Camera Talk

Thanks! I've had a fair bit of experience at this point, scanning both these and my own. Probably could be improved, but I have a system now that works for me...

Robert

Wow! I'm always blown away by the image quality they managed way back when.

And yes, very nice scans!

Makes you wonder what developers were used for those old plates. I was looking up online and most were like a Dektol MQ type.

Yes, that's what I've heard as well. I started out with Dektol, as that is what Eastman House recommended. I went through quite a bit of it, then discovered that D76 1:1 works just fine -- and later heard from Nick Brandreth (of Eastman) that he is using D76 now as well. As it is my standard developer for film, I just stuck with it. A little less active, but the results are good.

Robert

Robert, I enjoyed looking at these scans. They remind me of the images published by the Shorpy site (here's an example similar to one of yours: http://www.shorpy.com/node/6479). I love the creamy coloration you've achieved. Do you mind sharing what color setting you use for that effect? For a similar effect in Elements, I use Enhance > Adjust Color > Adjust Hue/Saturation > Colorize: Hue 31, Saturation 9 (must be done on an RGB mode). Yours seems a touch more taupe/clay.

Thanks, Don. As it happens, I use no coloring at all; I scan in 16-bit Grayscale in Epson Scan on a V700. Once I apply curves, screen sharpening, and do whatever spotting I think is necessary, I convert from the default Epson "grayscale" color profile to SRGB, take it back to 8-bit mode, and then save a JPG for posting. This is all in Photoshop CS6; I have not succumbed to Adobe's rental scheme yet.

I have in the past scanned in color but got some odd casts, and have even done split toning of various kinds. Eventually I elected to keep it simple. I can always re-do a scan if I want to try something fancy.

As it happens, I'm working on a new batch of plates right now. An example:


FF-109, Happy families are all alike... by Robert Brazile, on Flickr

Robert

Looks like Brad Kezlowski's ancestors (NASCAR/Miller Lite Special #2/Penske Racing Team).

PF

Goodness, a quick image search shows what you're talking about...a bunch of Keselowski cousins maybe.

I wonder why the girl at the right side is not wearing dark/black cloth, anyone has a guess?