Why I stopped scanning my negatives... and started photographing them

Scanning has always played a big part in my love/hate relationship with the shooting film process and to be honest the Epson V600 really didn't do much to help the situation.
The clunky software and the slow going always put me off scanning and more often that not I ended up with a scanning backlog.
But recently I started photographing (or DSLR scanning) my negatives with the aid of a light pad and have been really happy with the results.
Here is a quick look at my workflow as I scan a black and white negative from my Mamiya RB67.
Not only do the negatives look good, but by tethering to Lightroom the workflow is quick and simple.
Add in the Negative Lab Pro plugin and what's not to love.
www.negativelabpro.com/

[@ChrisGregory-aka-Photoshopguru]

I recently inherited a load of old negatives from when my family lived in India & I would like to thank you for showing how you copied your negatives, I don't have a white board so I just downloaded one on my iPad and that sufficed. Every negative is coming out perfect. Thank's again

[@AdjBrown]

No problem Chris. It’s definitely the quickest and easiest way that makes scanning negs almost fun.

[@DennisMathias]

My gosh. That is the best looking video I have ever seen on KZbin. Outstanding.

[@AdjBrown]

Glad you liked it!

[@FOTOTESTYSG]

Fully agree, I'm using Canon 90d with a macro lens, I really like the overall quality and a full control of the process of inverting negatives

[@AdjBrown]

It makes sense to me.

[@mopunchstudio9289]

There are a lot of people on youtube talking about digitizing film, then they show their images and it's garbage. Your film images area a joy to look at. Thank you for this video.

[@AdjBrown]

Thank you very much. I’m not sure what I’m doing differently to them 😆

[@mopunchstudio9289]

@@AdjBrown you're taking great photographs ;-)

[@AdjBrown]

Thank you 👍

[@Anonymous-it5jw]

Thanks for showing us how it is done. In some of the pictures(.004 and .005) if you look closely, you'll see that you had at least two parallel purple lines from your Epson; that's enough to drive one around the bend. Great video and good to see that Negative Lab Pro is easy to use and an efficient part of your work flow.

[@AdjBrown]

The purple lines were definitely the deal breaker for me.

[@russellsprout2223]

Excellent, clear and concise video. Superb images.

[@AdjBrown]

Glad you liked it!

[@marrypete]

Thank you for your experience and knowledge.

[@AdjBrown]

Glad it was helpful!

[@karl_mackie]

Brilliant tip! Well executed AB 👊🏻

[@AdjBrown]

Cheers Karl 👍

[@MediaFXNoosa]

Thanks Adj thats really helpful, Loved Cornwall as a kid, used to stay at Maker heights Maker camp an old army barracks run by volunteers for little buggers from London.. will have to return one day.

[@AdjBrown]

I've been down here for 20 years now and love it.

[@nocario72]

Excellent, thanks for that! Will give it a try.

[@AdjBrown]

It’s the speed that makes this method work for me.

[@gabriel1chan]

I gave up using flatbed scanner. The focusing is a major issue for me with medium format film. Now I made my own film holder, light box, using godox to trigger flash and my DSLR. Much better and more consistant result for me.

[@AdjBrown]

Nice, a big thumbs up for consistent results

[@gleff3345]

Thanks for showing your pain of using a scanner. I'm just starting, and rethinking of using one.

[@AdjBrown]

Good luck!

[@ceesteven]

Very Interesting. Thank you for posting. May God Bless.

[@AdjBrown]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@sara505sings]

I have been using my camera with a 100 mm macro lens on a light box for a few years now. My Epson v850 pro sat on my desk and the thought of firing that thing up and scanning my negatives again was not at all appealing to me - painful is exactly the right word, for mediocre results - so I basically gave my scanner away to a local high school photography class. Great results, much better than I ever got from my flatbed scanner, and much faster. I am enjoying seeing images from 45-year-old negatives that I've never seen before, from negatives that were stored away with not even a contact sheet. And of course today's software gives me the ability to do more than I ever could do in my dark room. It's fantastic! I'm half tempted to buy myself a film camera.

[@AdjBrown]

Such a big part of keeping up the enthusiasm to scan is the actual process and my scanner drained all of that out of me. This way is much more fun.

[@zachi004]

Regarding the line: If this is still of need for you. I have been running into a similar issue, when I got the scans returned from my lab. They explained, it happens when there's dust or some kind of dirt in the scanner. If it's on the sensor or on the light somwhere on one spot it makes a whole line through the scan. Anyway, just in case this helps somehow. Thanks for the video.

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks

[@pwood5733]

I photograph them with iphone 11 promax and air drop them into ipad 12.9 pro and edit with Affinity photo app. Fast work flow and almost pleasant with superb results. I use the light pad but then moved to the small lomography smart phone film scanner to back light the negatives but i use the phone sideways across the hole so i get a landscape pic of the negative if that makes sense.

[@AdjBrown]

Sounds great. The best part for me is "fast workflow and almost pleasant"

[@gregsvoice5628]

How do the colours compare shooting with the camera instead of scanning with the Epson? Do they initially come out quite similar or do they need a fair bit of tweaking?

[@AdjBrown]

Hey Greg, I find them pretty good. I was shooting with auto white balance but you could dial in an exact colour temperature if you wanted. But also because I was shooting RAW it gives you a lot more to play with once it's digitised. One of the main things for me was getting away from Epson's super clunky and not very user friendly software. I'm much happier and know what i'm doing once it's in Lightroom.

[@checkeredflagfilms]

Is it absolutely necessary to purchase NLP...just to convert the neg in LR? Does not LR provide that capability? thanks btw...what camera settings are used so LR recognizes your camera?

[@AdjBrown]

NLP is not necessary at all but makes things a little easier and quicker. Take a look at this video from 3:43 onwards for how to turn a negative to a positive in Lightroom - kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3zOepuGjqZ3q9E What do you mean what camera settings? Just connect your camera to your computer with a usb cable and then File - Tethered Capture - Start Tethered Capture

[@tootallsvlog103]

I like it. I've got negatives back to the early 80's that I want to convert but hate to spend the bucks on a proper 6 x 7 scanner. Thanks.

[@AdjBrown]

Good luck.

[@Cotictimmy]

Excellent video: I like this straightforward chat so much better than these big KZbinrs selling stuff and begging you to like and subscribe every 2 or 3 minutes.

[@AdjBrown]

Thank you very much. I’m not claiming to be an expert, I’m just passing on my thoughts and experiences. NOW HIT THAT LIKE BUTTON AND SUBSCRIBE 😆

[@SpontSpiceWeasel]

Curious if you splashed out on a name brand light pad (b&h sells a like a $200USD Kaiser one) or just a cheap one off Amazon?

[@AdjBrown]

Some of the cheaper ones have a weird dotted pattern (that they don't mention in the advert or show in the pictures) on the glass which show up when shooting negatives. This one is made by MiniSun and was about £25 from eBay.

[@danfloresmusic]

If the lines are perfectly straight, it could be a tiny spec of dust on your sensor. When I received my new Epson V850, it was super dusty inside. I had to open it and clean it and even after I got it clean, I stopped using it and switched to a Pakon F-135 plus and then a Noritsu HS-1800.

[@AdjBrown]

It could be but it still doesn't make the process any quicker. The Pakon for 35mm is pretty amazing as it does the whole roll at once but as I mainly shoot medium format I quite like the new workflow.

[@Superbustr]

Solving the issue of scanning by buying a $18000 Noritsu HS-1800 scanner...

[@danfloresmusic]

@@Superbustr when developing and scanning 30+ rolls a day, the expense can be justified. Plus, the Noritsu can be sold any day for more than its original cost.

[@danfloresmusic]

@@Superbustr when developing and scanning 30+ rolls a day, the expense can be justified. Plus, the Noritsu can be sold any day for more than its original cost.

[@geralldus]

Tried using a digital camera and found it a bit grainy. Now use an old flatbed scanner and illuminate the negative by laying a Raleno panel light on top, works a treat and you can scan lots of negs in one go. Scanning a bit slow on very high res but worth the wait!

[@AdjBrown]

I'm not sure why using a camera would be grainy. I always shoot at ISO100 and have not had any problems.

[@roboldx9171]

Thank you so much for solving my problems. From a fellow photographer. btw which light pad model did you purchase?

[@AdjBrown]

My particular one is an A3 MiniSun LightPad. You've got to be careful with cheaper light pads (as you may have found out) as some of them have a pattern on the glass that shows through on the negative. This one is pure white from edge to edge.

[@jieelyuu]

I solved my "purple line" problem by wiping up the two little square shaped sensor. Took one minute and fixed the problem perfectly.

[@AdjBrown]

I'll give it a try

[@wilsonli2785]

I also switched from the v750 to the DSLR scanning. It is excellent for black & white. However, I do find the colour produced by negative lab pro less favourable as the Silverfast when im using my Epson scanner

[@AdjBrown]

Each method has it's pros and cons you just need to decide which way is right for you.

[@kingz3y967]

What light box did you buy ? The one I brought has circles and I can't see the films

[@AdjBrown]

My particular one is an A3 MiniSun LightPad. You've got to be careful with cheaper light pads (as you may have found out) as some of them have a pattern on the glass that shows through on the negative. This one is pure white from edge to edge.

[@nicholasdominguez3486]

Loved the quickness of the video, straight to the point. By any chance, do you remember what lens you used with the canon eos r to photograph it with?

[@AdjBrown]

It would have been a EF 105mm 2.8 macro. You just need to be able to fill the frame with the negative.

[@kdeuler]

Has anyone found a light source suitable for taking photos of color negatives? I'm thinking it would be a light source that shows the red, green, and blue bars in the histogram are right on top of each other, or nearly so. I've had trouble finding this. Thanks.

[@AdjBrown]

I use the same process for my colour negs as well. Sometimes the colours need a little tweaking but I still get a great result.

[@parsleylion6313]

Thanks for being so close to the camera, very nice to be so up close and intimate with you, I watched this from the corridor. There's a bit of spinach on your tooth near the back.

[@AdjBrown]

Shhh, people will start to talk.

[@RichGalbraith]

About a week ago I was looking for answers as to why my Epson V500 Photo started acting up, I thought maybe a gear had stripped out perhaps on the film scanning part in the lid. And then I read the post on one video about the 2 sensors being dirty and causing purple lines to show up, the two little squares at the hinge side of the glass and so I cleaned mine and now it seems to work ok again. I did not have lines but the scan seemed to hesitate at times while scanning....... when zooming in on my images they looked more like a drawing in places when zooming in on a person. It says not to scratch those sensors also..... just a thought on possible issues. I bought the V500 at a thrift store years ago and looked brand new, I also have the V750 Pro. I had also used the Minolta Dimage IV years ago until it gave out along with a Plustek I used on another computer, that sometimes had lighter lines running through the scans but that may have been due to the computer at the time being on its last leg of use.......

[@AdjBrown]

By photographing my negs I know where I am. I take the picture and it appears on my computer, simple and straight forward. I would happily take a little drop in quality over the pain a scanner always caused me.

[@user-tj1el9uo1m]

Hey. Those lines on the side of your black and white dslr scan. Are those from the light table or in the scene ?

[@AdjBrown]

If you mean the black border, I scan a little wider to include the edge of the film.

[@dmitrydoudalev1636]

Hello! Violet (colored stripes in the image, this is dust on the mirror or matrix (sensor) of the scanner.

[@AdjBrown]

I agree but it still doesn't help the clunky software experience

[@stephenmurphywilson7294]

Thanks for this. I've spent two evenings trying to get a Pacific Imaging 3650 Pro 3 to work on my computer. The computer is good and the scanner seems fine, but the software, VueScan, is really frustrating. I think I'll give this a go.

[@AdjBrown]

I know that scanners may give better results but they are a real pain to use and take the fun out of the process.

[@davidharris9451]

Adj, if you wouldn't mind, please tell me the light table you used? Thanks, David

[@AdjBrown]

My particular one is an A3 MiniSun LightPad you've got to be careful with cheaper light pads as some of them have a pattern on the glass that shows through on the negative. This one is pure white from edge to edge.

[@davidharris9451]

@@AdjBrown Thanks!!

[@wildearthfarm4632]

Great video! Will using a light table work with color slides also? Thanks again!

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks. Yes, any type of negative.

[@nightvisiontv1847]

Random but what would be the best way to scan negatives? I’m trying to edit a piece with the pictures I’ve taken to make a collage. I wanted to use the negatives as tape but I always wanted the negatives to still show up brown.

[@AdjBrown]

Sorry, i'm not really sure what you're after. What do you mean "I wanted to use the negatives as tape but I always wanted the negatives to still show up brown."

[@nightvisiontv1847]

@@AdjBrown are you on social media? I can dm an example of what I’m referring to. It was a typo “but I also wanted the negatives to still show up brown”

[@AdjBrown]

Instagram - @adj_brown

[@nightvisiontv1847]

@@AdjBrown just DM’d you

[@caulacau2318]

Do you shoot the negative in raw or jpeg? Thanks Caula

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Caula, always raw. Even though it’s a negative it allows for a bit of colour adjustment if needed.

[@gsantar]

There is an option in the settings of my scanner (Canoscan 9000 M2) to remove trails, especially colors, that look like "prescan" . After prescan then goes preview of photos, with -another pass.

[@AdjBrown]

I've not seen anything like that on my machine but will take a look.

[@New777World]

can you explain whats the purpose to use old film camera system to process on digital file? i can understand if already have old film pictures and digitize them but creating new images on an old system to then process! whats the purpose?

[@AdjBrown]

You're still shooting on film and creating an analogue image so it still looks like film. All i'm doing is scanning the negative which is no different to printing the negative and then scanning the print.

[@cloudsilver1]

I have the same epson scanner... same line in the scan problem, it drives me nuts! Will try this a try, wow, thanks 🙏🏻

[@AdjBrown]

I think the purple line was one of those things that everyone just lived with. Honestly, photographing negatives whilst tethered is a workflow game changer.

[@user-tj1el9uo1m]

I had this to. I held my scanner upside down. Have it a good shake a it was gone :)

[@user-tj1el9uo1m]

Just be carefull

[@Irontalyn]

I've never had this issue with my v500. It looks like a dead pixel. The scanner moves down to scan which is why it would be a line and not just a dot which is what you get on a camera or screen

[@alanhayward8238]

I have a Nikon that is 24 million pixels which equates to an equivalent of my Epson 850 pro. I can see the advantages using your technique though. My question is what lens are you using and what height is it above the light board. Is it zoom or fixed length?

[@AdjBrown]

I have been using a Canon 105mm macro and then adjusting the camera height so that the negative fills the frame.

[@Superbustr]

You have to use a macro lens. There are a few absolutely superb and cheap macro lenses that provide top of the top image quality, that most people don't know of. The Nikkor AIS 55mm F3.5 and F2.8 variants are two examples.

[@steveriley1952]

Great video .. thank you . I just wondered why your shooting on film or are they just old negs ? I have a nearly new Pentax 67 11 and I’m thinking of starting to use it again ..

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Steve, I still shoot film occasionally for personal work as I still like the process. I always found the scanning part put me off a little but I much prefer this way now.

[@victoriaconlin6877]

dolphiluvr22......Great great training video and explanations. I am new to camera scanning. I have 116 film from late 1800 to 1930....each frame has been cut so no ease of passing thru a holder....i suppose i can figure out holding down each frame...but amazon no longer carries the light board you suggested....any second best options?

[@AdjBrown]

You e got to be careful as some of the cheaper light pads have a funny pattern that comes through on the scans. There’s no reason why you couldn’t use an iPad set to white.

[@SanjayChadha]

Hi mate, just came across your video - after having a chat with other KZbinrs regarding the v600 who swear by it, I was thinking of getting one to scan tons of old photos and negatives and digitize them - I am also in the process of getting a new Canon 90D - in your opinion, as I have lots of scans to do, is there a way to speed up the process of image manipulation and settings in Lightroom or does this have to be done one at a time, ie batch processing? After watching your video, I am now unsure of what is the best way to scan and digitize these old precious memories - many thanks !

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Sanjay, I would say that if you've got lots to do scanning using an Epson would get very dull very quickly. It's such a slow process and the software is so clunky, it just wasn't a fun process. For me photographing the negatives is a no brainer. I use a tethered Canon EOSR which gives me at least a 30MB RAW image appearing straight into Lightroom in literally 3 seconds. Editing in Lightroom will always be quicker than adjusting colours using the Epson software. For my needs, photographing the negatives is perfect but if there is one image that I really need to be perfect I would consider having it professionally scanned. At the end of the day whether photographing or scanning there isn't a right or wrong way but for me at the moment photographing the negs is faster and gives me the quality I need.

[@SanjayChadha]

@@AdjBrown Hi, thanks for your response and advise. I have ordered the 90D so when that comes in, I will try the way you do it and also order a light box from Amazon. Many thanks once again for your advise - all the best !

[@AdjBrown]

No problem@@SanjayChadha - Some of the cheaper light panels have a weird dotted pattern (that they don't mention in the advert or show in the pictures) on the glass which show up when shooting negatives. My one is made by MiniSun and was about £25 from eBay.

[@SanjayChadha]

@@AdjBrown Hi, thanks for letting me know, I will check it out for sure - many thanks for your tip !

[@elenapizzetti6053]

I've always scanned because I find it more practical, but I know that cameras are often used for a better result. Just for future viewers and readers, the Epson software is indeed awful, but for a one time payment of 40€ you can get SilverFast, which will open up a new world for you and your scanner. User friendly interface, an infinite library of films, so you can insert your brand, film type, asa, and it will give you an image that perfectly reflects the film's characteristics. You can also benefit of the impressive infrared dust and dirt removal, which does an amazing job. So maybe it takes a little bit more than taking a photo scan a negative, but you basically don't need to do anything in post. Also Silverfast detects all the frames so you can set a batch of negatives to scan and do something else. Just keep the contrast and other settings at zero so the software doesn't mess up with grain and all the rest. I think every one should find a workflow they're happy with and the important thing is to be satisfied with the results, but I just wanted to mention that scanning has its practical advantages and SilverFast brings it to another level. Never experienced that magenta line issue btw.

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Elena, someone else mentioned SilverFast. I'll take a look and check it out.

[@petrub27]

a scanners is also a camera, but the sensor is less powerful, especially for budget scanners. dslr scanner ftw

[@AndrewWatson64]

The Epson scanners are not dedicated negative scanners but jack of all trades and good at none. A proper negative scanner is a joy to use. I have a Plustek, which are very reasonably priced.

[@AdjBrown]

I've never used one but will take a look.

[@Experiment6Two6]

Here in my office, I have a Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 that was purchased partly on my recommendation MANY years ago. I've had to partially disassemble it to clean a few parts EXACTLY one time in the nearly 25 years it has been on my desk. To be fair, it has spent the majority of that time powered down and doing nothing at all, once we moved to shooting digitally. However, early this year I was given the task of scanning all of the negatives and slides the department has kept since the early '70s, which amounted to right around 20,000 images. Most of the images were cut strips f four to six negatives each, with about 60 percent color images. Despite the Nikon scanner's long slumber (and a clumsy graduate student who borrowed it about 15 years ago and dropped in on the floor at least once, damaging the housing), all I needed was to load up the latest version of VueScan, and off we went. It feeds the negatives in itself, so I could start a strip going and have several minutes to work on other things before I had to feed in the next (thankfully, the number of slides I had to scan was a drop in the bucket compared to the negatives). About two-thirds of the way through the job, it stopped. I learned the culprit was probably some dirty parts inside, and that was the time I opened it up and cleaned it, and it worked without a hitch the rest of the way. It took me three and four months to scan everything, getting through roughly 150 to 300 images per day depending on whether I was scanning B&W film or color and whatever else I had to do at the same time. I did also have a Plustek OpticFilm 8100 scanner, but despite the higher optical resolution, I did not like the scans nearly so much -- and it requires advancing to each new image by hand; it has no powered loading feature. The Nikon can scan an entire roll of film if you leave said roll intact. If you have images larger than 35mm, you'd need Nikon's Coolscan 9000. Significantly more expensive (and all Nikon scanners are only on the secondary market now), but other users say it is even more awesome.

[@exxitus666]

Could you do a review of negmaster for negative conversion? Gives me best results!

[@AdjBrown]

I've not heard of it before but it looks very interesting. I'll see what I can do.

[@sdufg]

is the v700 a better solution today in 2023 then a dslr or mirrored camera solution like an a73?

[@AdjBrown]

It still has the really bad software experience

[@kenwilliams7597]

That line looks like dirt on the scanner light or light reflector. It could also be discolouration on the reflector.

[@AdjBrown]

I think you are right but even when cleaned you're still left with the really clunky software.

[@AdamBrzezicki]

Time ago I had the same problem with strange lines on the scanned picture. Was something wrong with the power supply. When used new power supply everything was fine.

[@AdjBrown]

Wow, that's weird.

[@fijiconcepts4785]

Awesome video. Can I get good results with a canon 6d mark II for this process? What type of filmholders do you use? Many thanks !

[@AdjBrown]

No problem at all with a 6D, any camera will do. Film holder are not essential, I just happened to be using the ones that came with my old Epson scanner. You could use anything to keep the negative flat, even a couple of rulers down the edge of the neg strip.

[@fijiconcepts4785]

@@AdjBrown awesome. I did some more video-watching on this topic. A macro-lens is also a must, I learned?

[@AdjBrown]

Yes indeed@@fijiconcepts4785 you need to fill the frame as much as possible with the neg to get maximum resolution.

[@fijiconcepts4785]

@@AdjBrown ok many thanks for all the info :-)

[@wyattandwill12]

Cool video. I’ll have to try that with my iPad as the light pad and my phone as the camera. I wanna see if the really bad granulation and gridding on some old negatives is something that can be bettered by just doing photos instead of scans.

[@AdjBrown]

Definitely worth a try.

[@SweetLouPhotography]

Re the magenta line throughout the images, there are two little sensors right above the glass where you lay down the negatives. If those aren't literally immaculate, I get scan lines like those lol. I know you seem to have a new workflow anyway, but I wanted to leave my two cents since I struggle with the same issue haha. I actually think I have the same light pad (I use it for digital contact sheets) Nice vid dude!!

[@AdjBrown]

I like the new workflow so much that since making this video i've sold the scanner. Thanks for the two cents though.

[@silverking4281]

I have old negatives of benito mussolini hanging in the square any worth in that

[@AdjBrown]

Not sure about a monetary value but definitely historic importance

[@misdlish8336]

I completely agree I just got it last night and it took me 8 minutes for four slide and I was hating it it was so loud it was so slow it was definitely not user-friendly even in the professional mode it made it even more confusing and they didn't even turn out good thank you for agreeing

[@AdjBrown]

It's nice to know i'm not the only one that thinks this way.

[@sylviacrowhurst2025]

I am a true novice and want to do this with old family negatives. What kind of camera did you use? Thanks!

[@sylviacrowhurst2025]

I found the answer below!

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Sylvia, to be honest any camera will do.

[@Nightwatch1986]

Were you using a macro lens?

[@AdjBrown]

Yes I was, the canon 105mm.

[@CorvusNumber6]

Hello! Great video! What kind of 'lightpad' is that? I recently purchased a Sony A7Rii so that I could use all my old Konica Hexanon AR lenses with it - it's brilliant. I got a shock when I went to get them developed, scanned and put on CD though!! Great content mate, thanks! Cheers, Dave.

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Dave, my particular one is an A3 MiniSun LightPad. you've got to be careful with cheaper light pads as some of them have a pattern on the glass that shows through on the negative. This one is pure white from edge to edge.

[@CorvusNumber6]

@@AdjBrown Brilliant! Many thanks for the response and the advice! D.

[@MrKen-wy5dk]

Did you ever try VueScan with the Epson?

[@AdjBrown]

Personally I haven't, have you?

[@MrKen-wy5dk]

@@AdjBrown Yes. I bought it. They have a free trial and there are plenty of KZbin videos on learning how to use it. I recommend giving it a try.

[@AdjBrown]

I was just about to sell my scanner but maybe I’ll try it first.

[@PankajDoharey]

I think one of the scanner pixel lines are at fault, try moving the negative away from the corner towards the right to see if the pink line moves towards left of the scanned negative.

[@AdjBrown]

I think you're right. The line is always in the same place.

[@heresmyurl]

The line running up the scan like that is a dust or similar in the calibration area of the scanner, which is at the top of your scanner glass. It could be on your sensor or the light source, as well. When calibrating, it uses that area to define the backlight, if a spec or whatever is in that area, it calibrates differently, causing that line. I know this video is three years old, and you've probably already gotten the answer, but thats it.

[@AdjBrown]

Yes, I worked out that that was the problem with the line unfortunately I still have the issue of the clunky painful software :-)

[@richardvallonjr.6716]

I ws using the Nikon Film scanner and it was pretty good- however using the Canon -R with a 90mm Macro Tamron lens ( and converter) yields excellent results, I had to copy some old Kodachrome slides and I actually bracketed my exposures a stop on each side and put these together in LrC using the merge to HDR. I showed the results to a mature person who said- Wow- where are they filming this movie- this looks exactly like kids on nikes in the late 1950s. With no dust and no color casts ( and the original having been taken with a Leica ) he thought the image was contemporary.

[@AdjBrown]

I like the results from both the scanner and from photographing the negatives but the workflow from photographing them is so much easier. Kodachrome always looks good.

[@Ilkleyscot]

I understood converting negative to positive on Lightroom app was free according to some UT channels but on applying they want £48 a month is there a free one as I wouldn’t use it that much

[@AdjBrown]

The easiest way in Lightroom without any plugins is to just invert the curves adjustment. This video explains it from about 2:00 - kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKqalGWfoLqbma8

[@katebygrave]

Where did you get your light pad from please?

[@AdjBrown]

Hi Kate, my particular one is an A3 MiniSun LightPad. you've got to be careful with cheaper light pads as some of them have a pattern on the glass that shows through on the negative. This one is pure white from edge to edge.

[@katebygrave]

@@AdjBrown thank you; they are less than £60 on eBay.

[@sdufg]

hey what camera are using to film yourself..it's really nice.. lovely eyes.

[@AdjBrown]

Canon EOSR

[@peterrobertbowers7639]

I’ve got a lot of those slightly larger black & white negatives, taken from the 1950s. But very unfortunately i, don’t own a computer. All i have is an iPad pro. i have seen those light pads on amazon. But for the best results… you would probably need an iPhone to take snapshots of the black & white negatives; But without a computer or a laptop… where do you go from there?? Tuesday pm 28th November 2023. Southampton England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@AdjBrown]

You can still capture the negatives with a phone or even the camera on the iPad. You will need a light source though but not necessarily a light pad.

[@RAFFIREMAN2]

I was going to buy a scanner myself but this just might be a better route i think?

[@AdjBrown]

I can do you a good deal on a used V600 ;-)

[@RAFFIREMAN2]

@@AdjBrown LOL

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

Awesome love it. I bought a wolverine film to digi converter, for 120 film its pretty good, for 35mm imho it's shyte, saying that the results on 35mm are just about ok for use my channel. I'll look at this method for sure. Thanks for the video. Like and sub well deserved. Regards Paul

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Paul, for me scanning was always the painful part of the process but this method gives me the best results in the quickest time.

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

@@AdjBrown great work around mate back in the early days before I bought my first digi body I used to scan negs with a Minolta dimage duel scanner great results but sooooooo slow I still have it but thankfully I’ve lost the cables so can’t use it 👌

[@rachelblow6404]

i could really use some tips and tricks for the best lighting for photographing photos?

[@AdjBrown]

Do you mean photographing prints?

[@rachelblow6404]

@@AdjBrown YES! for photos. (I have found a light box since watching your post,for processing slide transparencies and negatives). I have been photographing instead of scanning pics for many years, and was greatly reassured by your very helpful video post, that it is the right way to go rather than a slapdash shortcut. I nevertheless could use a steer on how to remove reflective interference from my shots?

[@AdjBrown]

There are so many variables but I have found a couple of people with different techniques, neither of which is right or wrong. This guy goes into quite a bit of detail - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJ7JdHV_i8yba9E I've never tried this technique but he gets pretty impressive results - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpfSZq2OYtmHkK8

[@rachelblow6404]

@@AdjBrown Thanks for these!

[@pwood5733]

May i ask where you send your rolls to be developed guys

[@AdjBrown]

I always use Peak Imaging - www.peak-imaging.com/

[@MrMartinsla]

Apart from the glitches in software I like using the v550. Good point about making noise ugly in some cases. Especially if you want to make a half decent print.

[@AdjBrown]

For me it's just too slow and frustrating to use.

[@MajulTomas]

I read that there was a new Epson software availabe which was pretty good (source: Linus and his camera)

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Tomas I will take a look. I still like how fast the workflow is when photographing the negatives.

[@MajulTomas]

@@AdjBrown Thank you for the great video!

[@martin288]

1 minute in....and yes I feel the same way

[@AdjBrown]

We are not the only ones :-)

[@daviddavidsonn3578]

I have the canon 9000f mark ii, never had a line in any of my scans. everything if perfect

[@AdjBrown]

The lines are only part of it. It’s mainly the speed of scanning for me.

[@pritambiswas8084]

but exposing negetives to the light directly ? that will ruin the negetives right ? I am confused ... as everyone is saying " open the back lid of the film camera during photoshoot will ruin everything AS BECAUSE OF THE DIRECT LIGHT " then how this will work ?

[@AdjBrown]

These negatives have been developed already so there’s no problem with the light. You still need to develop the film as normal then you can scan then with no problems.

[@nickfanzo]

After you develop and fix the negatives they are no longer light sensitive

[@AdjBrown]

Correct @@nickfanzo

[@kimopuppy]

Did you notice the line is always in the same location? That means something is out of wack in the scanner

[@AdjBrown]

Yes, it was always in the same place.

[@SirTortoise]

purple lines are dust on mirror bang scanner on side to fix

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Ethan, I tried that but it didn’t work. Maybe I just need to hit it harder.

[@SirTortoise]

@@AdjBrown sorry i ment tilt the unit on its side the v600 uses a mirror to reflect in to the sensor the dust is on that you can try to see it if you power off mid scan exposing the mirror thats what i did still don't know how dust gets in though

[@ibrahimmohmmed1]

I 'm no photographer but I understand some film shooter shoots film because of the look that is very different from bayer filter look. So why then subjecting your film to the bayer filter interpolation instead of buying or using affordable full rgb color dedicated scanner.

[@AdjBrown]

The scanning part is just a small part of the shooting film process and for me the results look just fine. I’m no pixel peeper so for my needs this is more than acceptable and the time saved over normal scanning is an absolute winner.

[@cjnc30]

Brilliant what a cracking solution....will it work for me in Linux

[@AdjBrown]

It should

[@oliverlison]

The line could be dust on the light source or lens.

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Oliver, I do believe that the line is dust somewhere but it's still the scanner workflow that gets me down.

[@oliverlison]

@@AdjBrown Scanner technologie could be vastly improved by now. I still prefer scannning 35mm negs because of Digital ICE (for colour) and scanning 6 images at a time. For medium format I need to find a camera solution as well.

[@Eli666Ms]

i can relate, the only 4 rolls i took to the lab came out full of colored lines and stains, and that would be professional.... i do much better at home with my dlsr

[@AdjBrown]

You take the picture and it appears on the computer... simple

[@nolanrogers6562]

You need to recalibrate your hs1800 scanner that purple line is from dust

[@AdjBrown]

Thanks Nolan but that still leaves me with clunky software and a time consuming workflow.

[@Yet_Another_Steve]

I love that this is just like the rest of us. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. Is that right? No. ad infinitum...

[@AdjBrown]

indeed

[@4kassis]

also: the Epson V600 does not have drivers for the Mac OS 12, so....

[@AdjBrown]

That solves that problem then.

[@Superbustr]

The Epson V600 is a low end fairly poor scanner. It's best used for reference images. If you are really going to go through the effort to scan and correct your photos then the Epson v800 / v850 is a minimum requirement and still going to a lab to get professional grade scans will give you better results. In reality if you don't want to have to get re-scans done at a lab and want near-lab quality scans a dedicated Nikon Coolscan is required but that would cost several thousand dollars and is only worth it if you are a professional shooting 100s of rolls of film. Shooting with a Macro lens and a high res slr is another option but is sacrilege in my opinion.

[@AdjBrown]

I Think it depends on final use. Capturing with a camera works fine for my needs but more importantly the workflow works for me.

[@Edubarca46]

No doubt film scanning is very cumbersome, and results are not good. I have an Epson V100 and after using it for several hours, results were very bad, no matter what I did with the software. I sold it. I am from now on, going to photograph all my negatives.

[@AdjBrown]

It certainly makes sense to me.

[@juew9772]

its your ccd got blocked by some tiny dust

[@AdjBrown]

Someone else mentioned this. Still doesn’t get round the clunky and not user friendly software though.

[@lensman5762]

Epsons are not really film scanners. They are document scanners, even the V 700/800 series are just glorified document scanners. They do however come to life when scanning medium or large format negatives, and as such they are god send for large format photographers.

[@AdjBrown]

I have never scanned large format negs but I can image it’s a lot less fiddly than 35mm

[@pwood5733]

Oh sorry guys i should have said i only shoot black and white so cant comment on colour negatives

[@AdjBrown]

Colour or B&W, Peak Imaging is the place for me

[@kiotaclaire]

Those are some magnificient eyelashes tho

[@AdjBrown]

😆

[@nickfanzo]

Why not just use the digital camera to take pictures and eliminate this work?

[@AdjBrown]

Because you get more likes by shooting film.

[@nickfanzo]

@@AdjBrown I noticed that. So weird

[@sara505sings]

Some of us have a ton of negatives left over from our film shooting days and we would like to digitize them and work with them. I have 50-year-old negatives whose images I've never seen before. I also have old family negatives from the 1940s and 1950s whose images I have never seen.

[@slammermx]

your CCD at that line is below quality compared to the rest of the CCDs

[@AdjBrown]

The purple line?

[@chris24hdez]

@@AdjBrown yup either theres a problem with the CCD or the LEDs backlight, or actual dirt on the backlight or CCD on that slide scanner that is hopping around from scan to scan after calibrations.

[@AdjBrown]

@@chris24hdez that would make sense but still taking into account the clunky software and the slow scanning speed, I’m going to stick with this technique for a while.

[@chris24hdez]

@@AdjBrown totally understand, i have various scanners and considering getting an SLR or mirrorless setup to try out. I especially like the lens tube holder attachment. Just looking for a lens with a deep DOF.

[@AzteUnMail]

But then... the results of the analog photo is influenced by the quality of the digital camera you have, right? which means that you dont have the natural texture of the original, is the photo of a photo!

[@AdjBrown]

I think I know what you mean but whether photographing or scanning you're still making a digital copy of the negative. What do you mean by natural texture?

[@AzteUnMail]

@@AdjBrown mmm thats true... I was going to say that scanning it would be more appropiate but I guess that is just the same than making a photo because it depends on the quality of the machine you're scanning with. I guess I meant the texture that you have when it goes through a lab. The whole analog process. But obviously thats not posible for many people (including me). So I'm just gonna say ..thanks for you video and all the info!! x

[@boroch2563]

@@AzteUnMail the photos and process of this digital scanning with a camera from Adj is very good,I was trying but because I had a Canon 80D and even at iso 100 I'm having digital noise,or I don't know what it is, I don't know if this is a problem just with Canon APS-C cameras,but looking for a camera with low noise at ISO 100-200.

[@fraudsarentfriends4717]

Why not print the negatives on photographic paper? That's what they are intended for. No ink cartridges to mess around with, no junky printers that clog up and hit the trashcan. Just nice looking photos any size you want.

[@AdjBrown]

I don't shoot enough film to warrant any kind of darkroom so alas for me this will have to do for the moment.

[@fraudsarentfriends4717]

@@AdjBrown Plenty of good labs in the market. DIY isn't always the best solution. Especially if you don't have many, like you say.

[@David-hm9ic]

Sorry; the whole concept of shooting photographs on film and then degrading them to digital images makes no sense. Why not just shoot digital images from the outset and bypass one level of deterioration? Printing straight from the negative to paper introduces no additional degradation. The goal was to create the image in the camera with exposure control and good lighting. Those skills have devolved into correcting mistakes with computer software. When I made my living with cameras and film. "post" was what happened at the enlarger.

[@AdjBrown]

To me there's no difference between scanning negatives and photographing negatives, they are just different ways of digitising an analogue image. There's no denying that printing from the negative is the best way to reproduce an image but i'm sure that if Ansel Adams were alive today, he'd use photoshop.

[@fotoagogo]

Those of us who made a living with camera, film and darkroom (Like you, I was one) know from vast experience the 1) adequate space needed for a wet darkroom, which millions of souls simply do not have, 2) the specialized equipment needed, including proper ventilation if you cared at all about your long-term health, 3) the byproduct of toxic fluids that flowed into the sewer or septic systems, 4) the waste of materials making prints going into the landfill (as in making print after print over and over to finally get that one shot "just right" on paper), and 5) the rather shameful, massive amounts of clean water consumed to accomplish our work, that on our fragile planet is now and always will be forever in critical short supply. Doubtless you and I worked in an era when these things were simply not of great concern. But that was then. We've moved on in the ICE Age (the Internet Changes Everything). If you're so able, certainly keep the wet darkroom work alive. In the U.S. it's still offered in many schools and colleges where they have the facilities. Good shooting. - p

[@Broken_Orbital]

no offense intended, you look like a mix of Nick Offerman and Nick Frost..

[@AdjBrown]

I can live with that :-)

[@porvoonosho]

This is pretty ironic.

[@Hector_Malot]

Whatever the method used, scanning a negative is betraying the original support but also the photographer himself. This deforms its own interpretation by a computer algorithm. I don't like digital, it's heresy in photography, like in Hifi.

[@AdjBrown]

I hate to break it to you but I think digital is here to stay

[@OBWanKenobi]

Why not just use a digital camera and stop all the timewasting?

[@AdjBrown]

It's more about the journey not the destination.

[@fotoagogo]

I was a professional photographer for many years, long before anyone (in the general public) was thinking of digital photography. I have thousands of negatives and slides, some of which I'd like to make into digital files, aiming to share them with the world, or at least family and friends. That's one of the more obvious reasons to digitize them. Historians and archivists are delighted with the ability to digitize millions of images from our collective past that can now easily be shared worldwide. Mathew Brady did not carry the latest Sony mirrorless offering. Younger people in droves are discovering the joys of using film for their creative endeavors, and in fact a growing number of manufacturers are introducing all manner of new film choices. Young adults are digging out film cameras and even old negatives and slides from their grandparents closets and finding enjoyment in reviving them with a digital conversion. I say to them, "right on!"