17
DIGITISING BLACK & WHITE FILM Technique
Digital ICE
and black &
white scans
WHY DO your black & white
scans show more blemishes
than your colour ones?
There are a couple of very
good reasons for this. The fi rst is
because common marks such
as dust and scratches will
typically be more obvious
appearing as very small areas of
white contrasting against the
grey background on an inverted
black & white scan. The second
reason is due to Digital ICE
technology (Infrared cleaning).
Mini-lab and fl atbed scanners
often include the option to apply
Digital ICE (Image Correction &
Enhancement) technology
which automatically fi nds and
removes dust and scratches.
While this works well on
colour fi lm, it unfortunately
doesn’t work on conventional
black & white fi lms because the
silver halide grains in a black &
white negative confuse the
infrared light scan that detects
surface defects such as dust
and scratches.
The exception to this rule is
Ilford XP2 Super. This is a
chromogenic black & white fi lm
meaning it can use C-
processing and scans like a
colour fi lm thanks to its use of
dyes rather than silver.The principle of how they
scan is essentially the same.
The negative is illuminated
from below with a light source
while captured from above by a
digital imaging sensor. The key
diff erence is that the process of
capturing it with a camera can
be signifi cantly quicker than
most dedicated scanners and
creates comparable, if not
s u p e r i o r , fi l e s.
While you may need some
additional items for this
process (see Kit List), it is
important to realise that you
don’t necessarily need the
latest and greatest camera to
scan negatives. In fact, any
DSLR or mirrorless camera,
whether crop sensor or full
frame, released in the past
decade should be capable of
doing the job well.
The latest full-frame cameras
will of course provide you with
a raw fi le containing better
resolution, more data and
detail or even provide the
option to utilise Pixel Shift
type technology to combine
multiple images of the same
negative. Despite this, the lens
choice is more important and
best results will be achieved
from using a macro lens ormacro extension tubes off ering
1:1 image magnifi cation.Which soft ware?
The software you use for
scanning plays the vital role of
inverting the negative and
creating the base image to edit.
Before you start scanning in
earnest, it is advisable to take
some time to test diff erent
combinations of software and
scan parameters to achieve a
level of output you are happy
with.
The software and drivers that
come with fi lm scanners can be
limited and are often not
updated in line with computer
operating systems. Thankfully,
there are many third-party
options with broader scanner
compatibility. SilverFast and
VueScan are well established
and reasonably well-regarded
while newcomers include
Lightroom plug-in Negative
Lab Pro. Also keep an eye out
for Develop & Fix which has
just launched a desktop version
of its mobile scanning app.Workfl ow wisdom
Before you start any type of
home processing it is
worth establishing aBeach huts shot using Ilford XP2 Super film inside an Olympus XA
‘There are many third-party driver options
with broader scanner compatibility’