Help with Film (35mm negs)

Hi all, so i have recently started digitising some of my film and run into a big (to me) problem.

I have attached a neg as captured and then one i have edited. There is crazy grain and colours are so off it's unreal.
Can anyone help with this?
The shots i got on CD from the developers had a really weird green tinge to them too

Did I see you say you're not a big Ps/post processing kind of guy? Film is tough and requires a bit of knowledge to get great images, not to mention a really good scanner.

Go into Curves, with the inversed color image open, double click the black eyedropper, use the film base as a starting point and set a black point.

The idea is to sample the base, then make it neutral and true black. Other colors will need to be tweaked individually ... plus, every film is different so you kinda need to do it with every new brand/type.

You're better off shooting chrome film if the goal is to scan it.


Btw, what is the scanning method?

Edit: you're going to have to set a whit point too.

This may help

https://www.iamthejeff​.com …-c-41-negative-film-scans

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18219497
Did I see you say you're not a big Ps/post processing kind of guy?
Go into Curves, with the inversed color image open, double click the black eyedropper, use the film base as a starting point and set a black point.

Btw, what is the scanning method?

Yeah not a big PP kind of person, not great with Photoshop.
the scanning is using the Adobe Lighroom mobile app (to scan in as DNG file) on an iphone 7 and the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner
https://shop.lomograph​y.com/en/smartphone-scanner

Tried another one...

Any chance you can post a link to one of the source digitized neg files using Dropbox or similar sharing site for the file? If you do, please also post the film type.

thanks.

kirk

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #18219488
Hi all, so i have recently started digitising some of my film and run into a big (to me) problem.

I have attached a neg as captured and then one i have edited. There is crazy grain and colours are so off it's unreal.
Can anyone help with this?
The shots i got on CD from the developers had a really weird green tinge to them too

Here is your posted negative render treated with a simple curves adjustment to invert the colors (drag black point up to the top of the output axis, drag white point down to the bottom of the output axis for the master curve) followed by a second curves adjustment layer where auto curves, enhance per channel contrast, was applied.

kirk

I've been doing some of this too (see separate thread).

Over time the color dyes fade, and they do so at different rates. This changes the contrast of those dye layers, giving weird effects like magenta highlights and green shadows as in your example. To solve, as already noted, you need to work on the curves. Sometimes if you're lucky a whole bunch of pics can be corrected with the same settings - but in my experience, negs differ, even in the same roll, and you need to do trial and error for each to get the best results.

This link should work for the original scanned dng and my edited version
https://www.dropbox.co​m …UCYx_AB84s1XPc4​R4Ica?dl=0

I cant remember what the film was but i have a feeling it was Fuji Superia x-tra 400

I opened in your DNG in Adobe Camera Raw and used the Curves in ACR to invert the image (drag BP up, drag WP down). Then I applied AUTO WB and adjusted the tone sliders and added some clarity and some NR.

When you apply the inverted Curve in ACR, the tone sliders are reversed in their roles - for example, the Shadows slider controls the highlights, etc.

Does this look more like what you are expecting?

kirk

EDIT: Another way to go about doing this is to invert with the curve, then use the WB tool to set the neutral - click on the film base (where it is originally orange, along the edge). This will neutralize the orange - carry on from there.

Yeah much more like it thanks got rid of the hue nicely! So it's more me needing to learn the post for film. Gonna try some b/w next. Any recommendations on what film to use? I think I have also been spoilt with low noise / grain, high ISO goodness. Film is so much different

kirkt wrote in post #18219700
I opened in your DNG in Adobe Camera Raw and used the Curves in ACR to invert the image (drag BP up, drag WP down). Then I applied AUTO WB and adjusted the tone sliders and added some clarity and some NR.

When you apply the inverted Curve in ACR, the tone sliders are reversed in their roles - for example, the Shadows slider controls the highlights, etc.

Does this look more like what you are expecting?

kirk

EDIT: Another way to go about doing this is to invert with the curve, then use the WB tool to set the neutral - click on the film base (where it is originally orange, along the edge). This will neutralize the orange - carry on from there.

Hosted photo: posted by kirkt in
./showthread.php?p=182​19700&i=i192104387
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

Hosted photo: posted by kirkt in
./showthread.php?p=182​19700&i=i115706253
forum: RAW, Post Processing & Printing

i made a similar conversion but did not use the white balance tool and rather than increasing contrast, i just cranked the clarity to about 90 i think. That also kept from having to mess around with the highlight and shadow recovery, or even exposure. I did go into the ACR color thingy, and crank the aquas to get the sky a little darker.

once in photoshop i used the shown curve which is a much more precise way to increase contrast in specific areas while keeping other areas where you want them.

the biggest image quality issue here is that you only capturing about 800 pixels per inch ... most film scanners are minimum 1200 and often 3000 or 4000 ppi. Kinda sucks that the image is such a small portion of the frame.

Thanks for the replies. So really for a 'better' image it would be worth investing in a film scanner?

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #18220093
Thanks for the replies. So really for a 'better' image it would be worth investing in a film scanner?

Get the post-processing figured out first. That is the most important step to success.

Then depending on how you feel and how many negs you have to do and whether or not you want to send them out, etc., you could consider a better scanner.

Some folks just shoot the neg with their DSLR or iPhone.

Archibald wrote in post #18219606
Over time the color dyes fade, and they do so at different rates. This changes the contrast of those dye layers, giving weird effects like magenta highlights and green shadows as in your example.

But it sounds as if this wa a recently shot roll, and the digitizing was done by the place that processed the film, in which case dye fade should not yet be an issue.
OP, can you provide confirmation if this was recently shot+processed, or old shot processed many years ago?