Alpa Scans

After increasing dissatisfaction with commercial scans – even high resolution ones – I decided several weeks ago to configure my own film scanning process.  The dissatisfaction was based on two deficiencies of the scans I had been receiving – 1) dust on the negative which was transferred to the scanned image and 2) a certain “gritty” quality which was exacerbated at higher magnifications and with even modest sharpening.  In short, despite using very high quality medium format systems (Alpa 12 SWA, Hasselblad SWC/M, Rollieflex, etc.) and for an approximate cost of $4.00/image (film, processing, scanning, etc. for 6x8cm negatives) the results simply came up short.  In all fairness, I did have a number of images scanned using a Imacon scanner and while the quality was high so was the cost.

A year or so ago Jeff Hirsch of Foto Care had shown me a very nice configuration based upon the Fuji GFX 100s, a Novaflex bellows and reproduction lens and a wonderfully flexible and reliable film holder apparatus of his own design and manufacture.  As I already own the GFX 100s (the most significant cost item in the system) I decided several weeks ago to invest in this scanning system.  Using some of my own negatives, Foto Care’s Jon Slesinger showed me in detail how to configure the components (hardware and software) and implement an efficient scanning routine using tethered Live View in Capture One.  A central point of Jon’s review was the evaluation of all of the color channels in the histogram to obtain maximum dynamic range from my negatives (even B&W).  Jon covers this in a very nice video available on Foto Care’s site and YouTube:  https://www.fotocare.com/Articles.asp?ID=280  featuring photographer Mark Mann and some of his Leonard Nimoy portraits.

Over the course of four or five scanning sessions I have refined my workflow to the point where I am both reasonably efficient (about three minutes / image) and very, very happy with the results.  Included in this posting are a few images – all taken with the Alpa 12 SWA and 47mm Apo-Digitar – and processed using Capture One 23 and Silver Efex.

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