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New medium format scanner

bjolester
Posted 12/01/2020 - 23:18 Link
I have been shooting medium format film on a Pentax 67ii since about 2012, and scanned the films on an Epson V750 flatbed scanner. The scans from the V750 have been okay, especially with negative film, but I have been struggling to get good results with slide film. The flatbed scanner is just not good enough to capture dark shadow detail in dense slide film, and the tonality from the scans are also somewhat lacking. By chance I was able to purchase an old Minolta Dimage Scan Multi Pro from a photographer here in Norway. The Multi Pro can compete with the Nikon Coolscan 8000/9000, and is great scanner, both in terms of resolution and tonality, but also in build quality. Unfortunately Minolta have no support for these old scanners, and there only a few places in Europe that claim to repair them, so my investment is a gamble. Hopefully the Multi Pro will serve me well for some years to come... Anyway, I am rescanning some of my medium format film endevours and enjoying the scans from the Minolta. Here are some of my recent rescans, a mixture of Fuji Provia 100F and Fuji Velvia 100.

Comments and critique are welcome!

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Ridges by bjolester, on Flickr

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Morning Mist by bjolester, on Flickr

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Autumn Lake by bjolester, on Flickr

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Autumn Colours by bjolester, on Flickr

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Church By The Sea by bjolester, on Flickr

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Rondane I by bjolester, on Flickr

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Rondane II by bjolester, on Flickr

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Moon and Light House by bjolester, on Flickr
Bjørn

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pschlute
Posted 13/01/2020 - 00:00 Link
Autumn Lake is beautiful.
LennyBloke
Posted 13/01/2020 - 07:47 Link
Lovely set of images - if I were to pick one then "Autumn Colours" would be the one
LennyBloke
RobL
Posted 13/01/2020 - 07:59 Link
They are beautiful, gorgeous colours. I have a pal in Oslo who uses film and a scanner, and a whole range of film cameras from tiny pocket cameras to a wooden plate camera. A bit far from Trondheim though!
bjolester
Posted 13/01/2020 - 22:54 Link
Thank you for commenting Peter, John and Rob!
Bjørn

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Sry
Posted 14/01/2020 - 19:55 Link
Lovely set, makes one want to be there.
HarisF1
Posted 14/01/2020 - 21:55 Link
I love the immersion I get from viewing these images, very well done.

If it's possible, would you be able to share a direct comparison between your old and new scanner? Thank you!
All the gear with no idea
bjolester
Posted 14/01/2020 - 22:12 Link
Sry wrote:
Lovely set, makes one want to be there.

Thank you!
Bjørn

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bjolester
Posted 14/01/2020 - 22:19 Link
HarisF1 wrote:
I love the immersion I get from viewing these images, very well done.

If it's possible, would you be able to share a direct comparison between your old and new scanner? Thank you!

Thank you for commenting!

Yes, it would be interesting to make a comparison between the Minolta dedicated film scanner vs the Epson V750 flatbed. When I find some spare time I will share a direct scanner comparison.
Bjørn

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danofmk
Posted 15/01/2020 - 10:24 Link
Autumn Colours for me - perfectly shows that little bit of magic that film can generate that digital can't quite copy.

Great work
bjolester
Posted 15/01/2020 - 11:28 Link
danofmk wrote:
Autumn Colours for me - perfectly shows that little bit of magic that film can generate that digital can't quite copy.

Great work

Thank you danofmk! I agree, there is some magic in analogue photography, making it relevant and unique even nowadays, in the digital age.
Bjørn

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alfpics
Posted 15/01/2020 - 11:36 Link
What a marvelous set of images! Autumn Lake, Autumn Colours, Church and Rondane 1 for me!
Out of interest, how much can you push processing from the scanned images - in terms of curves etc - before they 'break up'?
Andy
bjolester
Posted 15/01/2020 - 19:41 Link
Thank you Andy!

I purchased the Minolta Multi Pro only three weeks ago, so I am still learning how to use it for best results. With my Epson V750 I have to spend a lot of time with PP, white balance, saturation, contrast, and most importantly sharpening, to make the scans look okay.

The Minolta Multi Pro produces wonderful scans right out of the box. With Fuji Provia slide film I only need to balance the image with levels or curves, then apply some modest sharpening. "Autumn Lake" and "Autumn Colours" were shot with Fuji Velvia 100, and this is a difficult film to scan because it is so saturated. I had to spend some time balancing these two images.

Well, to your question about processing the scanned images. The files from the Minolta Multi Pro do seem to be less malleable than files from a Pentax K-5 DSLR for example. They tolerate some adjustments, but will "break up" if pushed too far. If one wants to scan a slide or negative with very dark shadows, it is best to use 8x or 16x multi sampling to try to dig into the shadows when scanning, rather than attempting to lighten the shadows in PP.

I will probably need to spend more time with the scanner before I can come with a more definitive analysis
Bjørn

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alfpics
Posted 15/01/2020 - 22:08 Link
Thanks for the info; I have a Minolta Scan Elite 5400 (35mm slides and negs only). Minolta's own software left lines in the scan when doing multi-sampling. Thankfully Hamrick's Vuescan works far better. I have noticed that it won't allow too much push processing though!
Andy
bjolester
Posted 15/01/2020 - 22:22 Link
alfpics wrote:
Thanks for the info; I have a Minolta Scan Elite 5400 (35mm slides and negs only). Minolta's own software left lines in the scan when doing multi-sampling. Thankfully Hamrick's Vuescan works far better. I have noticed that it won't allow too much push processing though!

The Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 is a great scanner, possibly the best 35mm scanner ever made. I hope you use it sometimes?!
Bjørn

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