DNG conversion looks bad compared to TIFF conversion

Troubleshooting and Bugs
1

So my scanner is a Plustek 8200i SE and I use SilverFast 9 to scan.

When I scan as a 48 Bit HDR RAW DNG and convert it using NLP, it looks washed out, flat and just not that good. If I scan as a “48 → 24 Bit” TIFF (gamma 2.20) and convert it, it looks a lot better, more saturation, more contrast and it just looks a lot more like the Frontier SP500 scan from the lab.

I did make sure the Negative Lab v2.3 profile got applied to the DNG file (so no file conversion was needed). I did took a white balance sample from the film border for the DNG file.

Here’s the converted DNG file:

![DNG|690x464](upload://lfAxR7yZo2JLdfZhNiOwoLfBAFy.jpeg)

Here’s the converted TIFF file:

![TIFF|690x462](upload://jzMaIShfWQMLFnu9SfQEmYs4P9Q.jpeg)

Here’s the Frontier SP500 lab scan:

![LAB|690x464](upload://7oA7ajUBbkw9vSD5wKzlVFxly7a.jpeg)

The only noticeable difference between the lab scan and the tiff conversion is white balance and clarity. But the DNG converted file looks completely different compared to the lab scan.

Or is the only difference between the DNG and TIFF file the amount of saturation (TIFF conversion has a lot more saturation)?

2

Hi,

I’m not sure why, but it looks like your images did not come through. You can try to edit your post, or post the images in a comment below. Or you can send image samples to me at nate@natephotographic.com. It’s always helpful in this case to also have the original negatives (both the RAW DNG negative and the TIFF negative) so I can try the conversions myself.

There is a lot of lattitude with editing film, so it is possible that we might just need to find a better starting point for the RAW DNG conversion. Or it could be that something else has gone wrong.

-Nate

3

Hi Nate, I’ll send you an email with all the information and the files since that will be easier for me.

4

Hello @Mr_BananaPants,
I have noticed that my plustek 8200i scans are less saturated than my DSLR scans. In general, I need to punch saturation in LR post scan. Not sure if this is your issue or not, but just FYI.

I am scanning as 48 BIT RAW DNG

5

Hey @Mr_BananaPants Were you able to find a solution to this, or does the TIFF conversion definitely work better than DNG? Could you re-upload the images you describe in the initial post, so I can check your results? I have a Plustek 8200i and would like to improve my process.

6

Hi @morning, in the end, I just ended up scanning everything at 48 Bit HDR RAW DNG. I’m at the point now where my scans look great after doing some small adjustments after the conversion.