Negatives scanned with calibration

[Johannes]

New feature wanted:

Calibrated Nega-Scan.

Using Negafix often leads to unsatisfying results and loss of time. In the days of Digital-Photografy, there should be a save workflow for Negative-Scan. Like Scanning Slides, there should be target(s) for the most Professional Negative-Films for Calibration.

For example: One of the newest and state of the art Film is Kodak Portra - Series. The market get smaller from day to day. So the count of types decreases.

Most Photographers often reuse same film-type. A calibrated negativ-scan could fasten up workflow - or even make accurate results possible only.

Often it was said, that because of the Orange-Mask this is not possible.

I understand that point, but cannot agree. There is a standardisized workflow in the Labs for each Filmtype. Why not for a world-market-leading Scansoftware?

If there is a film-specific target and a new feature for negatives, Negafix could be switched off or at least could be much simplified.

[LSI_Muenier]

Dear Johannes,

in my view the problem is not the orange mask, but the need to profile a film at different exposures and lighting that may have been present when shooting the pictures.

Best regards
Martin

[Johannes]

Thanks for your answer, Lsi_Muenier!

The main-critical point scanning negas is color-reproduction.

It would be no problem to adjust brightness, contrast, overal color-temperature and other easy to maintain-parameters further manually.

What i want to say is, the film-curves applied in Negafix are not as accurat or are too difficult and errorneaus to use. Scanning one Nega often becomes a mess with still unfinished results.

Silverfast supports slide-IT8-targets for color-correction. Theoretically there must be a way to do the same with negas in principle.

Maybe some additional parameters would be needed to handle Nega-typical behaivors. But if the workflow is save and always leads to professional results (in case of a serious Silverfast-user), this would be a huge improvement.

Negative-film like Portra is a modern film with state-of-the art dynamic range and even grain is finer since Seceond Generation of this film-type (since 2007). Scansoftware should draw level with Kodak's brave step forward in analog-photography (i'm not a Kodak-man, just like the film).