IF you are new to the camera scanning OR if you know a great deal about camera scanning and related technologies AND you are NOT allergic to the social media THEN I suggest you join these few private, highly technical Facebook groups: Digital Film Scan Tools @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/636106623818601 Digitizing film with a digital camera @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/287716734970881 VALOI Camera Scanning @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/209490534366479 pixl-latr - user group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/pixllatr Negative Lab Pro Users @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/negativelabpro Wiki Scan-o-Rama (work in progress) @ https://scanaway.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

Vlads Test Targets of all flavors are on sale now - see the drop-down above or shop at  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverKnits  .  Type 120 targets are now available as Negatives and Positives. The strip has 6x9 and 6x7 frames. (Images below are of the previous version 6x9 and 6x6, but other than that there are no differences.) Negative Type 120 Target Negative target in VALOI 360 holder Positive type 120 targets Positive target in VALOI 360 holder Sale may end as soon as my current inventory on hand is exhausted.

Vlads Test Targets of all flavors are on sale now - see drop-down above or shop at  https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverKnits . Sale may end as soon as my current inventory on hand is exhausted.

For those waiting for type 120 targets there is the good news: the wait is over. 6x6 (56x56 mm)and 6x9 (56x84mm) targets are placed on the same strip of film : basically that means that every format from 6x4.5 to 6x12 is covered. Shown with Valoi type 120 holder.   The sharpness and contrast are guaranteed to be uniform  from the corner to corner at the expense of resolution which is lower (around 17 lp/mm), but for roll film scanning this is not a meaningful factor after all.  Positive version is  also available, though folks previously expressed doubt if positive version is actually needed. Leave the comments below if you are interested.

This is how 35 mm transparencies were mounted 60 years ago. Actual vintage Leitz cover glass plates, Leitz special silver binding tape, Leitz BINDOMAT were used to make the video. The only exception, instead of Leitz slide masks, the Kodak masks were used. Note that the reason why all materials - binding tape and masks -were made highly reflective was to prevent heating of the film while in projector with the very powerful incandescent bulb. Anyone who ever made slides has horror story to tell how their best slides were ruined by projector because either slide was projected for too long or projector was missing IR cutoff filter.  Anyway, given very high quality of all the materials Vlads Test Targets in 2x2 transparency format (known as LB35) are actually made exactly as shown and shipped to the customers. So called butterfly mask with the cutouts helps the scanning camera observe the corners of the targets and facilitate the film holder alignment.  https://fb.watch/9obGG33e7X/

Vlads Test Targets are now available from these fine webstores in Europe. (I am not tax and custom's adviser so cannot tell you which store in which location to use. I only can say that I really want to stop shipping targets myself 😏 ). EU folks will want to buy from Finland-based VALOI Kamera Store . While there, save on the shipment and  pick up VALOI 360 Film holders suitable for both low to high through-output workflows and available in wide range of film formats.  Chaps in Great Britain would want to order from PIXL-LATR store   - again, buy pixl-latr film holder which is truly one size fits all and is very portable. 

 Pixl-latr holder owners will greatly benefit from having Vlads Test Target as test target really helps to align the holder and a camera. Note "focus peaking " turned on to give one's eyesight some break. 

Part 1. Using Vlads Test Targets to Fine-Tune Film Scanning Rig So you decided to scan your film yourself. These days this  is quite a common and wise decision. You either decided to convert the priceless shots in your film archive or you just started your journey as a film photographer and want to share your best (and worst :-) ) shots with friends and mentors. You have to convert your film shots into digital form and be able to share them with a  click. The task is not new and since at least 20 years ago was widely available everywhere - from chain pharmacies to professional photo labs.   The option to save money has always existed  - you would buy your own scanner and off would you go. Many folks went that route and got lost. The time it would take to scan a few frames or a roll of film was anywhere from 10 minutes to hours. Paying extra 7-10 bucks for scanning was no longer such a costly proposition.  Fast forward to present times.  The landscape has completely changed. Photo Labs

 New batch of targets has finally came into the being. Few improvements are worth noting - first one is the set of four Siemens stars to help with the focusing and the second new feature - "in-picture" resolution chart , so you may assess the film scanning resolution right away ( though I don't recommend to delve into resolution too much as there are many other factors which affect film scans quality). The chart below is now incorporated into the image so one can assess resolution without looking up for USAF 1951 numbers Here is the actual scan of a frame during the development. Valoi 135 holder, Schneider-Kreuznach  5.6/100 mm lens at F11, Canon EOS R.

I have a customer who is going to use @VladsTestTarget to calibrate the height of  Epson V850 flatbed scanner's film holders.  Hope that will be helpful to other folks too. Here is the question and below is my answer.   Q. "I am ordering this target to calibrate the height of my Epson V850 flatbed scanner film holders. Currently I am not satisfied with my film holder height adjustment attempts. I seems to unable to reach the peak of sharpness. My type 120 slides are all tack sharp on the light table with 6x loupe, but not so in the scanned output. Once I load test target in my scanner, I will evaluate a series of scans at different settings with my naked eye on my computer screen. One thing I am afraid of now is that I may not notice differences among 10~20(?) scans. I can narrow down the short list, but I am afraid I can hardly pinpoint which one or two scans are the absolute best in terms of sharpness. How can test targets help?" A.  Dear fellow digitizer! Please review

When scanning film with a digital camera there are only two absolute musts in regards of captured image: it  should be uniformly sharp and focused from the edge to the edge.  Those two qualities can only be achieved when:  the film holder is absolutely parallel to the camera's sensor plane (and keeps film absolutely flat) and you need a lens which is capable of faithfully reproducing your image at 1:1   scale ( or around that value depending on the camera sensor size and film format)    The first requirements can be achieved by carefully positioning and fine-tuning the camera so that when the image to be captured is in focus, it neatly fills the camera frame, and the center and all the corners are equally sharp. The "Vlads Test Target" (Google it!)   has been designed specifically to allow visual control and the best alignment detection. The Vlads Test Target film strips are so sharp that even the slightest loss of focus causes image edges in the digital camera to b

In this innovative offering, the ten USAF 1951 test patterns are strategically placed throughout the 24x36mm film frame - one in the center, and the others scattered across sides and corners. This unique arrangement facilitates a comprehensive evaluation of the sharpness and focus across an entire negative or transparency/slide in one shot.  P hotographers can now accurately evaluate the performance of their lenses and camera systems across the whole frame. This is particularly advantageous for detecting any discrepancies or weaknesses in image quality, which might typically go unnoticed with conventional  single-pattern USAF 1951 target needing to be moved in camera field of view. Clean, nice, sharp corners make or break the great scanned image    Welcome to www.film4ever.digital - the home of  USAF 1951 Resolution Chart on real 35 mm and 120 film aka Vlads Test Target ! New 35 mm targets with extra Siemens stars (2021) Read here how I myself  use my test targets for film camera scan