In this post I set out what works for me on black and white films, much which has been learnt through trial and mostly error … Preliminariesīefore I scan I ask myself two preliminary questions:įirstly, is the picture worth it? Scanning takes time and the resulting images are large and therefore take bags of space on a drive. So before I scan I look at the negative on a light box (in my case an iPad ) and with a loupe to see whether the image passes muster: composition and tonality. With a 35mm roll of 36 negatives, on average I would only scan about 5 images. With a roll of 12 negatives of 120 format I scan one in three images on average. My scanners also give me a preview option so this acts as a second check before I decide to scan. Secondly, to what purpose will the scanned image be used? The answer to this question partly determines which scanner I use and how I scan. Scanning a street photograph taken on 35mm film and destined only for social media or a web-site requires a less rigorous approach than scanning a 5 x 7 format image destined to be printed as a fine photograph in an exhibition or someone’s wall or as an alternative process image, say.

35mm film work-flowĪlmost all of my 35mm work is with Ilford XP2 Super film.

I like the way the film keeps grain in the sky highlights to a minimum, I like the fact that the film is very forgiving to over-exposure, I like the fact that I can process 4 films together in my rotary processor, and I really like that the film is amenable to infra-red cleaning through my scanners, removing dust and small scratches. For example If I want to push film to accentuate contrast in a street scene, then I would choose Tri-X.

Vuescan multi exposure