[filmscanners] Scanning 8X10 negs

["Brad Davis" <DocBradd@mac.com>]

Hi, I have about 100 8X10 negatives (B&W) That I need to scan.  They are
from a time when I had the camera and a wet darkroom (and an 8X10 enlarger).

I have a flatbed scanner (Epson expression 800) and a Polaroid 35MM -4000
dpi scanner.  I don't see a good way to use the 35 MM scanner, although it
has occurred to me that I might photograph the negatives - perhaps on Ilford
XP2 and scan those negatives (done with a  proper copy rig).  The other
alternative I have considered is to obtain some POP paper (it is available)
and make contacts which I scan using the Epson. (a third possibility - using
a sony 707 -5 Mpixel, seems like it would lose too much quality).  I have
had good success with using the Epson to scan the few contact prints (on
regular silver chloride paper), that I still have.

Yet another possibility would be to buy another flatbed scanner just to get
something that would work with the the negatives directly, although I don't
know which one would be the most appropriate (if any).

Having read this, it appears that I am looking for guidance, rather than
determining the best quality empirically.  If anyone has any thoughts,
please let me know.  I love the quality in these negs and I would like to
maintain as much of it as possible.

Thoughts - XP2 has sufficient range and is soft enough (in terms of
contrast) to work with these negs, but it doesn't have the resolution that
some other films might have - but which, I could shoot on Tech Pan if it
still exists. That would match my Contax lenses, but the contrast would then
be a problem.  The Polaroid scanner will produce 12 bit pixel depth and I do
have Photoshop CS.

Perhaps there is a color film that would provide both the sharpness and long
scale that I want?!

Using POP, would the tone of the paper change appreciably from being scanned
(would the scanner light tend to fog the paper if it is not fixed). I can
learn that easily if I decid3e to go this way.

Would working with the negatives directly be appreciably better than from
contacts on POP.  That is, should I get a new flatbed, I find little use for
the one I have now.

How good would a copy (directly of the negative) using a 5 Mpixel camera be
(as compared with the other options).

HAH!! I am being lazy, I will do some empirical testing, but will post this
(since it is written). Perhaps I'll gain some insight.

Brad

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe by mail to listserver@halftone.co.uk, with 'unsubscribe 
filmscanners'
or 'unsubscribe filmscanners_digest' (as appropriate) in the message title or 
body