MF film vs. the best of DSLRS

[chris_holtmeier]

Where would one get negatives scanned with this kind of quality?

[tonylong]

Originally Posted by chris_holtmeier

Where would one get negatives scanned with this kind of quality?

Well, since nobody has answered you and I haven't delved into it I figured I'd Google "film negative drum scan" since drum scanning is the top of the line scanning service.

So go through the results and you will find both services and discussions:

http://search.comcast.net/?cat=web&c...tive+drum+scan

[kjj512]

I personally love shooting film. I love the way it looks and even with digital scans 95% of the time you can tell it wasn't taken with a digital camera. It may be the grain structure it may be the colors or tones but something about it to me always just looks... better. I have spent a ton of time in the darkroom the past couple months and learned the beauty of large format photography and recently have been shooting medium format with a TLR. The biggest problem with film is definitely scanning it. Anything less then a couple thousand dollars for a scanner and it won't be nearly as good as you hoped and forget about it being anywhere close to what could be produced in a darkroom with some super high silver content paper.

I can't seem to find the article about this now and I own nothing from a Mac store, but I think Steve Jobs got it right when he said that digital sensors just where up to the quality of film. So that iconic image of him was shot with a 4x5 camera.

[chris_holtmeier]

Originally Posted by tonylong

Well, since nobody has answered you and I haven't delved into it I figured I'd Google "film negative drum scan" since drum scanning is the top of the line scanning service.

So go through the results and you will find both services and discussions:

http://search.comcast.net/?cat=web&c...tive+drum+scan

Wow, that is pricy.

[AngryCorgi]

Originally Posted by chris_holtmeier

Wow, that is pricy.

Yup. That's why you don't see everyone shooting film. In comparison to digital, its impractical. Though, I will agree, there is something intrinsically beautiful about the way some films capture colors/tones.

[sjones]

The quality of scanning is not surprisingly yet another source of debate. The best quality will certainly come from a drum scanner, which are generally sold for commercial use given their high price tags, surpassing US$100,000 in some cases (or at least they did in the past). Used drum scanners can be bought for far cheaper.

From there, you can drop down to a Hasselblad Flextight X1, a 'virtual' drum scanner that recently shot up in price from US$13,000 to US$16,000. The X1 will scan from 35mm to 4"X5" large format negatives.

The Nikon Coolscan 9000, which scanned 35mm to medium format, used to sell for roughly US$2,000, but Nikon discontinued the scanner a couple years ago. Used ones can go for US$4,000 or more.

Flatbed scanners, such as the Epson V700 or V750 (US$550 / US$800), can also scan medium format.

Now, there are some folks who will argue that, if you are not going to produce wet prints, you must do drum scanner or don't even bother. On the other end, there are a number of other folks who are happy with the V700, or similar quality flatbeds. Most would like to at least be working with the 9000. But as usual, it comes down to the individual to decide what quality is best for them.

I can get a great Mamiya c330 TLR for US$400 and the Nikon 9000 (or Konica Minolta Dimage Pro) for US$4,000. So what's US$4,400 compared with the price of Nikon D800 or a digital medium format camera?

Currently, for my 35mm, I use a Nikon V ED, which I picked up for US$500 new while living in Tokyo, just months before it was discontinued. I am more than happy with the quality for my style of photography.

And for those who still insist that wet prints are the ONLY way to go…fine…I still have the negatives to do a wet print should I want to.

[Tareq]

I hope to shoot film since i started to use it in 2010 and stopped in 2011 with no much shooting, and this year i am not into photography for some reasons, will see if next year i will get back to photography and can use film more often to see, i just use V750 for a while until the day i can afford a drum scanner only [no Nikon Coolscan], meanwhile, i will try to give my MF digital more use over my 35mm dslr for some still shots[landscapes, still life, macro, some portraits,....etc].