Best Films for Scanning


Right Image:
Minolta Maxxum 7, Tokina 80-200mm
f-2.8 AT-X, Kodak Gold 200, Bogen tripod and Ball head. Multi-segment metering at f-5.6 and 1/250 sec on aperture priority. Autofocus.

Pros and serious amateurs have been using slow slide films for several reasons. Slide films show the actual images. You can immediately see the results and evaluate color, exposure, and composition. I can't tell anything at all by looking at a negative film. Unlike slides which are made inside the camera the moment you release the shutter, negative films need to be printed before you can judge them. Even then it is not easy to evaluate the print. Machines make the prints, unless you do your own printing. Processing machines want to turn every negative into something average. When a print has problems, for instance, exposure or colors are off, I can never know for sure if the problem is because of something I did or the printing machine didn't do a good job. When I shoot slides, I can tell right away if there is something wrong and know exactly what happened. Another reason pros exclusively shoot slides is for marketing their work. Majority of publications buy only slides. Slow fine grain slide films have been the choice of professionals for decades.

Digital age is about to change all this. More and more publications are now accepting digital images. Slides and negatives scanned produce excellent digital images that can surpass those made by digital cameras. With a quality film scanner, you can turn your films into digital pictures for printing or selling to clients. This is the area where negatives outperform slides. Negative films have more exposure latitude than slides. Sides have a range of four stops while negatives have about seven stops. Go over plus two stops and slides become totally washed out, or blacked out by stopping down more than minus two stops. With slide films exposure must be very accurate. Every 1/3 stop counts. There is not much that can be done with a slide that is underexposed or exposed. Negatives are more forgiving. Your exposure can be off by one or even two stops and you can still get decent prints or scans. Bracketing is usually necessary when shooting slide films under difficult light. Negatives don't require bracketing unless you feel correct exposure can be achieved by one full stop or more. When scanning a negative, exposure can be corrected more easily than with slides.

Left Image: Minolta Maxxum 9, Tokina ATX 80-200mm f-2.8, Fuji Velvia

Another advantage of negatives over slides is availability of faster finer grain films. The finest grain slide films are ISO 50 and 100. Faster ISO Negative films, even ISO 400 and 800 have improved dramatically that it is now possible to make large prints that required slower films only a few years ago. The fastest slide film I use is Fujichrome Provia 100. If I need faster film I just push the Provia one stop. On the other hand, I feel comfortable using ISO 200 and 400 print films without worrying about grain or sharpness. I'm currently testing several print films for scanning purposes. I have tested several ISO 100, 200, and 400 films and compared the results against Fuji Velvia and Provia for sharpness, grain, color, and contrast. So far I'm pleased with the results I get with print films after I scan them. I will continue to shoot slide films, but now I will carry print films as well. Depending on the situation, I may choose to use slides, negatives, or both. The only draw back to print films is that a contact sheet is necessary to view each image before scanning. Slides are original so we can see the actual image and decide if we want to scan them and make necessary adjustments in image editors. What I do with print films is to either preview each shot prior to scanning or make a contact sheet using my flatbed scanner. If I have only a few rolls, I just use my film scanner's preview button, otherwise I place several negatives on my flatbed scanner and use the transparency adapter to make a contact sheet. Flatbed scanners cannot match the quality of film scanners. The transparency adapter however, is a nice tool for making preview of several frames at once. I can then choose which images I want to scan.  

You certainly don't have to switch to digital cameras to take advantage of digital photography. With a quality film scanner and today's quality slide and print films, you can start building digital images for yourself or your clients. Try several different slide and print films and scan them to see which film gives you the results you like. One thing you should remember: just because you'll be scanning your images does not mean you should forget about using good technique when you are taking pictures. The best scans are made by sharp and correctly exposed images no matter which image editor or film you use.

Recommended reading:

Mastering Digital Scanning with Slides, Film, and Transparencies

If you want to work with your traditional film images electronically, this is the guide that will finally show you how you can do it. "Mastering Digital Scanning" takes a photographer's viewpoint to the topic of digitizing, managing, and enhancing film-based images. You'll learn how to use your scanner's options to your best advantage and how to perfect your image once it becomes digital. You don't have to give up the advantages of conventional photography to enjoy the ease of digital manipulation!