800F)

On the one hand, I like the effect and it's very cool.

On the other hand, it's very very grainy.  

Does anyone have any tips on how I could make this image look better in photoshop?  Or perhaps how I could scan or use it so that I don't see so much grain?  Or maybe just some comments on redbird?


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## Vautrin (May 31, 2010)

bump


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## compur (May 31, 2010)

You can easily get rid of the squiggly lines with the healing brush. I don't
know why the grain is a problem.  I like grain.


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## Vautrin (May 31, 2010)

Well grain is nice but it shouldn't be so large or so visible I would think?

The grain on that picture is HUGE -- keep in mind this is 120 film so from 6cm x 6cm to 800 pixels squared is not that big that I would expect to see that much grain...

Am I wrong?


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## compur (May 31, 2010)

All a matter of taste.  I like the grain in that picture.  But, then I also like 
murky, grainy alternative process prints like salt prints, gum prints, etc.

To me, grain in a photo is equivalent to brush strokes in a painting.  It's
not a flaw, it's a feature.


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## guitstik (Jun 7, 2010)

I like it. The effect is rather ethereal, the colors create a contrast between "warm and cold". The grain and thread add texture to the whole picture. I like grain but then again I like peanut butter and miracle-whip sandwiches.


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