filmscanning

Reaching the Megapixel Limit (for 35mm Camera Scanning)

Since I first started camera scanning, I've always advocated using the highest resolution camera you can get ahold of. (My first camera scans were with the 1.3-megapixel Nikon E2n, so it's been a long road.) That advice is changing.

Film Scanning Shootout: Drum Scan vs Flatbed vs DSLR

Film photographer, educator and YouTuber Nick Carver doesn't shoot digital, but he does scan his film for printing. So he recently embarked on an experiment to figure out which scanning technique is best: drum scanning, fluid mount flatbed scanning, or scanning your film using a DSLR and macro lens.

The Nikon D850 Doubles as a 45.7MP Film Scanner

Nikon's new D850 is more than a fast and powerful full-frame DSLR -- it can double as a 45.7-megapixel film scanner as well. It's the first Nikon camera to feature a new built-in Negative Digitizing feature. To use it, you'll also need the new Nikon ES-2 Film Digitizing Adapter.

How I Built a Film-Digitizing Lightbox

Shooting film is fun and developing film is fun, but tediously scanning film is not fun... so I built myself a film-digitizing light box to be used with a flash and a 1:1 macro lens.

The 5 Best Film Scanners Under $200

Scanning film is probably the least attractive part of shooting film, but that doesn't mean you should neglect this stage. Nowadays, we all want to share our analog images online, and the only way to do that is by digitizing our negatives one way or another.

Wet Mount Scanning: How to Get the Highest Quality Film Scans at Home

Getting high quality film scans usually means taking your film to a local lab or sending it to a not-so-local one if there's not a lab nearby. But there is a way to get high-quality scans done in the comfort of your own home using a flat bed film scanner; it's called wet mount scanning.

DIY Film ‘Scanning’ with LEGO and an iPhone

Want to scan some film but don't have a scanner handy? You can actually do some high quality digitization using some LEGO blocks, a smartphone or tablet, and a camera with decent resolution. Filmmaker Zachary Antell uses a method using those components, and his results are pretty impressive.

High-Res DIY Film Scanner Made from a DSLR, Lumber and an Arduino

Consumer film scanners don't provide enough detail, and professional models require too much money and pampering. What's a dedicated film nerd to do? For Peter De Smidt, the answer was to build his own high-res scanner using the Nikon D600 and 50mm Micro lens he already had on hand, a bit of lumber and a lot of patience.

Build a Better Lightbox for Your DIY Film “Scanning” by Stacking Your Glass

More and more photographers are attempting to build their own DIY lightboxes these days as they look for ways to easily digitize their film at home using a digital camera. However, a common problem that plagues these lightboxes is vignetting -- lighting is uneven and shadows form gradients near the edges of the surface.

Photographer Rafał Nitychoruk of Gdynia, Poland tells us that he has solved the problem with his own custom lightbox. The trick? Make your lightbox short, and stack multiple layers of glass.

How to Avoid Ugly Newton Rings When Doing Nikon Glass Scanning

The Nikon Coolscan 9000ED scanner is an excellent scanner. The included holders are of a very good standard and many extremely useful and high quality optional holders are available. None of them, however, are cheap.

Digitizing Your Film Using Your DSLR

With the cost of my local neg scanner in London being £40/hour for a Hasselblad Flextight, I have been digitising using a DSLR for a quite a while. The results can be extremely good as long as a little time is put into the setup to begin with.

Lomography Brings 35mm Film Scanning to your Smartphone

Lomography (the movement) has been called many things, including "analog Instagram;" but regardless of how you feel about the movement or the company that bears its name, it seems that Lomography (the company) has been one of the driving forces keeping film photography alive and interesting for the masses.

The company's newest project, up for your pledging pleasure on Kickstarter, is the Smartphone Film Scanner. It's exactly what it sounds like: an attachment that allows you to photographically scan your 35mm film using your phone.

Why You Should Digitize Your Film Using a Camera Instead of a Scanner

If you shoot film and aren't much into chemicals (or don’t have a basement in which to keep a gigantic 5×7″ enlarger), you’ll soon find yourself needing a way to import those beautiful pictures you’ve taken onto your computer. What? Why didn’t I say, “you'll need a scanner”? After all, it’s not 1987 anymore -- scanners are as common as toaster ovens.