"richardsfault" wrote in message
...

I have been experimenting with Fuji Reala 100 negative film in my old
Minolta XG-7 and scanning with an admittedly-cheaper HP-3970 flatbed
scanner.

This scanner has worked well with old and new Kodacolor negatives
using the HP software's inversion. It has never "liked" Fuji as much,
and seems to really "hate" Reala!

The Reala negatives seem to run quite dark, as if they are slightly
over-exposed when shot at ASA100. Is this a characteristic of the film
or something to do with the older camera? Should I use a higher speed
like 125?

The color is strong to the point where it hides detail.

The Fuji "orange mask" is somewhat different than Kodak's, for which
the scanner is probably optimized. It causes scans to have a greenish
cast. I have had the same problem with older Fuji as well. I would
describe the Fuji mask as more of a "peach" color.

The scanner is hindered by the denser image and brighter color in
similar matter to difficulties presented by old Kodachrome 25 and 64
slides.

Again, I am aware that my scanner will have limitations, and hope to
rectify the situation soon.

Here is a link to a page of digital images very similar to what I
attempted with Reala:

http://www.richardsfault.com/images/...n/gallery.html

Is Reala the best choice for this type of work?


Reala may or may not be the best choice for this type of work--I've found it
quite excellent for it, though I prefer slide film for color work, I've also
shot many many rolls of Reala. I'd say, though, if your scanner won't play
nice with Reala, and you insist on using your scanner, you'd be better off
with another film.

You might try VueScan, too. Different scanner software, pretty good, though
not intuitive. It may or may not help with your situation. I think it has
a demo option, so you might as well give it a try.
http://www.hamrick.com/vsm.html

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com