The Scanning Project-3: Editing: Color Slides

While you might think the first thing to do is run out and buy a good scanner (I’ll go over different types of scanners and their benefits in a future posting) the most time-consuming and crucial part of the process is figuring out what you want to scan.

There's no question that some types of slide film hold their color and density better than others. This scanned Kodachrome, shot in 1992, still retains all the tone and color from the day it was processed. Photo copyright George Schaub

 The benefit of starting with past work is that you have had time to “digest” whether that work still holds meaning for you. This helps in the editing process as hopefully you have become more discerning in terms of image quality as well as considerations of what image content stands the test of time. In some cases, for those who shot film way back, the physical condition of certain types of film will play a big role in this process.

As to what images to choose that is a very personal matter and I will not make any suggestions here. All I can say is that if you have dupes or similars of a particular shot do take some time to pick the best of the lot. This might seem like it goes without saying, but editing means making choices, and getting involved with scanning means that you will be making decisions about picking the best of perhaps four or five shots of a particular scene. Just plant your flag and go for it!

Color Slides

The first step is to think about, and choose, slides that will yield good scans. As you work you will learn what might work, what will require extra effort to get right, and what slides are just not going to turn out right. You can fight city hall to an extent, thanks to software, but there are simply some slides that will not work out. You can try a few poor quality slides to see how far you can take them, especially if they are of precious moments or memories, but don’t expect much from them except having a record and a snapshot of them in their current condition.

Here's a scanned Ektachrome exposed and processed in 1994. The original was color rich and had textural whites, even in the bright clouds in the sky. While there is certainly some diminution of the color, the biggest problem, and that which will dash any hopes of getting a good print from the full frame, is the loss of density in the brighter areas of the clouds. Note the burnout of the cloud edge above the beer mug. This cannot be properly burned in and although very experienced software users might be able to get some texture back, overall it might just not be worth the time required to get it right. Photo copyright George Schaub

Of course, one option is to crop out the offending area. That's what I did here, but by doing so I got pretty much right to the edge of acceptable sharpness, and would opt to make this a considerably smaller print than I might otherwise like. I also cloned some of the blue into the upper right edge to get rid of some burned out sky. Knowing what you can and cannot accomplish and making edits accordingly will save you time and perhaps wasted efforts later.

One of the worst kept secrets in photography is the poor keeping qualities of certain types of slide film. A good read is Henry Wilhelm’s “The Permanence and Care of Color Photographs” (http://www.wilhelm-research.com) in which he rightfully chastises certain manufacturers for the poor keeping qualities of products that promised to be “the memory keepers.”

Even with optimal storage conditions, many types of transparency film will, by their very nature, begin to deteriorate way before one would anticipate, or hope. If you have not looked at your old slides of a certain breed for many years you might be shocked at what you discover—color shifts (mainly towards magenta), surface deterioration and density loss (blacks becoming mottled, whites and highlights blanking out). This is nothing new. Commercial photographers found this out many years ago when trying to salvage their E-3 processed Ektachromes.

Luckily, some of this loss can be ameliorated by software, but when highlights are gone in positive film there’s no bringing them back. In my experience this is a common occurrence with most slide films of a certain vintage, although Kodachromes, due to their unique construction and processing, do best in this regard. Other Kodak produced films turned out to be real dogs, including higher speed Ektachromes and especially older Ektachromes, even those with E-6 processing. Labels like Anscochrome and Agfachrome can be abysmal in their keeping qualities.

Here's an Agfachrome exposed and processed in 1990. The shift to magenta is apparent, and there has been considerable density loss. In most instances, scanning and trying to get something decent out of such slides might be a waste of time, although I certainly do not discourage your trying: that's how you'll learn about what should be edited in and out of your scan collection. Copyright George Schaub

One option of course is converting to black and white, which in one step removes the curse of the color shift and allows you more control over density and tonality. This is a good strategy for precious photos of family and friends.

 The proper storage for older film materials is not in the realm of this discussion, and again Wilhelm is a prime source on this matter, but common sense methods include storage in low humidity and low heat conditions, using so-called archival storage materials, and limiting exposure to light. (One interesting sidebar is that while Kodachromes generally stood the test of time much better than other materials, if you regularly projected Kodachromes you have substantially cut down on their life expectancy. That’s why slide trays of experienced presenters contained not original Kodachromes but dupes.)

Note the retained textural whites in the flag bunting in this scanned Kodachrome from 1984. Slides like this are easy to scan and yield excellent prints. When you edit, batch images with these characteristics for a productive and rewarding scanning session. Start with these so you can get some positive reinforcement about what scanning can do. Likewise, batch the problem slides and those with similar flaws together so you can develop a workflow plan that will aid in their recovery.

Photo copyright George Schaub

In any case, one of the first considerations of editing might be to choose and salvage as best you can those slides that are starting to go over the edge. They will be apparent to you as you edit your materials. Keep in mind that some may be irredeemable, but if the image is important to you, such as childhood photos of your now grown children, also keep in mind that you can always ignore the color shifts by converting the image to black and white or even rescue some of the “natural” color via processing. As to density loss (highlights gone blank) there’s nothing much you can do about that, although judicious cropping and some software work can help salvage something from your most precious shots.

Finally, batch your edits by film type as best you can, as you may be working with film “profiles” with certain types of scanner software as a way to get a ballpark read on the proper values for each type of material. This is especially true when scanning Kodachromes versus other types of slide films. In general, Kodachromes are usually “warmer” than other types, and their color layers are quite distinct in character. This segregation by type might be difficult if you have generic (non-brand labeled) mounts, but do the best you can.

Next posting: Editing, Black and White

Fujifilm X-T10 Technical Review

 The X-T10 is Fujifilm's newest X-series camera. The camera has an APS-C sensor made by Fujifilm (X-Trans CMOS II) and offers an image resolution of 16MP.

The X-T10 is less expensive and in some aspects a more “basic” version of the top of the line X-T1. The body is a little smaller and lighter than the X-T1, but it retains the “retro” look characterized by the clearly defined edges and the “prism bulge” on the top. The camera uses an electronic viewfinder system with a small LCD. This electronic viewfinder offers 2.36 million dots and shows a really brilliant and crisp image, but isn't as large as the X-T1 version with the same resolution: the X-T1 offers a 0.77x factor for the field of view yet the X-T10 viewfinder offers a 0.62x scaling factor. Nevertheless, working with the X-T10 viewfinder is very comfortable, with an overlay electronic leveling system and focus peaking, which aids manual focusing.

The camera has a lot of function elements and setup dials to get direct access to shutter speed, aperture size, EV compensation and more controls. Shutter speed can be controlled by a large dial on the top of the camera. It offers standard EV steps like 1/250, 1/500 and 1/1000 second. Intermediate shutter speed settings can be reached by pressing the setup dial on the back.

Using the “Q” button on the back starts a quick menu on the screen which allows for setup of the most important settings like image size, file format and more. Using the lens ring to change aperture size is as comfortable and intuitive as working with an analog SLR system. The lens ring of the Fujifilm X-T10 can be used for additional parameters as well.

The camera offers many individual settings and customer defined functions. The photographer can change the direction of the focus dial on the lens system, for example, because focusing of the lens is based on a servo system which allows the user to reverse direction for getting from “near” to “infinity setting. There are many other settings that can be defined by the user, so beginners may be a bit confused, although experienced photographers will enjoy the flexibility.

The camera doesn't offer an internal stabilization system and depends on optical stabilization in the lenses. Fujifilm offers some lenses with these systems, but many wide-angle lenses and lenses like the 56mm and the 60mm macro lack a stabilization system. Working with third party lenses that are mounted by an adapter system means that no image stabilization is available.

Comments on Image Quality

Color: The Fujifilm X-T10 showed a good performance in our color test. The colors in standard mode are highly saturated (117.5 percent). Some nuances are highly overdrawn like darker blue nuances and darker green tones, while red nuances and especially skin tones are shown with a more natural saturation. The automatic white balance system caused a shift of gray tones into the green and yellow area. This is noticeable in our test box shot (gray background) and our portrait shot (nearly white background).

Sharpness: Anti-noise filtering generates a smoothing effect on fine details. The X-T10 compensates this effect by additional sharpness filtering. This is noticeable in the hair of our model in the portrait shot. The high-resolution test result of 3124 of 3264 lines per picture height is accompanied by some overshot effects and “clipping” warnings in our ImaTest software. Due to this effect, hard contrast lines in the image may show a double contour line.

Noise: The Fujifilm X-T10 keeps luminance noise on a very low level. The y-factor stays far below 1.0 percent; even at ISO 6400 mode it is only 0.61 percent. The camera achieves this effect by  increasing anti-noise filtering. This filter system keeps colors noise on a low level, too. Color noise artifacts (smoothed by filtering) are only noticeable in images taken with ISO 3200 and ISO 6400, but are really inconspicuous.

The dynamic range results are a little disappointing for a Fujifilm camera with X-Trans CMOS sensor. The X-T10 achieved a maximum of only 10.3 f-stops.

Comments on Video Functions and Quality

The Fujifilm X-T10 records Full HD videos with 1920 x 1080 pixels and with high frame rates up to 60 frames per second (PAL mode: 50 frames per second). These high frames rates allow the user to take shots of fast moving objects (sports videos) that will retain a smooth look.

In addition, the Fujifilm X-T10 offers standard frame rates with 25 and 30 frames per second and is also able to record videos sequences in “cinema” mode with 24 frames per second. All videos are saved as QuickTime MOV files and use H.264 video compression.

The camera allows the user to make manual exposure settings when recording videos. The video recording button on the top is very small and located directly in front of the EV compensation dial. This location makes it a little difficult to activate video recording without camera shake, so the first frames may be a little blurred. The camera also allows for use of an external microphone for better sound recording. An interface for an earphone/headset is missing.

The video quality of the Fujifilm X-T10 can't be compared with its results in photo mode. The resolution chart was reproduced with only 448 of 1080 lines per picture height, which is a very poor result. However the video sequences still have a lot of aliasing and moiré problems. These results are caused by a very intense sharpness filtering that cause an unnatural or artificial video look. The camera uses very high data rate for its videos. The overall bit rate is nearly 37 Mbit/s and should allow for better results. The high data rate requires fast storage media. For video recording the photographer should use SDHC or SDXC cards.

The color reproduction in video mode is good. A lot of colors are highly saturated and the white balance system causes a little yellowish touch in neutral gray tones (just like in photo mode).

The camera showed higher luminance noise results in video mode than in photo mode. While the luminance noise factor is about 0.45 percent in images taken with ISO 200 in photo mode, setting the same ISO speed will cause a luminance noise factor of 0.98 percent in video mode. Dynamic range is nearly on the same level as in photo mode. The maximum dynamic range in videos was 10.3 f-stops.

Pro:

*compact system camera with high quality finish

*electronic viewfinder with very high resolution (2.36 million RGB dots), but not as large as the very big X-T1 viewfinder

*easy handling, a lot of filter effects including film simulation like “classic chrome”

*Wi-fi function

Con:

*swivel LCD not fully articulated. LCD an only be flipped up- and downwards

*due to the many functions settings the menu navigation may confuse or overwhelm beginners

*no internal image (sensor shift) stabilizer; stabilization depends on optical systems of the lenses

Test results and comments by Betternet, TIPA’s testing lab. I serve on the Technical Committee of TIPA and edited this test report for this posting. For more information on TIPA visit www.tipa.com.

The Scanning Project-2: Outline

2) An Outline

My approach to this project is not overly technical, yet some technical discussion is unavoidable. I have always regarded technical matters as more “benefits” than the technical “thing” onto itself; in a sense mine is a practical approach and in that way hopefully accessible and applicable to anyone who wants to take on a similar task.

This project is not aimed at archivists at large institutions who have access to very high end scanning systems, but is more suited to those with medium-size image collections who want to digitize their film work within a budget and with equipment that does not require an advanced degree to operate. It is also aimed at those who remain dedicated to film capture but want to output on inkjet printers or for web albums. The procedures discussed should also be useful for small museums, historical societies and collectors who have  negatives, prints and even glass plates and want to preserve and perhaps enhance those images. That’s why I will include a section on print and larger negative scanning procedures as well.

Scan from a 6x7 Fujichrome shot in 1996 made on a flatbed scanner. Dedicated medium format scanners can be quite expensive, and a good flatbed will deliver high-resolution scans from larger format film. Photo copyright George Schaub.

In addition, access to lab facilities that handle reproduction of film on prints is becoming increasingly difficult, and, when available, quite expensive. That’s why scanning, converting film materials to digital files, makes sense in terms of both “saving” those images as well as being able to do something with them, be it making prints or sharing on the web or even making photo books to pass on to future generations.

Project Outline

The project begins with a discussion on editing, and while, this is a personal affair, I will offer some guidelines on the process and encourage creating groupings that will help you focus on a particular body of work (and film type) which I found helped in not being overwhelmed by the task. I’ll also discuss what may make an image a “lost cause.”

I’ll then briefly cover the mechanics of a scanner, including certain criteria to use when obtaining the best scanner for your type and scope of work. There are various types of scanners available, and while budgets are one criteria (and again, this project is aimed at the enthusiast or at those individuals and institutions with “small” collections) using a poor or low-quality, limited option scanner is simply a waste of time.

I’ll then outline what you might call a “philosophy” of scanning, an approach that I find yields the best results, and then get into the main body of this project: scanner workflow. This includes step-by-step procedures for negatives, transparencies, and prints. I’ll explore matters such as calibration, resolution, profiling, dust removal, sharpening, contrast, color balance and more.

The only things I can talk about are my own experiences with scanning and what I have learned through that experience. Like me, you will find that a certain degree of trial and error is necessary, including modifying (or hopefully exceeding) your expectations and procedures, depending on the scanner and software you own and the shape your film and prints are in.

Scan from a 35mm black and white negative shot at the New Orleans World's Fair in 1984 made with a dedicated film scanner. Copyright George Schaub.

My hope is that this project will encourage you to respect your work by using scanned images to share and continue to manifest your vision for others to see. I feel it is important to preserve and enhance your images as well as those images made by those in the past.

One note: It is unfortunate that scanning older photographic material is necessary at all. But as we have learned, photographic materials are transient and subject to decay, be it density loss, color shifting or the deterioration of the image due to poor processing procedures. The paper base of prints, poor storage materials and the film emulsion itself can be at fault and cause not only the loss of image quality but of the very image itself. Scanning stops that progressive loss at the moment you perform the scan.

Next posting: The Edit

Panasonic G7 Technical Review

The body of the Panasonic G7 is based on the classic SLR system design. Clearly defined edges create a retro look that is a little different than the curved and smoothed body of its forerunner, the  Panasonic G6.

The camera was tested with the kit lens, the G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 II ASPH OIS. Combined with this lens, and even with larger lenses like the G VARIO 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. POWER O.I.S., the cameras is well balanced. A large grip on the right hand side offers slip-proof handling, while function elements and the two setup dials (one at the shutter release button, one at the backside of the top plate) are easily accessible.

The new G7 offers a high resolution EVF with 2.36 million RGB dots, which makes image control very comfortable. It offers all the electronic aids and utilities available with an electronic system like “focus magnifier” (including free choice of the magnified image area), “focus peaking” and more.

The Panasonic offers all standard exposure modes like P, S, A and M. Beside these standards it offers numerous (24) scene modes and additional image effects. The modes are chosen with the large mode dial on the right hand side at the top and is easily accessible, even when the photographer is composing images. The camera offers additional settings like a “panorama” mode and a special video mode that allows the user to make manual video settings.

A second dial on the left hand side of the camera's top plate offers modes like single and continuous shot modes and the self-timer function. A special setting is added to these shooting modes and marked by a small “4K” icon: in this mode the camera takes serial shots at 30 frames per second. These images are saved as an MP4 video file from which the best shot can be saved as a single JPEG file. The resolution of these images varies slightly but is basically 8MP. The actual resolution depends on the chosen aspect ratio; the Panasonic can record with an aspect ratio of 4:3, 3:2, 1:1 and 16:9 when recording in “4K Photo” mode.

Note: Basically, you can use all 4K video cameras for taking video sequences with up to 30 frames per second and using single frames of these videos as an 8MP still. However, the Panasonic G7 (and all other new Panasonic cameras, like the GX8 or the FZ300) offers a more convenient way to get these shots and allows for the use of photographic aspect ratios other than 16:9, which is used by all other cameras.

The “4K Photo” function offers different options as well. The camera is able to “pre-record” sequences in its image buffer consisting of the last second before pressing the shutter release button and the second after pressing it. Other “4K Photo” modes allow the user to record very long sequences, similar to recording video scenes.

The Panasonic G7 uses SD cards for storing image and video files. It worked well with all kinds of SD, SDHC and SDXC cards in our test. The card slot is located at the bottom of the camera (next to the tray for the battery), which can be a bit unhandy when trying to change the card while working on a tripod.

Comments on Image Quality

Color: The camera showed a tendency towards cooler colors with a very highly saturated reproduction of blue. The white balance system did a good job; only the brightest nuances of the gray pattern in our test chart showed a shift into the yellowish and green area. The reproduction of skin tones is good. The corresponding colors in the result chart showed only a minor shift. Characteristically for Panasonic cameras, the brighter skin tones showed a shift into the more magenta/pink area. This is also noticeable in our portrait test shot.

The overall color reproduction is very good. The camera offers a lot of additional color settings for changing the white balance characteristic or image parameters like saturation and contrast. This allows the user to change the magenta overlap into a more neutral or even warmer rendition, for example.

Sharpness: The camera achieved a very high resolution result by reproducing the ISO 12233 test chart with 3147 of 3348 lines per picture height. Nevertheless, the standard test box shot and the portrait shot have a slightly softer look than the images of most other (even Panasonic) cameras.

This is also a bit surprising because ImaTest showed a clipping warning for the images of the resolution chart. This is a result of a very intense sharpness filtering done by the “Venus Engine” processor and causes some exaggerated reproductions of hard contrast lines, like in the Siemens star of our test box image or line patterns in our ISO 12233 test chart. With more than 22 percent, the overshot effect is very high: most other cameras will create overshot effects of about 10 to 15 percent.

Noise: The Panasonic G7 showed very good results in our noise tests. The luminance noise level is a little higher than in images taken with full frame cameras, but nevertheless is on a low level. Color noise gets noticeable in images taken at ISO 1600, while images taken at ISO 200 to 800 have a very clean look. The color noise level is noticeable, but still acceptable in images taken at ISO 3200 and 6400. In images shot at ISO 12,800 the combination of color noise and anti noise filtering becomes visible and is annoying in images taken at ISO 25,600.

The camera showed a good performance in tests of its dynamic range. It achieved a maximum of 11.1 f-stops at ISO 200, although at higher ISO settings the dynamic range drops to 9-10 f-stops.

Video Format and Handling

The G7 offers numerous video modes and recording formats. It can use a standard AVCHD setting with Full HD recording of 1920 x 1080 pixels and high framing rates up to 50/60 full progressive frames per second. In this mode the highest data rate is 28 mbit/s, which is the maximum defined as AVCHD 2.0 standard.

The Panasonic also allows users to record in MP4 file format. In this mode it is able to record UHD movies (4K) with 3840 x 2160 pixels and 25/30 frames per second. In addition, it offers a “cinema” and Blu-ray compatible mode with 24 frames per second. In all of these MP4 modes it offers higher data rates up to 100 mbit/s. In addition, the camera can record 720p movies and videos with 640 x 480 pixels.

The camera uses a second shutter release button to start video recording, even when working in photo mode. But choosing the special video mode on the mode dial allows for the use of the standard shutter release button to start video recording as well as providing access to a lot more tasks and functions, including manual exposure modes for video recording. The camera can be used in P, S, A and M mode plus manual selection of ISO speed settings. In contrast to photo mode, the ISO speed settings are limited to a maximum of ISO 6400.

Using the electronic viewfinder helps with manual focusing in video mode; additional focusing modes and aids include “focus tracking” and “focus peaking” (colored and enhanced contrast lines which are in focus) plus a magnifier function.

The camera also offers manual sound control. “Level bars” are shown in the electronic viewfinder when working in video mode. To enhance sound quality, the camera offers a 3.5mm jack for an external microphone. A second jack for an earphone and for direct sound control is missing.

An integrated image stabilizer based on sensor shift technology is missing. But the camera can use the optical stabilizer systems of its G-lenses when recording video. This helps to create steady and smooth video shots.

Comments on Video Quality

The Panasonic showed a very good performance in our video tests. In Full HD mode it reproduced the ISO 12233 chart with 940 of 1080 lines per picture height. In 4K mode it showed up to 1525 of 2160 lines.

The color reproduction in video mode corresponds to color reproduction in photo mode. The white balance shows a shift of bright and white nuances into the yellow direction, while most other gray nuances will show a “neutral” behavior. Blue colors have high saturation, especially the clean cyan test pattern, which shows a big shift into the dark blue area resulting in a higher magenta rate.

Noise results are very good. The G7 shows only minor luminance noise effects in videos taken at ISO 200 to 800. At ISO 1600 and ISO 3200 we noticed some noise grain effects and at ISO 6400 very intense noise artifacts. We suggest that ISO 6400 should only be used when absolutely necessary. The dynamic range in video mode is good. The camera achieved a maximum of 11.2 f-stops, while dynamic range drops to 8-9 f-stops at higher ISO speed settings.

Pro

-very compact system camera

-good body design with numerous function buttons, plus more virtual function buttons on the touch screen

-innovative 4K photo modes combine 4K video function and continuous photo shooting with high burst rates

-very fast AF system

-WiFi system for remote control and transferring images to Smartphones and more

-swivel LCD offers comfortable image control

-high resolution EVF

Con

-missing NFC system (would have made WiFi function more convenient)

-MFT (Micro Four-Thirds) format means high lens crop factor of 1:2

Lab tests and comments by Betternet, edited by George Schaub, a member of TIPA’s Technical Committee. For more on TIPA visit www.tipa.com