question about image quality of film scan...


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erictan8888

Senior Member
Nov 9, 2004
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Singapore
hi,

i recently went to the motorshow and shot some photos with a film SLR....
then i sent the film for a scan and when i got back the cd, i viewed the photos and realised that there is a lot of noise.... reallly a lot of noise....

is this the normal output of a film scan? or is the noise due to my picture being poorly taken? the average file size was about 600kb with a 1840 by 1232 pixel....

what is the reason for the super high level of noise in the photos?

is it:

1. the nature of images is like that for a film scan
2. due to my taking of pictures got problem
3. the pixel size problem
4. the file size too small

dun know what's wrong???? dare not develop the photos... scared wait develop turn out also like that....
actually thought wanted to do a film scan so go home can edit before sending for printing....
 

a sample of one of the digital scan from the film scan

F1000008.JPG
 

hi, kinda new to flim coz i started out with digital... is this noise or grainy? i've seen iso 1600 & 3200 films. it's about the above pic? correct me if i'm wrong. :confused:
 

if i ask the shop to print this photo from the negatives, will it turn out to be as grainy or as noisy? wow lao.. now i got 36 pics all look like that.... dun know what to do.... hai....


dun know if it is the scan problem or the photo problem.....
 

what film did you use?
 

:cry: kodak 200 if i remember correctly..... hai.... :cry:
 

Film gives grains. Digital gives noise. They are mutually exclusive. Even when you scan from film it's still called grains.

I'd say it's due to the film. Kodak 200 is a little too slow for the kind of lighting conditions at the car show.
 

The lab will normally try their best to clean up the pictures for you while printing, so I suggest you pick a few that you like and head down to a professional lab. Inform them the negatives are super grainy and see how much they can help.
 

Shop scans are usual like that because they use too much sharpening... and probably only do 1 pass scanning. The actual pic wont have noise. You can run the pic through noise ninja first before putting it on the web to remove the noise.
 

so can i choose those i like and send it for printing and expect to see no noise?
hmm.... guess got to try lo....
 

This is normal. Film has grain. Can't expect film scans to be as clean as digital. It'll print fine, and by the time you resized it for web, they will be invisible. Don't be unduly worried.

Regards
CK
 

I got mine scanned. Kodak 200 also. Noisy also.
I'm now trying out a few noise removal programs, but the automatic settings tend to remove details...
 

Is there any particular labs that you guys frequented to scan your negatives into digital pics?

Perhaps can share here?
 

Basically, it's due to the scanning process. 1840x1232 at 600kb don't sound like a very good scan. If you have just ordered a scan at your average processing shop, you will most likely end up with a poor-quality single pass scan.

I believe you can get better results if you use a dedicated film scanner yourself like a Minolta Dimage Dualscan 3 or similar. For better definition and less grain, put it on multi-pass. You will see the difference in scan results.
 

Normal FDI lab will scan at abt 2MP only (you have to pay more to get it scan at 8MP)... forgot what's the dpi, think it's 300.

AGFA d.LAB2 scan at 6MP and 400dpi.

I got these negative scanned both at FDI and Agfa d.Lab2:

http://www.pbase.com/oeyvind/superia200
 

The Afga scan looks much cleaner. Or it is because it was scanned at hi-res?
May I know where you can get Afga scanning, and how much it costs?
 

Also may due to fact the you might have underexpose the picture. Film scan will have some film grain like look will look up close or zoom in.
 

hi,

actually i went ahead as you guys advised and luckily, the developed photos turned out to be very clean.... not as grainy as the one above....
i developed from the film....

so it seems that it is rather pointless to do a fillm scan.... since the scan is so poor, so cannot edit the image and send for digital print rite???

anyway, i took the photo and used my home scanner to do a simple scan... i think it is pretty obvious that the "grainy-ness" is gone liao....
here, can still see a bit of grain, i guess it is from my scanner....
but the actual photo looks as clean as razor....

here's the pic:

a.jpg
 

The FDI minilab uses the "grainy" 2MP scan to print all your 4Rs. This is what it does internally whenever you print from film.
 

Zerstorer said:
The FDI minilab uses the "grainy" 2MP scan to print all your 4Rs. This is what it does internally whenever you print from film.
Those scans are optimised for 4R printing, no point looking at them 100% on screen. Too many people are obsessed with viewing at 100%. It does not really proof anything.
 

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