DSLR Film Scanning - 2021 Update

[@AnthonyArmstrong]

Great insight I hadn’t heard before was the need to keep a flat field of focus. Thanks Dave!

[@sidmiller8840]

Thanks for the update Dave! I’ve been thinking about trying out strobes for my back light instead of an LED panel.

[@DavesFilmLab]

It’s been significantly better in my tests. The xenon tube of a strobe really yields a nice color balance along with having a fast flash duration, yielding sharp scans. Another added benefit is the light output. That said, I stay at 1/30th of a second instead of the fastest flash sync. It’ll be more even and ensure the entire image is evenly illuminated

[@anthonys_expired_film]

Very impressive, Dave! Just subscribed. Like all the info you provide. I’m new to developing and appreciated your Mixing Xtol video, as I’m trying this developer for the first time. I’ve been using caffenol for a few months and wanted to try something different to compare. Look forward to looking at more of your videos. Take care. Cheers from NJ. 🎉

[@DavesFilmLab]

Happy to hear! I’ll have a new video coming out soon, going over why I’ve switched to using 3 different developers for different scenes. XTOL slays them all but I tend to mix small amounts of D76 fresh for most general work now. Just bought the individual components, a scale, and a hot plate stirrer. Made a world of difference in terms of consistency. Always happy to answer questions on Instagram @ cinedar

[@johnwesleybrewer]

This is great Dave thank you!

[@bthemedia]

super well done!

[@BretMiller]

Great video! The air compressor for dust removal is next level. I just picked up a 5DSR and Tokina 100mm Macro lens for scanning 6x7 120 format. Curious, have you ever tried stitching multiple captures from the 5DSR together in lightroom to create an ultra high resolution image? or do you find the 5dsr is already more than good enough?

[@DavesFilmLab]

5dsr is way more than enough. I’ve made 40x50” prints from the scans that looked great. Stitching is for pixel peepers or good for using a 12 megapixel camera. Most of the people who stitch, don’t seem to be printing so it seems majorly overkill for just viewing on a screen. Even for print, it’s really not necessary

[@sstahl4006]

Nice video. I am currently using a Canon T7i with a Vivitar 55mm Komin 2.8 Macro lens and getting good results. I am thinking of renting the Canon 100mm Macro in your video to see if there is any improvement in overall sharpness.

[@DavesFilmLab]

Since you’re using a crop sensor camera, aim for a 50-60mm macro lens instead

[@sstahl4006]

@@DavesFilmLab Do you recommend an excellent prime macro in that range?

[@DavesFilmLab]

@@sstahl4006 Any canon macro will work well, especially since you’ll be stopping it down. So the sharpness of a lens that’s wide open will be irrelevant, you’ll ideally be in the f8-11 range which is the optimum spot for most lenses to resolve the most detail.

[@wizzyew]

Thaks for info!!!!

[@andydreadsbmx]

2:39 you mention it being important getting the white balance as warm as possible for color neg film, why is that?

[@DavesFilmLab]

2500k seems to give the best results for inversion. With that said, I end up with as low as 2000k when I use the white balance dropper tool on the film base within camera raw or Lightroom. Wish I had a better answer for you than this but If you use 5600K, you end up with an off color cast in your inversion, and hence… more work to correct that color cast

[@andydreadsbmx]

@@DavesFilmLab I'll have to give it a try, I feel like I normally keep it around 5600K and now I wanna see the difference! Thanks for the knowledge as always!

[@jasonlamarking]

@@DavesFilmLab what Kelvin is your strobe putting out?

[@DavesFilmLab]

@@jasonlamarking 5600k

[@DavesFilmLab]

@@mdrxy yes and no. If shooting raw, you can change the white balance but the initial white balance you shoot with will affect the histogram… so shooting at the wrong WB can cause you to choose the wrong exposure value.