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I am thinking of buying a Minolta Film SLR (AF models)

Started Nov 11, 2017 | Discussions thread
OP big aperture Regular Member • Posts: 474
Re: I am thinking of buying a Minolta Film SLR (AF models)

digititus wrote:

I've been in this hobby for a long time, and I was led kicking and screaming into the digital world where I've now been for enough time to wish every image I own was in a digital format. Because of that I have been converting old images, by re-shooting some with a digital camera, scanning prints with a flatbed, and scanning negatives and slides with a dedicated Nikon film scanner that cost thousands.

Maybe you know what you are getting into, but scanning color negatives is an exercise in frustration, and requires a lot of time. The emulsions on color film create color casts on the scan that are very difficult, and time consuming, to correct. There is scanning software available with profiles to auto correct film, but you need a profile for each brand and type of film, and if you have old films, well good luck.

If you are plan to scan your negatives with a flatbed scanner, you may be disappointed with the quality. They will not match what you get with a dedicated film scanner, and for sure they will not match what you would have if you took the shot with a digital camera in the first place.

My advice is if you really care about the quality of your digital photo files, shoot them with a digital camera. But if you just like the idea of shooting with a film camera and the resulting prints are all you care about, I say go for it. I'm sure you will still find it to be a lot of fun.

I will still shoot with my digital cameras....film will be a side fun project (inspired by my father's Zenit prints)

Scanning will be done on tripod+macro lens+homogenous backlighting of the negative

I am experienced with color correction/color balancing (scanning and restoring thousands of bad aging color prints and color negatives helped me to learn a lot...also doing some work with Adobe Premiere (color balancing) for my video files.

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