Best way to scan film negatives with a digital camera & Negative Lab Pro
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ค. 2024
- The best way to digitize you film negatives with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera.
Using the Panasonic Lumix G9 and negative Lab pro software.
#film #LumixG9 #negativelabpro
Negative Lab Pro :
www.negativelabpro.com
Film Holders
120 : amzn.to/2IyZmag
35mm : shop.lomography.com/en/access...
3 way level : amzn.to/2IvPGNH
Kaiser Lightbox : amzn.to/2Y8Sh5M
How to Develop Black and White film in 3mins:
• Cinestill DF96 | Leica...
How to load film without a darkroom:
• Loading film without a...
Gear used to shoot video:
Panasonic S1
Panasonic GH5
Panasonic GH5S
Panasonic Leica 12mm F/1.4
Panasonic Leica 42.5mm F/1.2
Panasonic 24-105mm f/4
Audio recorded :
Panasonic GH5S
Panasonic DMW-XLR1
Sennheiser AVX wireless system
This setup works with any digital camera that has a micro lens, great for turning your negatives in to a digital format to use with software like Negative Lab.
Tested on Kodak Portra Tri-X T-max and JCH StreetPan film - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
![ช่วยพาฉันผ่านเวลา - วสันต์17 [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HFnntWoqc54/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing I learned many years ago if I wanted a quick and simple solution for exact leveling is to lower the tripod and let the front of the lens rest on the top of the panel. This allows the lens and the camera to level to the panel......tighten it down and raise the tripod back to the correct height.
That's very clever, Louis, because it is so simple, fast, effective, and it removes other factors from the setup. Normally, I would have to level both my camera _and_ the panel to unsure they are parallel to one another. With your method, I don't care about leveling them at all. As long as the front end of the lens is parallel to the panel, the camera's focusing pane (the sensor) is parallel to my film. Neither the camera nor the panel has to be level.
Very clever. Wish I thought of that earlier.
Thank you!
Louis Curtis , that’s how I was taught..
Brilliant solution, Louis. Funny how the most simple, direct remedy is usually the best, eh? Thanks for sharing!
It’s a good idea. I’d still check the level when I raised the tripod as the centrer column (or however the tripod rises) might introduce a light sway.
This suited perfectly for my needs. Thank you so much!
If you dont have a bubble level one easy way to level is to place a mirror on the surface. Then you just make sure your camera is pointing exactly in the center of the reflection of the lens. That actually works better than a bubble level because it takes into account if your surface itself isnt level.
Thanks Janne, will try that next time
sometimes youtube algorithm amazes me. I never though about doing that, but of course it works! Thanks, Darryl!
Thanks for watching Rodolfo :)
indeed. Recently I was thinking about getting some film from an old SLR I had as a kid developed. Now I can just do it myself.
@@Zammmeh Let me know how it goes if you use the same setup.
Thank you for putting up a video on youtube that actually teaches something instead of a generic review vide. Thumbs up to the skies.
Thanks for watching the feedback :)
Oh i just accidentally found a comment from you here ❤️
Putting a mirror on the light box and centring the image of the lens in the view finder is an alternative way to align the camera
Stephen Bingham May have to try that :)
Great tip! Not new, but I forgot that this is a good technique … :-)
That's genius
I use to do something similar to that when aligning my enlarger. I think I had to use two mirrors to align the enlarger.
the true lifeprotip is always in the comments
outstanding old school techniques with modern day twist
well done keep up the great work
Those images look incredible, amazed at how sharp they are with great color rendition.
When you use a 3 way level, make sure the floor/table is also level. Most forget to do that. Great vid! Thx!
Amazing! Didn't know that. But you made it see so easy. Thank you very much for sharing. This is the kind of content I always looking for on TH-cam. Thumbs up.
Thanks for the awesome feedback and watching the video
The moment that first negative was converted, man, honestly I was mind-blown. My mouth was just open the whole damn time hahaha. Thank you man.
Thanks Kharl
Finally a video that shows everything without a mobile phone, well done and thanks.!
5:15
1. Set a timer.
2. Then you have 2 seconds to lean on the table and wobble the whole thing like a maniac.
Good tutorial btw liked it very much :D
Estimado Darryl Carey: Quedé maravillado por su video. Mi padre fue un gran fotógrafo social. Hace diez años estuve buscando un buen Scanner para guardar los negativos en forma digital, pero era demasiado costoso. Su disertación, 10 años más tarde, agiliza mi búsqueda. Gracias infinitas. Un gran abrazo desde Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Completely understood everything in this tutorial watching it without sound.
Clearly explained. I would suggest that the copying be done in low ambient light to reduce the possibility of unwanted reflections etc.
I'd been looking at buying a negative scanner and stumbled upon your video. This is brilliant and the quality looks significantly higher than I'd get with a cheap flat bed like the Epson v600 I was looking at originally. Thank you !
johndangmusic Thanks for watching and please let me know how you go with trying this for yourself
Nice video. I will need to pick up those film holders. Curled and bowed film will be the death of me. A couple important things to mention though. The white balance needs to be set off a blank spot on the negative like the frame where there is no color information. This will rid the image of the film's color cast. I know you did this in the video but it wasn't explained and some people might not have seen it so I thought I would share. Also, maybe things have changed since I downloaded the software but cropping in on color images to just inside the frame renders a better color conversion. Including the frame can sometimes throw off the conversion and give you some funky color casts. This is also the case even with Silverfast software. B&W is not an issue though. Speaking of B&W, I don't usually even use Negative Lab Pro for it. I just flip the tone curve and slide the whites slider to taste. I find it's actually faster doing it that way. Just remember everything it inverted this way. To bring up the highlights, you need to lower the shadows
I was going to ask why you would need a plug in. I've never scanned film but sometimes I flip the tone curve on digital photos for abstract photos.
Would love to see a comparison between your scanner, a lab and this method. Along with your editing of each
As would I
Me too
The first thing I was waiting for ...
La première a chose que j'attendais...
jp willm
willms.yj.fr/willms/index.html
Yes, and please show the non and high res G9 Function.
I second that. Or sixth that.
Great video Darryl!!! A great way to put together the Analog and Digital technology!!!
Hi Darryl ! 👍
Yes, a new review about Negative Lab Pro would be welcome !
Your reviews (very well made!) are getting better and better !
Bravo !!! 👏👏👏
Thanks Phil :)
"I don't want to show you how I adjust photos, because it may not be what you're looking for" Bravo, thank you for keeping it technical.
thanks Adam :)
Yes, I would love to see you edit these negatives and slides in your next video
You got it!
Looks stunning!
Excellent, exactly what I was looking for, you saved me countless hours of research! Cheers for that!
OMG! the most impartant and new part of this video was the whitebalance for me 😅 Thanks a lot! 👌✨
Thanks for watching and good to know you like the video.
Interesting alternative. We ancients occasionally emerge from our darkroom dungeons and consider options like scanning. However, I would point out that many of us treasure classical photography because it offers an escape route from the 'net, and from computers generally. There are fewer and fewer hobbies in which this is possible.
Thank you for this I’ve wanted a Cistercian’s effective way of digitising a batch of old fa,ily negatives for a while without having to buy a v850 as I’d only ever use it for them and no more . Thank you very much indeed
I think that you have been an instrument to help me open my life back up thank you and I will be looking forward to all of your teaching
Its nice to know my video has helped, will try and get more videos out soon
Gracias !!!
Great video and conversions, Darryl! Thanks so much for sharing! Quick tip: make sure you disable your graphics processor in Lightroom (preferences > performance > uncheck "Use Graphics Processor). This will solve that little sync delay (where you see the preview of the image update, but the main window not update), and will likely speed up and fix other little issues in Lightroom. Cheers!
-Nate (maker of Negative Lab Pro)
Thanks Nate, will try that later
WOW!!! You saved some of my negatives and a huge time. Thank you so much.
So happy this video could help
THAT is pretty cool... especially doing negatives of really OLD pictures too!!!
First and foremost, this is a great informative video! Thanks for that! I just want to mention that there’s actually another quite simple way of inverting the negative images in Lightroom, or Photoshop - doesn’t really matter as long as the software has a built-in curves adjustment menu. When editing the image, you just have to turn the diagonal line of the curves menu upside-down (slide the black set point all the way up and the white set point all the way down). It’s as simple as that and doesn’t cost you anything.
Awesome info. I have boxes and boxes of negatives and photos that I need to start converting.
A) You're right
B) I've never seen editing software that HAD curves adjustment, but DIDN'T have an invert command
Wonderful!
Darryl, thanks to solve my many years of aquestion about how digitize my Neg.
Great to know my videos help, let me know what you think of the software after you have tested it :)
I've been using this this method for fifteen years , to digitise formats from 35mm to 5X4' !
Wow, exactly what I was seeking
Thank you so much. I will use your links to order this setup! Just what I needed to know.
Let me know how you get on with the setup :)
Darryl Carey Just placed my orders from your links.
@@T-Slider Awesome Joe, let me know how you go with the setup.
I have done something like this with my dads slide collection. Works out well.
exactly the information I was looking for, merci!
Truly excellent video!
Good video! I worked as a scanner operator on drumscanner from linotype and Crossfield in the 90th.
But I prefer this method nowadays. With modern cameras and top notch macro lens you get better results than drumscan negative. Drumscanner were optimised for slides but not negatives. I digitised 6x9 negatives on a reprostand and negativeholder from enlarger with a rent phaseone mf camera. Amazing results....
Thank you for that software link!
I used colour perfekt for converting. But it is a pain to use. This seems much better. Just doing invert in Photoshop is no good option. Images with flat gradation are the result. I will try this software . Thank you...
P.s. you should mask the light box outside the negative holder with black plastik Sheets to avoid flare...
Hi Georg, I think we only have 2 drumscanners left in NZ and costs way to much to get a negative scanned. I really like this system and yes black tape will help, will add that to the smaller lightbox i have ordered. Negative Lab Pro has a 14day free trial, which is nice as you can test the software before buying.
If love to know more about your experience using a PhaseOne for scanning - were you using a standard camera or one of their heritage 'scanners'?
@@MiaogisTeas it was an IQ3 on normal Camera with 120mm macro Schneider lens.
Heritage system did not exist at the time I did the job.
But I do not think that the heritage system is in rent available.
But I doubt, that the performance of heritage system is much better.
Results were really amazing.
Nowadays you could soon rent a GFX100 with the 120mm macro and a distance ring. I thing it will be a little bit cheaper...
But use mf only for mf film or for Largeformat. For 35mm a 50MP camera is more than sufficient.
@@SD_Alias The biggest benefit of having the iXG over the DF/XF solution is - especially with a motorized Cambo stand - is to be able to set the resolution / magnification of the captured are and letting the column and camera work together to figure out the subject distance and focus. Obviously the 120 Macro (especially the Blue Ring) is a nice solution for up to lifesize captures. Having the 72mm lens with both extension tubes will bring you larger than lifesize magnification with slightly better results than the XF + M mount extension rings + SK 120 lens. But it is minuscule difference compared to the improvement over a m43 camera standing on a tripod's center column and a ball head...
You don’t need a plug-in to reverse negatives in Lightroom, just invert the tone curve and do a white balance and it’s done. You can even save that as a preset and apply on import so the images are already inverted and when you first look at them. Of course this is all done nondestructively and any changes are easy to step back.
I think I should do a video on that method, as a few of my subscribers have told me about and will have a play around with this over the weekend.
I'd take a picture of a Colorchecker with each film stock and process that first and keep that as your basic import preset that gets the colors where they need to be and neutralizes the film base. Then it is comparatively easy to make preferred styles and save those additional presets, heck you could then sell those as a Lightroom Plugin preset film pack!
Hi! Nate Johnson here, maker of Negative Lab Pro. Just a few clarifications... Negative Lab Pro is also non-destructive... it's always working on the original RAW file using special RAW camera profiles made just for your camera (the default Lightroom profiles are made for positive digital files and wreak havoc on negative scans)... and the process of bringing out the natural colors of the negative is quite a bit more complex that just inverting the curve... you have to compensate for the non-linear effects of the orange mask, the gamma of printed paper, etc. Also, even on the same roll of film, the tonal area of the shot can be in a completely different area, which is why the idea of "presets" doesn't really work well for inverting negatives (although it can give you a quick sense of the shot). Negative Lab Pro is able to quickly analyze and correct each image individually, which leads to much better results. Hope that helps!
Of course doing that will result in all normal adjustments being round the "normal" way
In this way, the negative is brought positive! I have learned a lot from you. Thanks
My pleasure!
Thanks, great demo. This is a real help!
Very nice product and idea. Makes me wish I had some negs to “digitize”!
7:26 You just took this picture downstairs from my house.😂
I'm always in the area because of KGB burgers :) Awesome night market .
@@DarrylCarey This picture shall be mirrored according to the Chinese characters.
@@wangty2088 Was there only one? I knew I made a mistake when I uploaded the video.
@@DarrylCarey Yes, that's the only one.
@@wangty2088 Thanks
woah was not expecting this!
This is the amazing ecosystem of photograhy
I'm similar to you, the difference is: In order to prevent stray light, I use a black tube to connect the lens and film.
I would be curious to see a digitization with the Panasonic G9 high res mode compared to the normal mode. Showing some 100% crops to see if it's worth it.
Just ordered the Lomography 120 film holder. I didn't know about it until I saw your video. Thanks. :)
Awesome Jeremy, please let me know how you get on with the film holder.
Thank you for solving a very expensive problem in a much easier and more cost effective way than scanning! 🙏🏻
Thanks for watching
"Cost effective" if you already own a $1k+ digital camera AND macro lens..
Completely back-asswards if you don't, lol
@@michaelwoods9005 works with an iPhone too which I’ve used when I don’t need as high quality/Rez files. Scanners suck. :(
Great video. Just a thought : I sit the spirit level I have right on the LCD screen. I would make sure there is no discrepancy w/level when using it on the hot shoe.
Will have to try that next time
Great video, thanks. Could you possibly do a comparison video using different scanners and of course this technique? Hopefully showing close up results of focus and pixel quality? Thanks!!!
Waiting on a few products so I can do a video on different types of scanning.
Cool, thanks
Thanks so much for this demonstration, really helps out a lot! I will give it a try.
Wow, just learned something and how cool is the ability to do this. Thanks Daryl. 😎
Glad you liked it and thanks for watching
I would love to see how you edit the photographs in Lightroom.
I do something similar, but take 2 shots per negative (2 halves with a little bit of over scan). Photoshop joins them together again into a very large, very hidef image.
Thanks for the Video, I have been thinking of converting my 20 years old negatives, for the last 15 years but never got the time. Now it is will be so easy.
Please let me know how you get on when you try this.
The photos you took at my home town - Taiwan look so warm. Thanks for your video.
Taiwan is an amazing place and Taiwanese people are super friendly. I work in Taiwan 4-5 times a year. Which part of Taiwan are you from?
@@DarrylCarey I came from Hualien, but living in New Taipei city now.
1:30 *Digitize
Nice video
And all the dust, hairs and all i have now digital in HR ;)))
Great video and with a lot of answers!
Thanks for watching and glad it can help.
Great video! It was really nice to get to see some examples of how it turns out.
Thanks Johannes
Digitize : )
The term I am more familiar with is "digitize".
Wow nice one, i was looking for long time, Thanks Darryl!
Thanks Lone Ranger, I have a followup video coming soon with the same system vs Epson V800 scanner
Very cool method, thanks for sharing.
Just a couple of observations... Think you need to black mask around the neg carrier as the stray light from the light table / box will be illuminating the camera and causing reflections on the film surface which could be noticeable as darkened patches in the highlight areas of your processed images. Also, I used to use a mirror placed on the light table in order to ensure camera to table alignment. Put the mirror in place and adjust your camera such that the reflection of the centre of your lens falls exactly in the middle of your viewfinder. Walla.. your camera is now aligned to the table. It matters not whether the table is level to the planet as long as the camera and table are in sync. Makes it much easier. I note that you take your black point reading from the film base rather than the least dense part of the image. Obviously, if the neg is over exposed or shadows in the shot are subject to flare this might not be the most accurate method shown. Still can't get used to Monochrome images being referred to as Black and White.. as only Lithographic images are truly B&W. I don't use Lightroom so not really a full solution for me. Thanks for the video though.
Have you tried focus stacking? This should address any local buckling of the negative in the film holder.
@@RobertLeeAtYT Focus stacking is a hugely unnecessary faff if you simply correctly align the planes from the outset.
@@unleashthedragonwithin2057 It depends on how much you care about the resulting scan quality and how good your equipment is. Film is a lot more than whatever TikTok influencer hyped up 135 hotness. Equipment is a lot more than basically a digicam mated to a home built jig.
If you're wet mounting the 4x5 for a Flextight, sure no flatness or scanning plane orthogonality issues. You're also not watching these kind of post.
If you're serious film photographer but without the budget for tools, then using the equipment you do have access to better will provide noticeably better results than treating the process cavalierly.
@@RobertLeeAtYT Whilst I acknowledge the importance of 'caring', having run copious tests with a range of sensor sizes, HDR, focus stacking, optics, copying paraphernalia and setups, providing suitable technique is applied, focus stacking adds no discernible advantage.
Hi! Thanks for the video! Could you tell me what kind of attachments do you use for this setup of the tripod? Additionally, are they usable with all kind of tripods or not? Merci!
See if you can find a dedicated copy stand, the kind that used to be used for duplicating slides.
Gives you a lot more control, can be let set up, needs less space 👍
www.amazon.com.au/s?k=copy+stand&hvadid=71193447918417&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvqmt=p&tag=msnaupcstd-22&ref=pd_sl_57l53wn9b_p
Bloody brilliant, cheers !
amazing thank you, i have been experimenting with different ways of doing this as i wanted to be able to scan the sprockets too but encountered so many imperfections and problems with bodge DIY methods but this looks as legit as a man can get
Thanks Max
a great video with a great Idea ! I really thanks to TH-cam and persons like Darry...! Thanks Darry !
Thanks Faris :)
@@DarrylCarey You deserve the better thanks that I have paid... ! please carry on with your more innovations ... !
God Bless You !
@@Fariskhan1 Thanks Faris, that means a lot when I get good feedback from my subscribers.
wow never seen anything like this before thank you so much you have just saved my pretty old photos, only one question does this Plug-In only work with Lightroom or it can be used in Photoshop? Left a Massive like
Photoshop has a Invert colours setting built into the menu. You should try using it first 🙂
Thank you, very helpful.
Thank you for useful tips, I’ll definitely have to try digitalise my old positive and negative films
Let me know how you go when you get a chance to convert your negatives
Can the software be used to scan slides too? Am I right in assuming so? Is it a quicker process than doing the negatives?
Wouldn't you just edit slides straight out of the box? There's no need to convert them
I think its "digitize"
Thank you! That's my new favorite way to scan negatives. BTW, the word you're looking for is Digitize. :D Keep up the good work.
Very nice!! I machined an instrument for the front of my D810 with a 60marco to do that same! The 3x3x6 inch instrument has full spectrum diffused LEDs in it, keeps the camera a perfect distance from that negative so the full frame is filled up, and holds the negative flat.
The word you're looking for is digitize. The al not needed, ie digitalize.
Just wandering ...what this software does that a simple “invert” command won’t do?
Quite a lot of things, actually. If you've thrown negative film into Photoshop and just inverted the image, you'll notice how far you actually are from the final result. www.negativelabpro.com/guide/ Try it out (for free), and compare.
@@azaeldrm All you need to do in photoshop, is define the blackpoint.. just click on the edge of the film to get the base color, its simple. People waste time on these fancy softwares trying to automate something they could learn to do in few minutes.
@@Nobody-Nowhere My point is that the software not only looks at simply inverting the curve and defining a blackpoint, it does more intrinsic histogram analysis and uses neural networks to determine other aspects. I am not arguing that one cannot do this on its own, but the software itself provides consistent results, and cuts a lot of the trying to nail down the colors, which on aggregate cuts a lot of time and manual tinkering. For 100 bucks, the amount of time saved over a year pays itself off. People don't "waste time", they save quite a lot of it in fact. But to each their own.
WOW 😮 This was awesome. Thank you for this 👍🏻
Thanks Beverley
Thanks for your good information and explanation 🙏
Hi what is the price of negative lab pro you did not say ?
A friendly pointer, your video is visually technically excellent (as you
are a photographer I would expect no less) but listening on headphones
highlights your in a big, big, empty room - the echo/reverb is really off putting.
Maybe consider sound aswell when shooting to polish a complete package .
Hi Dotado, thanks for the feedback and yes sadly I shoot most of the videos in my gallery which is a huge box! If you was to hear the audio without the special echo removing software you would be shocked how bad it it. Things are changing soon and the echo will be gone :) Apart from the audio, its good to know you enjoyed the video.
Thanks for the very informative video. I'd been sitting on the fence for some time now over the best method to home scan my negs, now that I'm also processing film at home. Your straight forward approach is greatly appreciated. I'll spend the money I was saving for a V800 scanner on a DSLR/macro lens combination, light box & negative holder instead. Thanks again!!
If you must or need to shoot with film or have old negatives you want to digitize this is a great idea.
I own a medium format digital camera now so I no longer need to go through this labour intensive method
Wouldn't hurt to mask off the unused area of the light table.
so true, contrast can go very south.
Seems effective, only if your lab knows how exactly to cut your negatives. Well, you can cut the roll, if they return it that way to you, but what if they decide to cut at their own customized length that doesn't match the holder.
But then and more importantly, what I don't Understand: If you go old fashion for enjoyment or nostalgic aspect ( That I fully understand) why should you go digital at the end? Why not all chemical and old fashioned paper result? Or is there any advantage of shooting on expensive cumbersome film, then go scan and digitalization, that I don't get? Please enlighten me as this is not a troll and I just wanna learn. Thanks in anticipation.
Hey Sam, thanks for your comment. I make a digital copy of my negatives so I share them in my TH-cam videos, make a digital back and check the negatives to see if I want to get them printed.
labs have a standard size the negatives are cut at which corresponds to the clear archival holders you see in the beginning of the video
I happen to come across your video, very well done. I shoot 6x7 and have a huge box of negs that I dread scanning. I appreciate you showing an alternative to long hours of scanning.
Thanks for watching and the feedback 😀
I have been using my digital camera to convert pictures and negatives for the past 12 years. Ok I don't have a fancy stand but it works out fine. Oddly enough the light box came from my shop where we had a photographic department with a negative viewer. But thanks for the info on how to do it properly.
You want "digitize".
For 135 film, how many Mega-pixel of camera that can maximum magnify.
and what about 6x4.5 medium format.
(my experience for scan in Lab via scanner not camera, the Lab scan my 135 film got size 50mp/pic but zoom to 100% it blur)
Hi Gee,
I can get up to 189mp Raw file from my S1R on a 35mm slide, but thats crazy big. It depends on the sensor in your camera. I scan all my 6x45 negatives this way and its much sharper and more detail than my V800.
@@DarrylCarey Thank you.
i sent film to develop and scan in the Lab. and got file per pic. around 50mp (slide 135) but when zoom 100% it not sharp. (blur like zoom over 100%)
Zoom 80-90% (estimate) it's maximum for sharpness for my case maybe cause from scanner.
(limit of 135 film if use Pro-grade macro-lens and Pro-high resolution camera should be ??? mp)
Thank you Sir. This is helping me alot. By practicing this way, it is like 10 times easier to print the negative film.
Hi Eko, great to know this video is still helping people.
Thank you so much! I JUST bought a TLR and was concerned about getting into excess fees with film, this is just what I needed!
Let me know how you get on with convert your negatives this way.
@@DarrylCarey Just took my first two pictures ;)
I lived in Taiwan for 7 years; I usually just add $3 and have them give me all the photos on CD...
They offered me the same service, none of my computers have CD drives, I like to scan my own negatives. Where did you live in Taiwan?
@@DarrylCarey $18 gets u a new external CD drive you can use anywhere
@@DarrylCarey welcome to Taiwan~ You can ask them email to you instead give u a CD, and usually is free.
Even for medium format film?
Digitize
This is great. Thanks for doing it.
Thank you very much, YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!
Thanks Pyotr