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

By the pure accident (to be completely honest I was just aimlessly browsing eBay 😀) I came across some strangely shaped GEPE slide mounts. They have 37.5 x 37.5 mm opening in the standard 50x50 form-factor and come with anti-newton glass covers.  The built-in flash popped up in my head: those mounts would be perfect for mounting the full frame slide if I ever want to project the slide with the rebate area and sprocket holes. The more utilitarian use for these mounts would be to use them to perfectly tune a scanning rig so exact  film camera 24x36 mm  dimensions would be available for framing.   Typical paper or plastic slide mounts have 23x35 mm opening to allow film frames  from the different cameras be mounted even if some cameras have the film gate of slightly varying height and width. Not only photographers have to be very precise while framing the view during the shoot,  they also will struggle with digitizing the mounted transparencies as the majority of the mounts are rather th

Some folks asked about this chart - ISO 12233 - as they wanted the slanted edges to make certain measurements . It just happened I have them ready:  Limited number of these targets is available in MF format at my Etsy store https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverKnits Note these targets are nor of high resolution, they are approximately  ~ 20 lp/mm due to specifics of production process.  Certain elements cannot be resolved properly - those areas are marked with red eclipses on the photos below. If you need high resolution you may use my 35 mm targets. (see also  https://www.edmundoptics.com/p/1X-Enhanced-I3AISO-12233-Digital-Camera-Resolution-Test-Chart/15688 ) The below pictures were taken at magnification x40 with the optical microscope.

 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

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

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 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

 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. 

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).

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

  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

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

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. 

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