Hi All,
I am scanning a 32 year old Kodak Gold 100 negative and have an old print corresponding to it that I scanned using Epson’s FastFoto. I scanned the film exposing 1 stop to the right. I noticed that the old print has way more details in the shadows as compared to the film. If I increase the exposure or shadows in NLP the negative scan gets bluer or remains dark (depending on WB). I understand that the film has probably deteriorated over time but just wanted to ask if there is something I am missing or can do to tackle this?
I would also really appreciate some general tips for scanning old film!
Negative scan:
1993 Print Scan:
Thank you in advance!
Jas
It would be easier to see what is possible…if we had an original copy your camera scan RAW file.
You could share the file as an attachment or by cloud services like e.g. wetransfer.com.
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How old is the film, how was stored over the years, what are you scanning it with (hardware and software) and what exposure settings did you use for that device? Remember when scanning negatives light comes out dark and dark comes out light, so if you expose too far to the right you could be clipping shadow detail (exposure too bright). Does your scanning set-up give you a histogram to be guided by? From what you show of your negative scan it looks to me that you can rescue both luminance and colour balance using NLP’s editing controls, and if those aren’t enough add more in Lightroom, remembering that most controls work obversely when dealing with converted negatives.
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Thank you Mark. The film was stored in standard lab sleeves and kept in a somewhat dry environment but I can tell the film has deteriorated from some coloration on the edges of the frames and the emulsion having slightly stuck to the sleeves. I was able to get some help from @Digitizer. You are correct, it helps being guided by the histogram even prior to using NLP’s controls. And thank you for the tip to set exposure to standard in order to preserve shadow details.
