A bad scan?! (photos included)

zedin · Nov 2, 2005

First if this isn't the right spot just move it.. Wasn't sure since I wasn't really getting advice on the pics just if the scan was bad.

Anyway.. I got some slides scanned at Costco but I noticed they seemed really.. noisy I guess. The black in pic 2 was really grainy (when it should be solid black) and the background in pic 1 was really pixelly (yes its supposed to be out of focus =p)
I was just wondering if other folks familiar with scanning know if this is a common problem or should I look somewhere else to scan my slides =p

(below is un-resized original part cropped to fit here)

Unimaxium · Nov 2, 2005

First lemme say these are really nice photos! As for the grain, I'd imagine that's just the natural grain of the film. For 35mm it doesn't really look that bad IMO. I'm not 100% sure, but that's my guess. What film did you use?

thebeginning · Nov 2, 2005

I'd agree. you tend to be able to see more details like that one a computer than you do in real life (at least for me).

David A · Nov 2, 2005

All I have to say is that #3 is completely ridiculous...very amazing capture. I think the scans are fine...I like the grainy feel that film gives...

zedin · Nov 2, 2005

Well this stuff was shot with provia 100 slide film so should't be grainy =p (at least not at this resolution I wouldn't think).

The whole pictures are scaled down ones just so you can see what part of the picture the cropped sections are from. The cropped images (2nd and 4th) are un-resized orginals (aka original scanned pixels) just cropped so you don't see a 5meg jpg.

(btw.. number 3 was in Sequoia when they had some fires going nearby.. I think the smoke almost looks better then fog)

Unimaxium · Nov 3, 2005

I'd have to say that looks like pretty normal grain for ISO 100 slide film. I went back and looked at some scans of Velvia 50 that I had done, and the grain looks about the same, if not even a little larger than your Provia shots. Here's an example of just a random shot I picked out:
The full image:

The 100% resolution crop:

As you can see, the grain is pretty similar to yours. Relatively speaking, for 35mm I think this is actually pretty good grain. You should be able to print pretty good sizes without the there being much of a problem. Sure, if you were to look close up at an 11x14 or larger printed from one of these slides you would probably be able to see some graininess, but from a reasonable distance the photo should look OK.

Ghoste · Nov 4, 2005

Ah man, don't use Costco, they suck lol. I would use Pro Photo or somethin' down in Santa Ana.. of course my work has a store down in Santa Ana that does it too, Main Photo.

zedin · Nov 4, 2005

Well prophoto is $5 a scan. You can get a low-res scan for the whole rool for $5 when you get the slides developed but its only big enough to print a 4x6. Not sure if you can get a higher rez scan done at development for only slightly more. Even if it is $10 for the roll in addition to processing thats still only around 20 rolls until I should have gotten a scanner =p

Haven't called main photo.. Guess I can see what your guys rates are.