LaserSoft Imaging

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.

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

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).