Scanning Question

Tiller

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Ok, so maybe I'm just having a bad week, but I can't figure out how to scan a roll of 120 film I got developed. I have no problem scanning 35mm, but no matter what I try, my 120 film always comes out looking like this:


img036 by tsmcdona, on Flickr

I'm using an Epson 4990 scanner. I've got the film in the film holder, and I'm scanning at 4800 dpi. I cannot for the life of me figure out what's wrong.

Any ideas?
 
It's like this for every roll? How many rolls of 120 have you done? All developed in the same place?

I looked at the larger version on Flickr and it almost seems like I can see backing paper markings on the film. What film do you use? Does it do this with color and b&w film?

I'm not familiar with the Epson scanner you're using so I don't know about what might be going on with that scanner, but I'm wondering if there's something going on with the developing.
 
I am just starting out on 120, so this was my first roll. It was processed by a local lab. I've never used them before, but they were the only ones who developed 120.

It's lomography film. Nothing fancy.
 
Lomography doesn't produce their own film, so that roll of 120 you shot started out its life as something else. I'm not sure what. I found this guide: Lomography Rebranded Film Guide ? Geek Josh but it doesn't list any of the color 120 emulsion.

I ask about the developing because earlier this year, I shot a roll of 120 b&w and got pictures with funky grain and patterns as well:

$Day 128 - Dam resized.jpg

I checked around at the time and asked on another forum and someone told me about a batch of Shanghai film that used crappy backing paper that imprinted on the film emulsion.

The grain and patterns in your shot look suspiciously like those Shanghai rolls. I don't think Shanghai makes color film, but according to this Flickr thread, the same factory makes "Lucky" brand 120 color film, and the Lomo stuff might be rebranded Lucky: https://www.flickr.com/groups/lomo/discuss/72157632450579836/

Do you have any more of the same film? Try shooting another roll, then a third roll of something of a known quantity.
 
Yes, I have another roll. Here's what the box looks like.

I hope it's not the developing because I have another five rolls of it that I don't want throw away :/
 

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I'm leaning towards that being the "feature" of the lomo film...

If it does the same thing with "regular" film, I'd say you have some kind of problem. But lomo is intentionally crappy film, so it's hard to tell if this is really a defect, or a "feature"...
 
Yes, I have another roll. Here's what the box looks like.

I hope it's not the developing because I have another five rolls of it that I don't want throw away :/

If it really is the backing paper, then it's the film itself and not the developing. I wouldn't count the rest of the rolls out just yet, either. That Shanghai film that I shot was rebranded as Arista, sold by Freestyle. Two rolls had the crappy backing paper and one didn't. It's kind of a crap shoot with the rebranded films.

Definitely shoot a few more rolls to be sure, and also shoot a roll that you know for sure is Kodak or Fuji as a control.

But lomo is intentionally crappy film, so it's hard to tell if this is really a defect, or a "feature"...

Yeah, some people like it when they get these defective rolls, but not all of their stuff is crap - just cheap or discontinued. Their 35mm color film started out as an older emulsion formula for Kodak Ultra Max 100. The color rendering was quite nice, but just a bit muted. It was nice enough but not sure if I like it enough to buy it again. It certainly was cheap, though, and I bought it to run some test runs through the Konstruktor.
 

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