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Home::Multimedia
Advantages of Using a Dedicated Film Scanner for your Negatives
Author : Kimberly Rentler
Publishing this article is permited electronically or in print,
free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy
copy of your publication would be appreciated.
Film Scanning has become a necessary piece of equipment for the
digital darkroom that enables the photographer to continue to
shoot pictures the traditional way with film and slides. The
scanner allows you to convert the film to digital files and take
advantage of the use of software editing, enhnancing and
publishing. There are some clear advantages to using a dedicated
film Scanner over a flatbed scanner when scanning film or slide
negative transparencies. Both a film scanner and flatbed scanner
operate using a light source and sensors that scan through the
transparency. A dedicated film scanner utilizes a transmissive
light source while a flatbed scanner uses a reflective light
source. A transmissive light source is a direct linear light
source that reflects through the transparency. A reflective
light also shines through the transparency, however it is
contained or diffused under the glass bed of the scanner and
relected off another surface. This is the lid or top surface of
the flatbed scanner. The result is greater density and clarity
scanned from the transmissive light from a dedicated film
scanner. Current higher quality flatbed scanners offer
transparency and negative holders and often include an
additional light source on the lid to mimic the transmissive
light. However, the ultimate operation of a flatbed scanner is
still very similar to that of a copy machine. Although some may
see an advantage in the flatbed scanner to scan batch negatives
or slides quickly, the disadvantge becomes the ability to
customize each individual slide or negative that may have
different densities or exposure. With a dedicated film scanner,
you have the ability to expose or scan each frame at varying
degrees of resolutions and corrections. Most dedicated film
scanners also offer the batch feature as well. Two main
components are essential for a quality scan: resolution and
dynamic range. Resolution is the mesurement of pixels the
scanner can capture within the scan. Dynamic range is the degree
of tonality that is captured within the scan. Most dedicated
film scanners offer dynamic ranges greater than 3.6 with 0, the
purest white and 4.0, the deepest black. While flatbed scanners
have improved greatly in the past few years with higher
resolutions, you must be careful on those claiming very high
resolutions. This is often interpolated resolution or in simple
terms, the scanner guesses on the number of pixels rather than
contain the true optical pickup of pixels in the film scanning
process. Author: Kimberly Renter Copyright, 2005 Owner of a
Film, Photo and Slde Scanning Service at http://filmnfile.com
This site also offers more scanning information and a forum to
discuss photography. email at inquiries@filmnfile.com
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