Hi,
I'm fairly new to developing/scanning film but had a query with scanning negatives that are coming out overexposed on the scan. The negatives themselves are not very dense and look well exposed (you can still see through the darkest parts quite easily) but they are coming out overexposed when scanning. I wanted to get my head around how the scanning process works and how it accounts for different exposures on negatives:
- Does a decent flatbed scanner compensate for different densities and scans for longer/shorter times depending on its density?
- If not, how would you correctly scan a denser negative?
- Does a better scanner equal better results when scanning very thin/very dense negatives?
For ref. i'm using Kodak Portra 400
I've seen videos online of people scanning Kodak portra up to 5 stops overexposed and still being able to get a great scan out of it. Mine are maybe 1 stop over at most but they're coming out bright and overexposed. I had scans back from a lab (snappy snaps) and tried them on my father-in-laws epson scanner and both were 'overexposed'. I asked the lab nothing in regards to the developing process so I assume it was developed at box speed.
I've attached images of an example negative and the scan that came out (apologies for the bad shot of the negative). Judging by the negative, does it look like a better scan would be possible? If so, would it be a case of a better scanner needed or something else?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Jack
I'm fairly new to developing/scanning film but had a query with scanning negatives that are coming out overexposed on the scan. The negatives themselves are not very dense and look well exposed (you can still see through the darkest parts quite easily) but they are coming out overexposed when scanning. I wanted to get my head around how the scanning process works and how it accounts for different exposures on negatives:
- Does a decent flatbed scanner compensate for different densities and scans for longer/shorter times depending on its density?
- If not, how would you correctly scan a denser negative?
- Does a better scanner equal better results when scanning very thin/very dense negatives?
For ref. i'm using Kodak Portra 400
I've seen videos online of people scanning Kodak portra up to 5 stops overexposed and still being able to get a great scan out of it. Mine are maybe 1 stop over at most but they're coming out bright and overexposed. I had scans back from a lab (snappy snaps) and tried them on my father-in-laws epson scanner and both were 'overexposed'. I asked the lab nothing in regards to the developing process so I assume it was developed at box speed.
I've attached images of an example negative and the scan that came out (apologies for the bad shot of the negative). Judging by the negative, does it look like a better scan would be possible? If so, would it be a case of a better scanner needed or something else?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks,
Jack