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Hmm, okay, this is all very interesting, thanks! I’ve had macro lenses for years, but my experience is just in real-world flora and fauna, not these ultra-controlled conditions. I seem to have gone down this as-close-to-perfection-as-possible rabbit hole, but I want to be sure I’m capturing the best scans I can, so I have really been experimenting and scrutinizing the results. It would be a shame to have my settings off just a little and discover I could have done better with just a tweak here and there.
I found that my lens was sharpest at f6.3 under regular conditions. For some reason, I was thinking I needed to change my aperture to accommodate the polarizing filters, but now I see that it makes more sense to leave the aperture where it is and compensate with shutter speed. I do use a remote shutter release and a delayed shutter, but I could always make my stand a bit sturdier.
The results I get using cross-polarization are fantastic, not just for silvering but also for those pesky textured prints, so I’m really glad to hear that this might be an easy fix. Thanks for the guidance! I’m looking forward to re-scanning this album and comparing the results.
I wonder how I missed this post?! Thanks for the link, I’ve finally gotten mine ordered! Looking forward to giving this a go!
I spent a lot of time on the phone with Hiscox last week and the person had no idea what category I should be in, but suggested “photography.” I didn’t think that seemed right. I have a few more days to change my policy…what did you all use for your business category?
Ah-ha! That must have been where I got that. Thank you for clearing that up! I will get back to scanning tomorrow and see what I can figure out. Thanks for all the help!
Thanks, Adam! I can’t remember where I read that about the color checker being used for exposure…or maybe I dreamed it! Unfortunately, I seem to think about photo organizing 24 hours a day these days, whether I’m conscious or not.
I was seeing this on the front sides as well, but now that I review my scans, I do think the majority of shots that are underexposed share the commonality of having more white than black in the image. Or they are the more faded photos. So I think I might need to shoot in manual mode for the majority of the black and white images. Also, I have chosen to include the borders so that I have access to what the edges look like, and because I like the aesthetic of the borders here. This is adding to the white space the camera is reading.
In some ways, I find it challenging to navigate through new cameras because there seem to be so many “helpful” settings that need to be evaluated. For instance, what do you use for “Picture Style?” I had it on Auto for a while, then I thought maybe a different setting would be better, so I made scans on each setting and had trouble really seeing much of a difference. So, I went with Fine Detail. But maybe Faithful would be better for camera scanning.
I am glancing longingly at that OM-1 right about now…
I’ve been wondering about a color checker, too. I’ve gotten a new camera (Canon 5DS R) and I feel like I’m missing a setting somewhere. It seems like an exposure issue, because everything seems a little dark. Here’s an example of a photo back as it looks unedited, then how it looks after just applying the basic “Auto” preset. The latter is what it looks like to me in real life.
I’ve been going through all the camera settings, info on the Canon site, revisiting Adam’s class and Peter’s book, and it seems like maybe I need to adjust a setting in the camera and/or create a camera profile using a color checker. Do you all have any thoughts?
Good to know, John! I’ve been using a 14×14 piece of Museum Glass I was able to pick up at a local frame shop (not the original one I contacted). It’s worked great for the albums I’ve been scanning, but I can see how having a smaller piece would work better for doing tons of small vintage prints.
Because the albums I scanned were 100 years old, they were pretty dirty. The non-static brush worked great for much of the debris, but I would occasionally get marks on the glass. I seemed to be able to get them off with a lens cleaning cloth, but was wondering what you all like to use for cleaning the glass?
I saw that you had mentioned they could be hard to find, and I was getting worried when I saw that Amazon and somewhere else (B&H maybe) said they were out of stock. I was so happy Canon had them, and on sale, to boot! It also gave me a chance to restock my ink, which I’d been meaning to do. Win-win!
Yeah, I’m really curious to see what my speed is on the camera scanning once I get the groove. I guess I was just imagining me picking out some good photos to camera scan, and while I was doing that I would put a stack of the crappy pics in the ScanSnap just to have a crappy copy. Haha I’m probably missing the point of curating…
I do love my ScanSnap for documents, though! It’s funny, when I bought it years ago (fell for the Evernote edition), I actually contemplated a document scanning business. This was before I knew photo organizing and scanning was a thing!
By the way, I got a power supply for my Canon 6D at the Canon web site – it was on sale for $88! Ordered Wednesday, arrived today (Saturday). If only the rest of my gear would get here that quickly!
I was just thinking the same thing about the archival storage! I love the sample kit I got from Archival Methods. Although, truth be told, most of the photos I have will probably have to end up in the landfill when we move. Hopefully I can find a place to donate some of the really old photos, at least.
This is fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I got Peter’s book last year, but with plans to move to Sweden, I thought it best to put camera scanning on hold because I didn’t want to buy a lot of gear that I wouldn’t be able to move.
Fast forward to the Pandemic Era…I’m still in the U.S., Adam’s course came out, I inherited all the tubs and tubs of family photos that need to be dealt with before I move…seemed like I didn’t have any excuse not to take the plunge!
I ordered all my gear yesterday, so while I wait impatiently for it to arrive so I can begin, I was happy to read your experience so I’ll have a better idea what to expect. Thanks!
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