Light cast coming in from one side

Hey there,

I just started using the dlsr scanning method and I basically love the results I am getting with NLP, but in almost every photo I have a light cast coming in and ruining the final result.

here are some examples:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=11u5g1XWJZ1CFSxXIlRynwzX-kFf8pzcR

I have taped my light table and I can’t figure what seems to be the problem?

I have also scanned these in the lab for comparison and there it looks totally fine, so it’s definitely not fom the negative.

Any help is highly appreciated.

thank you, max

Hi @Max! Glad to hear you are loving Negative Lab Pro :slight_smile:

Ok, let’s talk about the cast you are seeing.

It’s important to remember that when you see these brighter, orange areas after your conversion, it represents DARKER areas in your digitization of the negative.

So, what appears to be extra light coming into the corners here is actually less light in the corners during your digitization.

(btw, you can post images directly into the forum, like this)

This can be caused by a few thing:

  1. Lens flare from light reflecting off the light pad onto your lens (the fix for this is to mask out the areas of the light pad that are not directly illuminating the negative, but it sounds like you’ve done this already. Also, when this happens, you usually see a bright orange spot in the middle of the frame, not the corners).
  2. Vignetting from your digital camera lens (The vignette from your digital camera lens can cause the outer corners to appears brighter and more orange in the conversion. Always make sure your aperture is at f8.0 when digitizing. It also helps if there is a lens correction profile in Lightroom for your lens. In most cases, Negative Lab Pro tries to apply the lens correction profile for you automatically, but this may not work if Lightroom can’t detect your lens, or doesn’t have a profile for it. If Lightroom doesn’t have a lens profile for you, use the new “flat field correction” feature to build a correction for your lens and settings)
  3. Uneven light source (I see this commonly with DIY light pads people rig up, but if you’re using one of the recommend light pads for film digitization, you should be OK)

Just based on the photos you’ve posted, this looks like lens vignetting to me, so I would guess that #2 above will be the solution. Start by making sure you are at f8.0, and see if Lightroom is able to apply a lens correction profile to correct for the vignetting.

Cheers!
-Nate
Founder of Negative Lab Pro

1 Like

Hey Nate,

thanks so much for your quick reply and help, I will definitely try shooting with f8 and see if it gets better.

Weirdly I noticed when shooting 6x7 negatives it’s way worse the cast than with shooting 5x45 negatives…

thank you, best

max

Best regards,

M A X M A N A V I - H U B E R

filmmaker | photographer | art director

maxmanavihuber.com

+43 660 591 555 2