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#1
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film scanners
"laran" wrote in message ... Am looking to buy a film scanner to make contact prints mainly. Needs to be inexpensive, run on linux and also do slides to a reasonable quality. Ideas????? Now why in the world would someone be using a film scanner in the darkroom? hmmm...contact prints are created by keeping the negatives in contact, as it were, with the photo sensitive paper. How does the film scanner come into play during this process? Care to explain? |
#2
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film scanners
On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:06:36 -0700, "Lawrence
Akutagawa" wrote: "laran" wrote in message ... Am looking to buy a film scanner to make contact prints mainly. Needs to be inexpensive, run on linux and also do slides to a reasonable quality. Ideas????? Now why in the world would someone be using a film scanner in the darkroom? hmmm...contact prints are created by keeping the negatives in contact, as it were, with the photo sensitive paper. How does the film scanner come into play during this process? Care to explain? October 8, 2009, from Lloyd Erlick, I think it's fair to say I've replaced my contact sheets with scans of my negatives. I call them contact sheets or contacts, but they don't exist on paper. I was always lazy about making contacts of my processed films. Years would go by before I got a look at lots of the things I did. The dread of hours of darkroom labor to make the piles of contacts I had yet to do kept me from even starting. A big part of it was that the size of the contact prevented me from really seeing what was there, even if I did make the damn things. So when I finally got a scanner with a light in the lid, I could just slap my negs down on the glass still in their expensive PrintFile plastic sleeve. A whole roll of 35 mm or 120 format could be scanned at one go, and the resulting file was big enough that each frame could be enlarged on screen (sorry, wrong lingo, they could be ZOOMED!). This way I find it very easy to judge a portrait in terms of facial expression and desired cropping of the image. These are two very important factors for me, neither of which was ever properly satisfied by a paper contact print. So I find a scanner an essential darkroom efficiency improvement tool. I can go into my darkroom knowing exactly which frame I'm going to work on (expression and overall look are settled), and very close to knowing exactly how to crop it. Much less time wasted while darkroom is standing ready. For someone like me who attempts to do business by selling people pictures of themselves (really dopey thing to do, eh??), the scanner also lets me send them very good "proofs" cost free (well, as cost free as email...). This way, with a bit of luck, the scanner again gets me a reason to go to the darkroom. I produce very few dud prints now. The scanner improves my darkroom productivity. regards, --le ________________________________ Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto. website: www.heylloyd.com telephone: 416-686-0326 email: ________________________________ -- |
#3
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film scanners
wrote in message ... On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:06:36 -0700, "Lawrence Akutagawa" wrote: "laran" wrote in message ... Am looking to buy a film scanner to make contact prints mainly. Needs to be inexpensive, run on linux and also do slides to a reasonable quality. Ideas????? Now why in the world would someone be using a film scanner in the darkroom? hmmm...contact prints are created by keeping the negatives in contact, as it were, with the photo sensitive paper. How does the film scanner come into play during this process? Care to explain? October 8, 2009, from Lloyd Erlick, I think it's fair to say I've replaced my contact sheets with scans of my negatives. I call them contact sheets or contacts, but they don't exist on paper. I was always lazy about making contacts of my processed films. Years would go by before I got a look at lots of the things I did. The dread of hours of darkroom labor to make the piles of contacts I had yet to do kept me from even starting. A big part of it was that the size of the contact prevented me from really seeing what was there, even if I did make the damn things. So when I finally got a scanner with a light in the lid, I could just slap my negs down on the glass still in their expensive PrintFile plastic sleeve. A whole roll of 35 mm or 120 format could be scanned at one go, and the resulting file was big enough that each frame could be enlarged on screen (sorry, wrong lingo, they could be ZOOMED!). This way I find it very easy to judge a portrait in terms of facial expression and desired cropping of the image. These are two very important factors for me, neither of which was ever properly satisfied by a paper contact print. So I find a scanner an essential darkroom efficiency improvement tool. I can go into my darkroom knowing exactly which frame I'm going to work on (expression and overall look are settled), and very close to knowing exactly how to crop it. Much less time wasted while darkroom is standing ready. For someone like me who attempts to do business by selling people pictures of themselves (really dopey thing to do, eh??), the scanner also lets me send them very good "proofs" cost free (well, as cost free as email...). This way, with a bit of luck, the scanner again gets me a reason to go to the darkroom. I produce very few dud prints now. The scanner improves my darkroom productivity. Interesting discussion, but no explanation of how the scanner is used in the process of creating contact sheets in the darkroom...the darkroom, I do believe, is the context of this newsgroup. Alternate processes such as that forwarded by Lloyd's response here can well be discussed in other more appropriate newsgroups, such as they are. So how exactly is the scanner used in the darkroom to create those paper contact sheets? Just curious. |
#4
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film scanners
On 10/8/2009 11:17 AM Lawrence Akutagawa spake thus:
wrote in message ... On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:06:36 -0700, "Lawrence Akutagawa" wrote: "laran" wrote in message ... Am looking to buy a film scanner to make contact prints mainly. Needs to be inexpensive, run on linux and also do slides to a reasonable quality. Ideas????? Now why in the world would someone be using a film scanner in the darkroom? hmmm...contact prints are created by keeping the negatives in contact, as it were, with the photo sensitive paper. How does the film scanner come into play during this process? Care to explain? I think it's fair to say I've replaced my contact sheets with scans of my negatives. I call them contact sheets or contacts, but they don't exist on paper. I was always lazy about making contacts of my processed films. Years would go by before I got a look at lots of the things I did. The dread of hours of darkroom labor to make the piles of contacts I had yet to do kept me from even starting. So when I finally got a scanner with a light in the lid, I could just slap my negs down on the glass still in their expensive PrintFile plastic sleeve. A whole roll of 35 mm or 120 format could be scanned at one go, and the resulting file was big enough that each frame could be enlarged on screen (sorry, wrong lingo, they could be ZOOMED!). This way I find it very easy to judge a portrait in terms of facial expression and desired cropping of the image. These are two very important factors for me, neither of which was ever properly satisfied by a paper contact print. Interesting discussion, but no explanation of how the scanner is used in the process of creating contact sheets in the darkroom...the darkroom, I do believe, is the context of this newsgroup. Alternate processes such as that forwarded by Lloyd's response here can well be discussed in other more appropriate newsgroups, such as they are. So how exactly is the scanner used in the darkroom to create those paper contact sheets? Just curious. Methinks you're being a bit overly pendantic here. If the OP were to say that they wanted to use a film scanner as part of their darkroom *workflow*, that would be fine by me. By the way, Lloyd: why do you write messages with such short lines? Makes your posts unnecessarily long. -- Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism |
#5
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film scanners
"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message s.com... On 10/8/2009 11:17 AM Lawrence Akutagawa spake thus: wrote in message ... On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:06:36 -0700, "Lawrence Akutagawa" wrote: "laran" wrote in message ... Am looking to buy a film scanner to make contact prints mainly. Needs to be inexpensive, run on linux and also do slides to a reasonable quality. Ideas????? Now why in the world would someone be using a film scanner in the darkroom? hmmm...contact prints are created by keeping the negatives in contact, as it were, with the photo sensitive paper. How does the film scanner come into play during this process? Care to explain? I think it's fair to say I've replaced my contact sheets with scans of my negatives. I call them contact sheets or contacts, but they don't exist on paper. I was always lazy about making contacts of my processed films. Years would go by before I got a look at lots of the things I did. The dread of hours of darkroom labor to make the piles of contacts I had yet to do kept me from even starting. So when I finally got a scanner with a light in the lid, I could just slap my negs down on the glass still in their expensive PrintFile plastic sleeve. A whole roll of 35 mm or 120 format could be scanned at one go, and the resulting file was big enough that each frame could be enlarged on screen (sorry, wrong lingo, they could be ZOOMED!). This way I find it very easy to judge a portrait in terms of facial expression and desired cropping of the image. These are two very important factors for me, neither of which was ever properly satisfied by a paper contact print. Interesting discussion, but no explanation of how the scanner is used in the process of creating contact sheets in the darkroom...the darkroom, I do believe, is the context of this newsgroup. Alternate processes such as that forwarded by Lloyd's response here can well be discussed in other more appropriate newsgroups, such as they are. So how exactly is the scanner used in the darkroom to create those paper contact sheets? Just curious. Methinks you're being a bit overly pendantic here. If the OP were to say that they wanted to use a film scanner as part of their darkroom *workflow*, that would be fine by me. By the way, Lloyd: why do you write messages with such short lines? Makes your posts unnecessarily long. OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. Not digital prints, mind you - contact prints. You know, the kind of prints made with the negative flush against that photosensitive paper. That, I do believe, is the definition of contact prints, is it not? After all, OP did not say he wanted to use a film scanner to create digital prints, did he? And OP did not say he wanted to use a film scanner as part of his darkroom "workflow," did he? The use of a film scanner as part of the darkroom "workflow" was - I thought - rather well covered by Lloyd's explanation. But Lloyd's explanation did not address at all the creation of these contact prints using a scanner. Perhaps you can elucidate. I'm all ears. |
#6
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film scanners
On 10/8/2009 2:39 PM Lawrence Akutagawa spake thus:
OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. Not digital prints, mind you - contact prints. Well, as someone else explained up yonder, it's a matter of terminology. Would you settle for "contact sheet" instead? This is something that's generally understood to mean "a sheet of thumbnail prints of a roll of film". It's true that in the Old Days(tm), such sheets were always made by putting film in contact with photo paper and exposing it. Works for me, anyhow, and I'm usually a fairly crusty strict constructionist, as others around here can attest. -- Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism |
#7
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film scanners
"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message s.com... On 10/8/2009 2:39 PM Lawrence Akutagawa spake thus: OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. Not digital prints, mind you - contact prints. Well, as someone else explained up yonder, it's a matter of terminology. Would you settle for "contact sheet" instead? This is something that's generally understood to mean "a sheet of thumbnail prints of a roll of film". It's true that in the Old Days(tm), such sheets were always made by putting film in contact with photo paper and exposing it. Works for me, anyhow, and I'm usually a fairly crusty strict constructionist, as others around here can attest. OP did not say "a sheet of thumbnail prints of a roll of film." OP said "contact prints." Remember the old dictum - "Say what you mean and mean what you say?" Besides which, contact prints come in a multitude of different image sizes, each defined by the size of the respective negative. Indeed, many of Edward Weston's images were no greater than 4x5 contact prints. These are not "thumbnail prints." Visit the exhibits of his original images and see for yourself. Or read a description of his "darkroom" and see if you can find any reference to an enlarger. http://fototapeta.art.pl/2003/wste.php http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/03/29...footsteps.html http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitesp...to/2904265036/ And I daresay your description is of digital prints and of not contact prints, as defined on the net this very day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_print http://www.answers.com/topic/contact-print http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti...ontact%20print http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/contact+print http://www.webster-dictionary.org/de...ontact%20print http://en.mimi.hu/photography/contact_printing.html So allow me to again ask, insofar as you have not answered to the point: "OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. Not digital prints, mind you - contact prints." |
#8
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film scanners
Lawrence Akutagawa wrote:
OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. I haven't done it this way, but here's a suggestion. Take a piece of photo-sensitive paper and make a sandwich with your negative or sheet of negatives, and the glass platen of a flatbed scanner. Set on "reflective", if you have a choice. Run the scanner, which will shine light through the negative onto the paper. Now remove and process the paper as usual. If the paper is underexposed, do the same thing but scan twice before removing the paper. or more. Overexposed? uh, do something to reduce the sensitivity of the paper? Anyway, you can use the scanner to simulate a contact-printing box. Next question? RJF |
#9
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film scanners
On 10/10/2009 10:29 AM Rebecca Ore spake thus:
In article , Richard Fateman wrote: Lawrence Akutagawa wrote: OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. I haven't done it this way, but here's a suggestion. Take a piece of photo-sensitive paper and make a sandwich with your negative or sheet of negatives, and the glass platen of a flatbed scanner. Set on "reflective", if you have a choice. Run the scanner, which will shine light through the negative onto the paper. Now remove and process the paper as usual. If the paper is underexposed, do the same thing but scan twice before removing the paper. or more. Overexposed? uh, do something to reduce the sensitivity of the paper? Anyway, you can use the scanner to simulate a contact-printing box. Next question? I hate to say this but if it works, this would be incredibly cool for 4x5 or 8x10 negatives. Of course, one would have to have the scanner in a darkroom under safe lights suitable for the paper, but it beats having to buy a separate bit of equipment if you already have an enlarger. Could someone try this? While I appreciate the innate snarkiness of the suggestion (as a way of settling this stupid semantic argument), this would only work if the light output of the scanner is somewhere in the right range to expose the paper. It might be, but if not, remember that one has no control over the brightness (at least not without modifying the scanner's electronics somehow). Unless, of course, the brightness is, say, exactly half what it should be, in which case one can simply make two passes over the paper. If it did work, it would make a very evenly exposed print. -- Found--the gene that causes belief in genetic determinism |
#10
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film scanners
"Richard Fateman" wrote in message ... Lawrence Akutagawa wrote: OK...maybe you can explain how one uses a scanner to make contact prints - in or out of the darkroom. I haven't done it this way, but here's a suggestion. Take a piece of photo-sensitive paper and make a sandwich with your negative or sheet of negatives, and the glass platen of a flatbed scanner. Set on "reflective", if you have a choice. Run the scanner, which will shine light through the negative onto the paper. Now remove and process the paper as usual. If the paper is underexposed, do the same thing but scan twice before removing the paper. or more. Overexposed? uh, do something to reduce the sensitivity of the paper? Anyway, you can use the scanner to simulate a contact-printing box. Next question? Interesting! Exactly what E. Weston did, except he used a dangling light bulb. And that light bulb, I daresay, is a heck of a lot more inexpensive than a scanner. But the scanner should work. In the overexposure case, the simple solution is to place sheets of plain, non-watermarked paper directly on the scanner glass. The number of sheets of paper needed can be determined by trial and error. |
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