Posts

How good 35 mm test target actually is?

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 I have been passed the question from the customer called Mark who provided the following feedback:  The 35mm targets I bought are good value, but aren’t as sharp as I’d hoped for. They are only just good enough to show the limits of my 16MP MFT sensor with 45mm Leica lens, but wouldn’t be good enough to explore the limits of the best full frame cameras and lenses. I’d probably need to buy a chrome on glass target for that, but that would be much more expensive. --Mark  I am actually happy to jump in and argue that my targets are indeed can help folks with the scanning setups of  decent resolution. For starters, let's look how 42 MP  (7952x5304) Sony camera resolves the test target. Chart 1.  Click on the image to see full resolution image open in the new browser tab. Now, let's take a closer look at the small chart in the upper right quadrant of the frame. Chart 2.  Click on the image to see full resolution image open in the new browser tab. Before switching to full re

Urgent Message from Vlad

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Hello all, fellow digitizers! I am sorry if this message disturbs your otherwise perfect, worry-free state of mind. If this is the case I apologize and it will be perfectly fine if you scroll this post down.  Picture credit : Vladymyr Bysov    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10216683362795518&type=3 For those who agrees to read further,  I say - Ukraine needs help. It needs help right now as it is under attack which soon will be at the scale not seen since the World War II. My native city of Kharkiv - often referred to in the press as the second largest city in Ukraine - is under unprovoked, absolutely brutal attack. Above is the picture of my city taken at a better time by my good friend and outstanding photographer and researcher of Kharkiv history Vladymyr Bysov.  What I am asking everyone of you is to make a donation to the charity of your choosing or to Ukrainian Armed Forces. Whether your money will go toward humanitarian purposes helping displaced families, or  the

Short 55 seconds video of live-action

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See Vlads Test Target in action in this short video.  The video was taken from the back of Canon EOS R with a video camera.  The irony is that focus peaking does not work if an external monitor or a capture device is connected to the camera, so I had to resort to shooting the video the old way ;-). Click on picture above to play the video - will open in a new window. Sorry, if you allergic to Facebook, but for pure business reasons I host video off Facebook. And here is the link just in case:  Live-action video. Staring Vlads Test Target and Focus Peaking

New 4x5 Test Targets are available now!

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  New 4x5 targets have arrived!  This is how new 4x5 target fit Pixl-latr holder This is how new 4x5 target fit Pixl-latr holder Here is some features incorporated into the design per folks' suggestions. 1. The targets feature thin grid with grid lines distanced exactly at 10 mm throughout the image. That allows to track any distortions and make actual measurements on the film. 2. Grey border goes around the edge, this is thin raster which should help with analysis of uniformity of back light. Ideally you should be able to cut out piece of that band in PS and then move it around without observing any differences in raster features( dot size, distance, brightness between raster dots).  3. There are numbers supplied across the board to help with the assembling and stitching the image.  4. Siemens stars and USAF 1951 patterns are mostly supplied to help keep focus in check. The stars and patterns are very slightly misaligned - again to help with the stitching in post processin

Type 120 Availability and 4x5 teaser

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 New technology Universal Type 120 targets  are being restocked and temporarily (till approximately  Feb 16) are NOT available . Hope that new 4x5 targets will become available as well. 

New 4x5 Targets are being considered

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I am contemplating making 4x5 test targets for those who scan 😏.  Not even sure if there is any demand for that.  Anyway here is couple of prototypes I came up with . The idea for second design is to support multiple shots and stitching process.  Please let me know if you think this is needed, also design /layout considerations will be appreciated. Positive and negative targets will be available ( if folks decide it's worth the effort).

Type 120 Positive Test Target PO69

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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 whites bei

My camera-scanning setup

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  Just for the reference, if anyone is wondering how much horizontal setup might cost, here are my numbers (certain pieces like camera and lens are bought as refurbished items so they may cost more or less depending on the source). I am ready to discuss the given choices if anyone cares to ask in the  comments. Part description Cost US$ URL (Vintage) Canon slide dublicator $50 https://beta.kamerastore.com/products/canon-slide-duplicator-14

Get connected with the fellow digitizers!

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

New Universal Type 120 Targets are Available

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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.

Making 35 mm Transparencies with E.Leitz

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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/

EURONEWS: VALOI and PIXL-LATR now have VTT in stock

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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. 

Using Vlads Test Targets to Fine-Tune Film Scanning Rig

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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 35 mm Targets are Ready and Available for Shipment

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 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.

Use Vlads Test Target to Fine Tune Epson V850 Scanner

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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