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March 28, 2011
I've been trying to scan some old medium format negatives today with the Epson V700 scanner as a trial run to scanning some of the recently developed 8x10 black and white negatives.
I've had several goes at scanning and I've got nowhere fast. The digital images have been a mess--covered with dust spots despite the care I took; the colours have been way out; the images have been reversed. I cannot correct the mistakes in Lightroom. Early this afternoon I was unable to get an image in Lightroom when I import the scanned negative into Lightroom.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, rocks, Victor Harbor, 2007
You name the problem I've struck it, so much so that I'd given up. I was just getting nowhere.
But I cannot afford to pay a pro-lab to scan the negatives anymore, and they cannot do anything bigger than 5x4. So that leaves me sitting on 5x7 and 8x10 negatives So I have to teach myself through trail and error.
Update
I finally managed to get a coloured image into Lightroom when I import the scanned negative into Lightroom, as you can from the above image.
I then spent all afternoon tying to scan an 8x10 b+ w negative then importing it into Lightroom. I can only get a negative image: ie., there is no conversion of negative to positive image, even if I scan it as b+ w negative or as a colour negative. Yet when I scan a proper colour negative I get a conversion of the colour negative into a positive image.
There must be something I am doing at the scanning end? Who knows. I have spent hours online reading the various guides and I can find nothing. Nor can I find anything in the Epson scanning set up.
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There is a massive learning curve with scanning negs. It's as complicated as any form of printing.
I'd advise to start with black and whites rather than leave them for later. It's colour reproduction that's the biggest hassle. Also, make sure you switch off any of the automatic dust removal stuff, as this can cause problems. Yes, spotting dust, is something you have to come to terms with no matter how careful you are with negs.
Don't give up, it's worth it.