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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
About the Author
Amateur photographer and owner of a web-based Film, Slide and Photo Scanning Service. Have worked
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