filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem
I'm having problems with grain with the Polaroid SS120. This can be seen in the sample at: http://www.spirer.com/images/grain.jpg This is from a 6x7 neg scanned at 2880, unsharpened. I get far less grain with my Epson 1640 and am wondering what is going on. The original neg is Tri-X in Rodinal, grainy, but by no means this radical. I'd like to figure this out, since I have thousands of Tri-X/Rodinal negatives, in fact, virtually everything I have shot. Some are 35mm and are even worse. With this level of grain, I find I can't print much bigger than 5x7 without really noticeable grain at reasonable distances. Jeff Spirer Photos: http://www.spirer.com One People: http://www.onepeople.com/
Re: filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem
Jeff-- I pulled out a couple of Tri-X scans at 1000 dpi, 2000 dpi and 4000 dpi I made on my Nikon LS4000ED a couple of months ago as a test, and they don't look any better than the sample you posted. These are 30-year old negs which I think were from my Rodinal period (one of them could have been Dektol or HC-110). --Bill At 7:58 PM -0800 12/3/01, Jeff Spirer wrote: >I'm having problems with grain with the Polaroid SS120. This can be >seen in the sample at: > >http://www.spirer.com/images/grain.jpg > >This is from a 6x7 neg scanned at 2880, unsharpened. I get far less >grain with my Epson 1640 and am wondering what is going on. The >original neg is Tri-X in Rodinal, grainy, but by no means this >radical. I'd like to figure this out, since I have thousands of >Tri-X/Rodinal negatives, in fact, virtually everything I have shot. >Some are 35mm and are even worse. With this level of grain, I find >I can't print much bigger than 5x7 without really noticeable grain >at reasonable distances. > >Jeff Spirer >Photos: http://www.spirer.com >One People: http://www.onepeople.com/ -- == Bill Fernandez * User Interface Architect * Bill Fernandez Design (505) 346-3080 * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://billfernandez.com ==
Re: filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem
- Original Message - From: "Jeff Spirer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 4:58 AM Subject: filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem > I'm having problems with grain with the Polaroid SS120. This can be seen > in the sample at: > > http://www.spirer.com/images/grain.jpg > > This is from a 6x7 neg scanned at 2880, unsharpened. I get far less grain > with my Epson 1640 It seems logic that the 1640 doesn´t shop that much of it, it is not sharp enough... This leaves me thoughful.. Because it is a little bit what I experienced - so far - with my Nikon LS40 . Slides scan just fine, but b&w seems to always emphathize grain (specially one Delta 100 film has been developped in Rodinal and it is unuseable for printing, grain is just too strong). And it is exactly what a guy in an News group who mainly prints traditionally (wet) told me: That scanning tends to bring up grain specially in b&w negatives. I have been planning to buy an MF scanner in the near future - possibly the Polaroid or the Minolta PRO - but as I am mainly doing b&w, I wonder whether it is not the better way to go the traditional way in the darkroom and buy maybe a midrange flatbed like the new Epson 2450... I ´d really be interested what the others here on the list have experienced concerning grain in b&w negatives. Greetings Bernhard
Re: filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem
Jim, If you have SilverFast (might be possible in Photoshop but I've never tried) it is possible to reduce the grainy look (aliasing) by using the Descreen filter. I posted a short tutorial on this a week or so back to my web site. http://www.rgbnet.co.uk/ilyons/sf5-negafix/grain_reduction.htm It also contains a link to a very informative article that I think was written by one the list members. Ian Lyons http://www.computer-darkroom.com
Re: filmscanners: SS120 Grain Problem
>I'm having problems with grain with the Polaroid SS120. This can be >seen in the sample at: > >http://www.spirer.com/images/grain.jpg > >This is from a 6x7 neg scanned at 2880, unsharpened. I get far less >grain with my Epson 1640 and am wondering what is going on. The >original neg is Tri-X in Rodinal, grainy, but by no means this >radical. I'd like to figure this out, since I have thousands of >Tri-X/Rodinal negatives, in fact, virtually everything I have shot. >Some are 35mm and are even worse. With this level of grain, I find >I can't print much bigger than 5x7 without really noticeable grain >at reasonable distances. Tri-X and Rodinal is about as "grainy" as 400 ISO gets-there's little or no sodium sulfite in the formula, the chemical that reduces apparent grain in most other developers (Microdol/Perceptol is 90% sulfite) by smoothing actual grain contours. Ralph Gibson based his entire aesthetic on that peculiarity. (You can add sulfite to the soup to smooth the grain.) So you are scanning the sharpest possible grain pattern. At the scanner level, I understand working at other than even fractions of the max optical resolution can cause artifacts with fine pattern and details. I'd see if 2000dpi were smoother. Or 4000dpi and find something useful to do while it churns out pixels. --
