Comments on: Blurry http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2006/11/blurry/ Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:01:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Brian White http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2006/11/blurry/#comment-13481 Brian White Mon, 27 Nov 2006 18:30:32 +0000 http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/archives/2006/11/23/blurry/#comment-13481 I'm afraid you'll never get very good results scanning prints. They have a maximum resolution of about 300dpi (or 1200x1800 for a 4x6 standard print, about 2.2 megapixels). Their color rendition and contrast is also less than even an 8-bit digital image. To get quality from film, you need a negative scanner. I have a Nikon Coolscan IV that will do 2900dpi (or about 4500x3000) at 12 bits (see my <a href="http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/2006/11/my-two-bits/">RAW vs JPEG</a> article for why those bits are important). It's also RGB at every pixel where digital is only R, G, <i>or</i> B at every pixel. Good film still kicks digital for pure quality, though not so much as it once did. Oh, your dark corners... That's vignetting and it happens because the lens (especially a wide angle) gathers less light at the edge of it's image circle. The better the lens, the less this will happen. You get what you pay for. Zoom in a bit or get a DSLR with a big lens. Point & Shoot cameras are great for one thing though, and that is that you can <a href="http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/2006/11/the-constant-camera/">have a camera with you all the time</a>. Keep shooting! I’m afraid you’ll never get very good results scanning prints. They have a maximum resolution of about 300dpi (or 1200×1800 for a 4×6 standard print, about 2.2 megapixels). Their color rendition and contrast is also less than even an 8-bit digital image.

To get quality from film, you need a negative scanner. I have a Nikon Coolscan IV that will do 2900dpi (or about 4500×3000) at 12 bits (see my RAW vs JPEG article for why those bits are important). It’s also RGB at every pixel where digital is only R, G, or B at every pixel. Good film still kicks digital for pure quality, though not so much as it once did.

Oh, your dark corners… That’s vignetting and it happens because the lens (especially a wide angle) gathers less light at the edge of it’s image circle. The better the lens, the less this will happen. You get what you pay for. Zoom in a bit or get a DSLR with a big lens.

Point & Shoot cameras are great for one thing though, and that is that you can have a camera with you all the time.

Keep shooting!

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