As I look at pictures of camera-scanning setups, I can't help but have a persistent worry: what if all of these weights on long poles are just pendulums waiting for a bump to start swinging. Of course, the manufacturers claim that their stands are as steady as rock, as stable as an Egyptian pyramid, as solid as gold bullions. However, I am not fully convinced. If I were to tell you that a camera on such a stand moving just 1/10 the thickness of a human hair during exposure would result in a loss of half the resolution, would you be concerned? So, in this article, I'll present my arguments and show you how to check and possibly secure your own scanning setup against vibrations. Blurring the edges Certainly, let's start from the basics and define what is meant by "blur".  Blurring on a camera occurs as a result of movement of the camera, subject, or both. Motion blur specifically refers to the streaking or smearing seen in the image due to this movement [1].   On th...

  Vlads Test Target has addition to the family - “35 mm alignment strip” "35 mm alignment strip” is the high precision test target executed via high-fidelity laser printing on specialty Agfa-Gevaert photographic film. Because of how it's made, the image elements are geometrically perfect - lines are straight and parallel to each other, the fine raster is very uniform and is distortion-free.   IMG_20221225_153412141.jpg What does that bring to the field of camera scanning? The target geometrically resembles a 35 mm film strip (type 135). All markings on film are per the spec, including the 24x36 mm frame which corresponds to the typical film camera gate. While positioning the strip in a scanning film holder, user can observe exactly how the actual negative will fit in the film holder and any parts which might be exposed or obscured. IMG_20221225_154220492.jpg The target also contains marking 23x35 mm depicting how a typical mount would mask parts of the frame to remove the edge...

My article   Zen and the Art of Camera Scanning or The Brief History of Vlads Test Target  is now live on 35mmc.com

Here is more details on new Type 120 Positive Test Target PO69. This is exact reversal of the Negative Test Target NG69.   The note from Vlad:  The reasons why I started offering the Positive Test Targets are as follows. Everyone who used negative targets while viewing images in the digital camera have encountered the strong hallo around target's bars and stars. That's because camera sensor averages the brightness of the scene and sets certain exposure values. Given that most of the image is almost black (in case of negative) the camera brings brightness up until black areas look gray. That means that transparent areas with bars and numbers are getting overexposed (they basically end up being in Zone 0) . That forces operator to manually step down camera to avoid those overexposures .  Still the halos remain the issue and interfere with the focusing. With positive targets the i ssue will go away - the sensor reads mostly transparent areas, the averaging will lead to...

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 landsc...

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 r...

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...