Category Archives: Film

Nikon D800 film scanning – Part II

Film

Batch processing and color negatives.

For an index of all my Film related articles, click here.

One of the problems when round tripping digital camera film ‘scans’ to Photoshop for inversion from negative to positive is that PS does not permit batch processing. You have to select one image at a time, hit Command-I and then move on to the next. Not a big deal if you are processing just an image or two but a pain if you are inverting dozens or hundreds, which is my goal.

Some research disclosed that there’s a Lightroom plugin which does the inversion within LR, no round trip necessary and preserves the original RAW file in which the image was rendered. There’s none of the file size bloat you get when PS converts the round-tripped image to TIFF format and LR is the only software required, in addition to the plugin. That plugin is named Negative Film Lab. My download yielded a Mac Pro lock up in LR (a quick reboot fixed that – not something I have to do too often with that machine) whereafter I set to converting a handful of images in batch mode. Highlight the ones for inversion, hit Ctrl-N and each image takes some three seconds to invert on my speedy machine.

The original negative scan is preserved in the LR History of the file (no need to erase or stack your original negative scans) and the inverted RAW image shows no size bloat. Plus, if anything, the rendering of tones and sharpness is even better than that I obtained in my original test. The download comes with 24 free tries so you can decide if the $99 license (good for two computers) is worth it. Not cheap, but the gains in efficiency for my project make the investment worthwhile. The plugin appears to be actively supported, with a forum showing many expert users where much can be learned. I have found that no special camera settings are needed, meaning one thing less to remember.


A small batch of 2 files ready for inversion in Lightroom.

The result, the very first image I made on my Leica M3 in August, 1971. A significant improvement on the decades old original scan:


Girl on Train. Leica M3, 50mm Elmar, TriX, D76 developer.

How about color negative inversions? The added snag here is that most color film includes an orange mask which has to be removed and Negative Film Lab does that well. In LR’s Develop module you use the eyedropper on a portion of blank film on the edge of your scan to set the reference color mask reading for the film batch (they vary in color so resample with every new film roll) then perform the inversion with one click.


Color negative image awaiting inversion in Lightroom.

As my ‘scans’ are slightly larger than the film area I set the ‘Border Buffer’ to 12% which automatically crops the image – one step less in post processing work. Mask removal is excellent and some fine tuning of color is all that remains to be done, either in the plugin or using the Develop module controls in LR. Batch inversions for color work the same was as for monochrome.

LR compatibility? I use ‘historic’ LR 6.4, the stand alone, non-subscription version, and Negative Film Lab works perfectly. Apparently it also works in the current subscription version but there’s no way I will ever be checking that. The plugin is recommended for anyone with lots of inversions to perform, especially if they require color negative mask removal.

In Part III I will look at tethering of the camera to Lightroom and focusing considerations.

Nikon D800 film scanning – Part I

Film

For archival quality files.

For an index of all my Film related articles, click here.

I am at that point in life where legacies take on serious meaning. Wills, descendants, and so on. One of the precious legacy aspects of my photo archive is the significant number of images made on film. For the most part I scanned these some 20 years ago using a Nikon Coolscan 2000 film scanner. That machine did a good job but the speed of scans would see you to an early grave. Reckon on 5 minutes for a high quality 2000 dpi scan yielding a 5mp file. The quality is good but I thought I could do better. In addition there were many more images I wanted to scan which had missed this first pass because …. well, I got jolly tired of the waiting, and my new Canon 5D was impatiently waiting to be put to use. You see, I had finally given up on film and those Leicas and Rolleis had all been sold. They could not hold a candle to FF digital.

So the idea of doing a better job stuck in the back of my mind and when a used Nikon D800 was acquired it occurred to me that this would make for a good film ‘scanning’ device, with its excellent 36mp sensor. Extensive research on the best hardware setup concluded that the Nikon ES-1 and ES-2 film holder lens attachments would not cut it. Made from plastic with mediocre mechanicals and no lighting system, the whole thing resembled the chore of old with Rube Goldberg quality added to the mix. Alternatives using a film copying stand ($$$) and some sort of cockamamie lighting setup were quickly trash canned. Poor mechanicals, poor repeatability. The goal here it to be able to make 20″ x 30″ prints from the scanned files, not mementos for your wallet. And the whole thing has to be fast – fast to set up, fast to use.

Then I chanced on this JJC ES-2 Film Digitizing adapter. Mostly metal, it includes film and slide holders and, importantly, an LED light source. Be sure to get the version with the LED light source. Once assembled the whole thing makes for a robust whole, with the film held parallel to the D800’s sensor. It is very well made.

This tool calls for a Nikon Micro Nikkor macro lens and two are stated to fit – the 60mm AF-D of old and the latest 50mm Z optic for mirrorless bodies. I determined that the last DSLR version, the AF-S G Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 was the way to go – an easy resale – and picked one up for all of $265 mint and boxed. Nice.

Assembling the whole thing I had this:


All in one piece.

Before going further it bears pointing out that there is a host of variables in this process and the more these can be standardized and saved as presets the smoother the workflow.

Image size: My preference for the AF-S Nikkor over the earlier AF-D Nikkor ($150 or so) was a mistake. Using the smallest possible extension on the JJC, meaning the stock #1 tube and the #3 62mm filter adapter ring for the lens, I could not get close enough to the film to fill the frame. The #1 tube has a lip which prevents removal, but removal of four Phillips screws and replacement of the #1 tube with one of the pair of #2 tubes supplied reduces the lens-film distance to where the 24x36mm film frame almost fills the frame.


The JJC lens attachment assembly dismantled.

With the #2 tube replacing the #1 you lose the limit stop but that is of no consequence as the device will be used with the tube tromboned all the way in.


#1 and #2 tubes compared.

I reckoned that a small amount of cropping was no big deal given the high pixel count of the Micro-Nikkor, so I went with the modified version above. You can see how much shorter the tube extension is by comparing the image below with the first one above:


#2 tube fitted.

Lighting: Perhaps the major consideration in choosing the JJC device over alternatives is the included LED light source, with adjustable intensity. Use it right and film damage from heat is not an issue. See ‘Heat risk’, below. The ten levels of brightness saw me opting for maximum as I wanted to use the fastest shutter speed in the D800 so as to avoid blur from mirror slap. The LED light runs from a USB power source and a connecting cable is included. It uses one of those truly wretched MicroUSB connectors at the LED end so be careful, These are easily damaged.

The D800 shooting menu: Go to Shooting Menu->Set Picture Control->Vivid and set Sharpening to Max (level 9). Hit OK to save the setting. ‘Vivid’ works better than ‘Monochrome’ in my experience.

Exposure: You want ISO 100 (not Auto ISO) and Aperture Priority exposure automation. Set the lens to f/9.5 which is the optimum mix of depth of field and sharpness. Smaller apertures see diffraction limiting come into play and definition falls. Auto exposure? Yes. It works well. Forget what you read about using Manual everything. Using f/9.5 the D800 sets the shutter at 1/180 most of the time, short enough to obviate mirror slap blur.

Focus: Stick with autofocus. Nikon does a better job of it than you can using the ultra sensitive Manual focus indicator in the finder. Again, forget the nonsense you read about using Manual everything. I use the film strip holder with the glossy side of the film toward the lens. The film is slightly bowed so there is an argument to be made for focusing half way off center to minimize the effect of the bowing on focus. However, using f/9.5 I have found that edge to edge film grain definition is excellent, so I simply use the default center spot focus.

Cleanliness: Dirt in, dirt out. Handle your negatives using fresh cotton gloves – not the ones you just used for the oil change on the car – and blow away/antistatic brush away any dust on the negative before insertion in the provided glassless negative strip holder.

Heat risk: The device comes with a clear warning label regarding heat output of the LED light source:


Warning label.

It’s important to note that there are two film/slide holder slots:


Two film/slide holder slots.

Because I get a more frame filling image, and because it’s further from the heat source/LED, I use the one nearest the lens.

How hot do things get? There’s a big difference between the temperature at the LED surface – very hot – and the one at the film negative in the more distant slot. I measured these using a laser thermometer:


Temperature rise though steady state.

So, simply stated, if you propose keeping the negative illuminated – I am using the max power setting above – for long periods of time, the safe way to do that is to use the slot most distant from the LED light source. 141F is too hot. 95F is fine – and that is reached after 10 minutes of inaction. Kodak’s TriX film survives fine in the tropics, so 95F is no big deal. But 141F is 10 degrees hotter than Death Valley, the warmest place on earth!

Horizontal alignment: The holder is excellent, allowing only a small amount of slop with the end images in a strip of six. I turn on the Grid display in the finder (Custom Settings->d->d6) to ensure proper alignment before taking the picture/scan. There are detents as you slide the holder, making frame alignment easy.

Taking the picture/making the scan: No camera support is necessary as the assembly makes for a robust whole. I just rest the assembly on my desk and click away.

Lightroom and Photoshop: I use non-subscription versions of LR (v. 6.4) and PS (v. 12.0) on a 2010 Mac Pro running OS X High Sierra (10.13). Later versions of LR and PS add nothing, but do draw down your pocket book as greedy Adobe seeks to make you a lifetime subscriber. Heck, they probably even charge your estate after you have croaked. Another legacy consideration. What a dishonest business Adobe has become.

Anyway, insert the D800’s CF or SD card into your card reader and import the negative images to LR. You then need to round trip them (Alt-E) into PS where you hit Command-I on each, which converts them to positives. Don’t bother with obscure solutions in LR which would have you messing with curves. PS knows how to do inversions perfectly. File-Save gets the converted images into LR where upon you can erase the negative originals. Crop and adjust contrast/tint/clarity in LR on one image, save those settings for the session (Alt-C) and apply them to all the other positive images in LR (Alt-V). ‘Boom’, as Steve Jobs would put it.

Comparisons: The image comparator in LR makes for easy tuning of the D800 scan with the Coolscan 2000 original:


Nikon Coolscan vs. D800.

An enlarged comparison shows the TriX film grain is perfectly rendered to the edges and smaller and sharper than with the original Coolscan scan. Then again, the image from the D800 is some ten times the file size of the 5mp Coolscan original and I would guess the Micro-Nikkor’s optics are a step up from those in the old Coolscan.


Greatly enlarged comparisons.

Speed: How long does it take you to press the shutter button, move the CF/SD card to LR and round trip for inversion through PS? A whole lot less than the five minutes a scan in the Nikon scanner. And do not be tempted to buy that now 20 year old scanner. No one has parts to fix it and it will probably break, if you do not give up the ghost first. Plus try finding connecting cables which work on your modern computer.

Cost: The most commonly used scanning tool appears to be the $400 Epson V600 flat bed scanner. You are looking at 30-60 minutes (yes, 30-60) for the highest quality scan and will die of old age before getting the job done. Quality will not be all that great – I know, I tried it after careful dismantling of the scanner for proper lens collimation. Ridiculous. Fughedaboutit. Plus good luck reselling that behemoth when you are done.

Here is what this little lot cost me:

  • Nikon D800 body – I use that for picture taking, so it’s not an incremental cost factor.
  • Nikon Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 AF-S lens, used, mint, boxed – $265 plus tax and shipping. Easily resold for cost. I would prefer the earlier AF-D version for $100 less, see above.
  • JJC film scanning attachment – $95
  • Total cost – $360

It’s not nuclear physics to solve that one.

Other bodies: I see no reason why this should not work with any number of bodies. For the FF set there’s a large selection of Nikons at bargain prices as everyone dumps them for mirrorless, which they mostly do not need. A good 12mp D700 can be picked up for $250 and is still an excellent daily user. If you use Canon, MFT or other makes, check the JJC listing linked above to see whether your camera/lens combination will yield full frame ‘scans’. The large number of filter attachment adapters provided, covering 46mm through 67mm should do the trick at the camera’s lens end.

In Part II I look at the additional variables which arise when ‘scanning’ color slides and negatives. I will also look at an approach to batch processing of conversions of multiple scans in one step, further speeding this tedious process.

Nikon F100

Film, Nikon bodies

Culmination of a film odyssey.

For an index of all my Film related articles, click here.

Spurred on by a friend who is an enthusiastic film user, I determined that a logical approach to finding the right combination of film hardware, services and EXIF software was called for. The market is bursting to the seams with lightly used film cameras available at scrap prices and the renaissance enjoyed by film itself is reflected in the number of labs offering processing and scanning services along with a growing number of emulsions after the nadir of a few years ago.


My film body odyssey – Nikon FE, N90S and F100.

Hardware:

The choice of brand was simple. I have some two dozen F-mount Nikkor lenses, mostly manual focus with AI conversions and chips installed by me. A few are newer AF optics though as recent pieces here have shown, the old lenses are generally superior to the more recent ones, and at lower cost.

Bodies are insanely cheap and there is no earthly reason to save a few dollars by buying a beater, when mint examples can be had for little more. The early metered bodies from the FE/FM series, known for their toughness, can be found for around $100 so I started with a Nikon FE, a small and ergonomically superb offering, far more robust than contemporary Leicas with their rangefinders fading and all sorts of alignment issues, along with rotting rubber shutter blinds where Nikon uses titanium. And at 10% of the cost of those Leicas, what’s not to like? Mine ran me $100 plus $30 for a better focus screen. The FE falls naturally to hand and I had a blast using it but I found that the absence of a focus confirmation LED in the finder was a feature sorely missed by my aging eyes. Use a lens f/2.8 or slower, even with the improved FM3 focus screen installed, I was never quite sure critical focus had been established and was often sawing the focus collar back and forth to get there.

Thus the next step was to find a Nikon film body with autofocus which, with a manual Nikkor fitted, conferred the advantage of that confirmation light. Along came a Nikon N90s, another body renowned for its durability and costing a whopping $50 in the original box, no less. Heavier than the FE owing to the focus and film advance/rewind motor, the body is a delight to use with AF Nikons or unchipped MF ones, but the aftermarket chips installed by me on every one of my manual focus Nikons refuse to communicate with the body’s exposure meter and are thus useless. With AF Nikkors the body works perfectly. The only known issue is a tendency for the chintzy coating on the back to degrade and get sticky, but my body came with that removed, exposing the black plastic underneath. Isopropyl alcohol is the indicated solvent here and the result looks fine, matching the finish of the rest of the body.

So a better mousetrap was called for and it came along in the guise of the Nikon F100, meaning the $200 I splashed out wildly on the mint body and high capacity battery grip was financed by the proceeds of sale of the FE, the N90S and the F100’s battery grip which does little for this occasional snapper other than adding needless weight and bulk.

The F100 is superb in every way. The body takes four AA batteries like the N90s, disposes controls in a manner almost identical to those on my favorite digital body, the D700 and comes with an eyepiece diopter adjuster built in which is a boon for non-stock eyesight. With four AA cells installed in the body holder the external battery holder with its 6 AA batteries can be dispensed with leaving a body barely heavier than the N90S. Unlike with the FE and N90s you cannot change the focus screen, but you do not need to. The focus confirmation light works perfectly. The apertures of my MF Nikkors are correctly registered by the metering system with aperture priority exposure automation. That’s a huge deal as I have many and they are all here to stay. And the F100 focuses AF Nikkors very fast. Weaknesses? Rumored to be very tough on batteries, but no problem for a ‘one film a week’ guy, plus they are common and inexpensive AAs. The earlier bodies had a fragile rewind fork – you can identify it easily as it’s pointed. If your body’s s/n is greater than 21673xx you will find that the spigots on the rewind fork are now squared, not pointed, and much more robust. (The s/n is engraved black on black underneath the bayonet mount at the base). Finally, the perfect body, though the sensual pleasure of the FE’s manual film advance is gone.

In addition to the fragile rewind fork on earlier bodies (unlikely to be an issue with lightly used bodies), the only other issue with the F100 I have noted on chat boards is with the automated start and rewind of the film.

It appears that if you set Custom Settings to thread the film when the door is closed, and to rewind it after the last shot, the system can fail and start rewind part way through the roll. I believe the mechanism Nikon uses to determine when to start automated rewind is simply to measure the current demand of the advance motor. When the film is at the end, the current demand spikes and the advance motor goes into reverse and commences rewind. But a like current demand – triggering a false ‘end of film’ indication – can occur with a stiff cassette spool and/or a tight felt trap, which would simulate the ‘end of roll’ condition part way through the roll

Custom Settings are set thus:

The two Custom Settings for automated film loading and rewind are 8 and 1, respectively:

You want to make sure these are both set to ‘0’, the default setting, thus defeating the automation.

To manually commence rewinding the film at the end of the roll you simultaneously depress the ‘BKT’ (top left) and the ‘+/-‘ buttons (top right). (In the later D700 this button pair formats the CF storage card. Neat.) Each is marked with a red symbol.

The other Custom Setting to note concerns the use of the lens’s aperture ring to set aperture rather than using the front top wheel (sub-command dial), custom setting #22:

This is essential to enable aperture ring control for my MF chipped Nikkors as I cannot control the setting of the aperture using the sub-command dial, and as I also much prefer to use the lens’s aperture ring. So my Custom Setting #22 is set to ‘1’ and all my old lenses work properly.



By the time the F100 was made, Nikon’s design layout was pretty much firmed up.
The much later D700 is on the left.

Processing and scanning:

No one in his right mind wants film strips returned. A high quality scan of the processed film is what is called for and as mass scanner quality has peaked, holding on to film strips in the hope of better scans down the road is a quixotic approach. After a couple of false starts with labs in California, I found that Sharpprints.com, in Wisconsin of all places, was just the ticket. Excellent processing with high attendant volume assures fresh chemicals, complemented with high definition scans from their Noritsu scanner. Further, downloads are available fast and there are no downloading issues. And they are almost 40% cheaper than the uncaring and unresponsive coastal labs – $14 versus $22.50 a roll. The limitation is that this lab only processes color film requiring C41 chemicals (color negative emulsions), and does not process E6 color slide stock. They also process TriX and other monochrome film in Kodak HC110 developer.

EXIF data:

Other than telling you the scanner manufacturer’s name, no EXIF data is present on scanned film files. I find such data to be essential as I tend to search for images in my catalog by camera body and lens used. Thus I resort to a $10 application named ‘EXIF Editor’, available in the Apple OS X App Store.

It’s a tad clunky but can be integrated into LR for the roundtrip in Lightroom->Preferences->External Editing:


EXIF Editor set as an external editing option.

Batteries:

The F100 has something of a reputation as a battery eater. My body came with the auxiliary battery holder which holds 6 AA batteries rather than the 4 in the body’s handgrip. The latter must be removed when the auxiliary MB-15 holder is attached – see the first image in this article. The battery holder appears to add 40% capacity based on Nikon’s data:


Note the greatly increased power draw with big, long lenses
like the 80-200 f/2.8 AFD zoom – lower section, above.

I immediately sold my battery holder ($50) as it adds weight and bulk out of proportion to its sole utility value which is the addition of a vertical shutter release. You don’t need it. Further, cheap lithium batteries are now abundantly available – I paid $1.50 per cell at Amazon, and the table above suggests no one needs the external holder. If you must change batteries fast, new in-body Nikon MS-12 AA battery holders remain available for under $25 – in fact I had to buy one as it was missing from my body. Simple pre-load one with batteries of your choice and keep it in your pocket.

* * * * *

The results of this discovery process:

  • Three business days from mailing to availability of high quality downloadable scans.
  • The charm of using analog film in a digital world, with all the attendant benefits and challenges.
  • Properly EXIF indexed data files in my Lightroom catalog.
  • Negligible financial outlay.

More film, another lab

Film, Photographs

Trust is the issue.

For an index of all my Film related articles, click here.

I mentioned that after the debacle with the first processing lab I tried that I had sought out two more which offered processing, high quality scanning and online download of the scanned images.

The first I tried was Sharprints.com in Wisconsin, and it proved to be excellent. Fast, meaning 3.5 business days from mailing to download, quality work and all promises met. Bare bones, maybe, but that’s all I need. That and promises made being kept. Click the link for more details.

The other lab I tried, ProPhoto.com in Irvine, CA came with the usual flakiness associated with large coastal city operations, just like the execrable TheDarkroom.com, also in the Golden State. Emails were not replied to, statements that the download was ready were false, calls resulted in infinite hold times and the process took 4.5 business days, which is mystifying given that Irvine, CA is but 384 miles from my home whereas Eau Claire, WI is 1,712 miles distant. Based on comparative performance and honesty and clarity of communications, I recommend Sharpprints.com in WI for film processing, scanning and download. Price is also a factor – $14 for the WI lab, $22.50 for the one in CA. One roll of Kodak Ektar 100 was the test in each case.

Here are some snaps from the latest film foray, in downtown Phoenix. Hardware was again the Nikon FE with the 43-86mm f/3.5 Zoom Nikkor:

Kodak Ektar film

Film, Photographs

Just the ticket.

For an index of all my Film related articles, click here.

A friend had passed his last remaining roll of Kodak Ektar 100 to be for experimentation, and I am very pleased with the results.

This is a slow – 100 ASA – emulsion with a reputation for fine grain and punchy, contrasty colors, one it lived up to in spades.

This was also an opportunity to try another processing and scanning service after the disaster that was TheDarkroom.com which I concluded was an “offensively bad business”. I wasn’t about to give them another chance.

After some Googling I came up with a couple of services which offer high resolution scans along with online downloads of scanned images. Neither returns the original film unless you ask and that’s fine with me as I would only shred it. It’s extremely unlikely that high volume industrial grade scanners will be materially improved as the business opportunity is simply too small, so the state-of-the-art is either the Noritsu or the Fuji Frontier, both maxing out at around 4000 x 6000 pixels per scan. So retaining the original film strips, with all the attendant cataloging chores, in the hope of further scanning improvements down the road is a quixotic quest.

The first lab I tried is named Sharpprints and here’s the statement from their home page:


Click the image to go the the lab’s site.

Yes, their choice of camera, the Russkie POS Zenit, is execrable, as is the way the film is being held in that image with greasy, badly manicured fingers, but that’s really all the bad news there is. But rather than sit on my hands, I wrote them about that boo-boo:

I mailed my film roll of 36 exposures on a Monday morning using USPS ($3.50) and the scans were available for download the same Thursday at 2:17pm, accompanied by a terse email alerting me to the fact. This lab also uses Dropbox for online delivery but unlike TheDarkroom.com clearly knows what it is doing as the scans were immediately available and easily downloaded in a couple of minutes.

I found the results to be fine grained and much improved on Kodak Gold 200’s coarse and nasty grain. I’m thinking Gold 200 is just a poor quality product. Of the 36 scans one image had a fine piece of dirt on it – easily fixed in Photoshop – and all the others were fault free. The processing and scanning cost was just $14.

This roll of film gave me another chance to look at the abstraction of the varied architecture in downtown Phoenix and here is the ‘contact sheet’ from Lightroom after the cull:


34 keepers out of 36. All those years with film inculcated economy of effort.

The colors jump out at you and the film requires careful handling of highlights to avoid burn out. A little underexposure – say 1/2-1 stop – is a good idea in high contrast situations, what was called ‘exposing for the highlights’ in the previous century.


Noritsu scanner data.

Here are some favorites from this roll, all snapped on the Nikon FE and the experts assure us (who are these fools?) taken with the ‘worst zoom lens on the planet’, the excellent Nikon 43-86mm f/3.5 ‘walkabout wonder’:

It would be churlish to deny the influence of the great Keld Helmer-Petersen on my work, for he is one of the masters who taught me how to see all those decades ago in the era of film.

Sharpprints.com is located in Eau Claire, Wisoncsin and the results of their work testify to solid, midwestern American values. There’s no nonsense about creating an account so that they can inundate you with junk mail. Just mail in the film after printing, completing and including their online form and you are done. I recommend them.