Best way to digitise colour negatives

Discussion in 'Post Processing, Printing, and Scanning' started by Gertcher, Mar 25, 2021.

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  1. Gertcher

    Gertcher New Member

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    Hi All

    What is the best way to digitise 35mm film colour negatives? The only software I have it the one supplied by Canon to match my R5 and GIMP. Is there a plug in I can use with either that will have the correct settings?

    Thanks Greg
     
    Gertcher, Mar 25, 2021
    #1

  2. Craig Sherriff

    Craig Sherriff Well-Known Member Site Supporter

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    Greg, you can buy a unit that scans the negative and this produces a JPEG. to which you then edit in your soft ware. The next issue is getting your colours correct, issues that cause a variation in colour is how the film was processed, usually if colour is critical a image containing a colour card in that roll of film is taken , colour correction of the computer screen. I usually have a issue with this as I use a TV for a screen. Next I suggest you go on to YouTube as there a many video clips on this subject and also the use of Gimp.
     
    Craig Sherriff, Mar 25, 2021
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  3. johnsey

    johnsey Site Moderator Staff Member Site Supporter

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    Are you doing film scanning using the R5 instead of using a film scanner. When it came to dedicated film scanners the software supplied from epson and canon did a real good job, and if had specific use cases, Silverfast was the name of the game.
    With the popularity of people using the DSLR or (or the like) it leaves post production in the end user. There are many people with Photoshop tutorials of people who worked through how to invert the colors of their negative with better accuracy, if you want to learn the approach of taking the raw and trying to color balance it yourself. There are also Lightroom presets that you can buy that make this pretty easy for working with the raw file. (https://www.negativelabpro.com/ is one such example)
     
    johnsey, Mar 26, 2021
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  4. Gertcher

    Gertcher New Member

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    Canon R5, Canon 24 - 240 RF Lens, and other stuff
    Thanks for your advice.
    I have looked at using GIMP and a tutorial that goes through the steps to correct the colour, it's so slow.
    I have also looked at ViewScan and Negative Lab Pro. this link gives a very good comparison https://fstoppers.com/film/converti...arison-negative-lab-pro-versus-vuescan-514321. NLP seems to be most suitable as I will be using my R5, that is going to give me the highest pixel count in the finished picture. NLP is also the quickest option.
    I have about 3.5k negatives, not all are worth scanning. I will also be copying family negatives, speed is important.
    The advantage of VS is I have a scanner , don't ned to buy more equipment. NLP, I need a macro lens, copy stand, light panel, negative holder, space to put it :)
    Anyone got the equipment going cheap so I can use the NLP route? ;)
     
    Gertcher, Apr 6, 2021
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