Opinion On Some Scans?

Tim Parker · Jun 4, 2020

Hi! I have just recently gotten back into photography and decided I would start shooting some film. I shot film back in college and loved it and was looking for a new hobby in these odd times, but at this point I’m basically a newby. I plan on going to a dark room once it opens back up but for now I am getting my film developed at the only place in town that does it. I am curious about everyone’s opinion on the quality of the scans, or maybe my shooting.

I’m using an Olympus OM-2n with Zuiko 50mm or 28mm (one of these shots was was with a Nikon FG-20). All pictures have been taken with Ilford HP5+. The scans I’m getting back IMO seem to be quite a bit blown/over developed. The whites seem very harsh and I’m loosing a lot of details in the lighter parts of the photos. I would think that maybe I’m just over exposing my film but all of the pictures (8 rolls so far) seem to have this problem. I also think there a a TON of grain on some of these, especially the skyline picture.

Based off of the few pictures I’ve attached, do you think I’m making a mistake while shooting, the processing/scanning is doing this, or am I crazy and all of these look fine? I’m not concerned about composition critique or anything, just curious about the quality of the development/scan/exposure.

Thanks!

Designer · Jun 4, 2020

They do look a bit over-exposed. Look at the house siding that is in the shade (last shot). It just looks better to me.

Are these scans of prints? If you haven't done so, order a set of prints done by a different vendor. You might see a difference based on different paper, etc.

Tim Parker · Jun 4, 2020

No they are scans of the negatives. Maybe I will get a few printed off and see what they look like scanned back in/on paper. I’ve heard some people don’t think B&W scan well from negatives in general, but I’ve definitely had better luck in the past.

cgw · Jun 4, 2020

Try another lab. Some of these could likely be saved in post. The still-free Nik plug-ins like Silver Efex Pro 2 can help tame the huge contrast range in some shots(e.g., the hot pooch against the OK exposure on the trees). Wondering if your camera's meter might be partially to blame? There's a limit to what old-school center-weighted metering can pull off.

Tim Parker · Jun 4, 2020

cgw said:
Try another lab. Some of these could likely be saved in post. The still-free Nik plug-ins like Silver Efex Pro 2 can help tame the huge contrast range in some shots(e.g., the hot pooch against the OK exposure on the trees). Wondering if your camera's meter might be partially to blame? There's a limit to what old-school center-weighted metering can pull off.

I may mail my next set off to get a comparison. I agree about the meter as well, but the other camera scans seem to have similar problems.

I have been able to make these look quite a bit better with some very fast editing in the mobile Lightroom app on the iPad.

Designer · Jun 4, 2020

Just my opinion, they seem to be lacking mid-range tones. This seems odd for B&W film. Could be the film, the processing, the lens, the scanning, or a combination of all. Try a few things; shoot another roll with a different lens. Shoot another roll of different film. Shoot another roll with the same setup, only send it to a different lab. Try a light yellow filter. Try some other filters.

dxqcanada · Jun 4, 2020

Take real good look at the negs ... you can tell just by examining the properties with a loupe.
Photomicrography - Black & White Film Processing Errors | Olympus Life Science

vintagesnaps · Jun 4, 2020

I wasn't thinking what Dennis was, but I did wonder how do the negatives look? Wondering if it could be at least partly the meter/exposure.

And I don't know where you took film to be developed/scanned; once the last camera store in my area closed up I started sending film out (the discount/drug stores in my area are the worst at processing film! always have been).

webestang64 · Jun 4, 2020

Looks to me they just scan the film on "Auto" and made no attempt to adjust individual frames. I bet the mid tones are there if scanned properly.

Tim Parker · Jun 5, 2020

Thanks for the responses! Quick update: I received some color film back from the same place today. I think the exposures/development look much better on these which makes me feel like it's not my camera. ALSO they messed up one of my rolls:

I have these marks on almost all of the pictures on one of my rolls. No expert but I'm pretty sure this is a mistake while developing the film. Not sure I'm going to go back to this place between the bad B&W scans and these marks on my negatives...

webestang64 · Jun 5, 2020

Those marks or "bands" look like they are from force advance or rewinding. I see these bands on film at work and it's not the process. During shooting did the film advancing or rewinding seem a bit hard to wind? If so those are tension bands from the film "stretching" as it's forced during rewind/advance. Or rewound the wrong way can do it as well.

The film will look similar to this .. (very extreme example)

Tim Parker · Jun 5, 2020

webestang64 said:
Those marks or "bands" look like they are from force advance or rewinding. I see these bands on film at work and it's not the process. During shooting did the film advancing or rewinding seem a bit hard to wind? If so those are tension bands from the film "stretching" as it's forced during rewind/advance. Or rewound the wrong way can do it as well.

The film will look similar to this ..

You’re right! This was my fault, I totally remember rewinding this the wrong way for a sec while I was talking to my wife. Didn’t realize it would make that big of an impact.

Welp, lesson learned - pay attention while rewinding!

I’m going to try and develop some B&W elsewhere to see if I get anything better but I did like the quality of the color film I got from this place so I’ll try that again.

Thanks for setting me straight!

Designer · Jun 5, 2020

Tim Parker said:
I’m going to try and develop some B&W elsewhere to see if I get anything better but I did like the quality of the color film I got from this place so I’ll try that again.

Remember that there can be substantial differences in the quality of film, both from the manufacturer and in shipping/storage before the consumer receives it.