Hi all. I’m using Panasonic S1r and valoi easy 120 as scanning setup. My camera has an option to make multiple shots and merging them which is called hi res. It produces 100mp files. Do you think it is better to scan using this option or just use 47mp files? Consider I have to crop a lot because I do scan 6x7 and 6x6 negatives
It uses pixel shift of course. I would certainly try it but you’ll need to make sure that you have a very, very solid setup as in order to succeed it is essentially moving the sensor by half the pixel pitch or multiples thereof. The pixel pitch of your camera is 4.3 µm, so just over 4/1000 of a millimetre. Still, it does the processing in camera which is good for the workflow but you will end up with very large files. If you find it works well maybe just save it for special images that you want to print large. You will need to be using a very good lens.
My setup is very solid because it lays down horizontally, not vertically. I tried it and noticed not so much of a difference. Also the file that comes out is huge and my MacBook Air M5 with 32gb ram needs to load for some second so I think I’ll stick with 47mp which is more than enough given I print A4 most of the time
Film does not have infinite resolution. Yes you will have a bigger file but you can’t get any more resolution than there was to begin with.
1 Like
Yes, but with Medium Format even a 45MP sensor is not getting everything from a sharp negative on fine grain film. For a single shot with the short side of the sensor (5584 px) across the 56mm width of the film that equates to around 2600 ppi, about the same as the tested resolution of a highish end Epson Flatbed in real terms. Quite possibly enough though. For 35mm copying that figure rises to around 5900 ppi, which is plenty.
What I’m curious to know more about: does the high res shot process produce a better scan for color film with more accurate color reproduction because of the sensor isn’t debayering?
High megapixel resolution is great and all, but having better colors in the scan is what clinches the deal for me.
Hopefully someone can weigh in on that because I really have no clue, just purely speculating here.
Incredibly difficult for anyone to prove or even demonstrate one way or the other. I think in this case the Panasonic S1R has only one pixel shift option which is 8-shot, so in theory does the ‘de-Bayering’ but also adds resolution. Some cameras allow you to just do the de-Bayering so any difference might be clearer. Might be better to create a separate post just on the the subject of pixel-shift ‘de-Bayering’ as a lot of manufacturers with In Body Image Stabilisation (IBIS) now offer it, possibly just because they can and they are encouraged to do so by their marketing department. It certainly can work for increasing the resolution though, but at the price of much larger files.