Color negs or slides?

[carleton]

I am about to start a photography project where I plan to return to shooting film and scan it in with my Nikon Coolscan 5000. I have never had very good luck scanning in C-41 stuff, but that is because I have been using the Nikon software. I will be getting the VueScan software to replace the Nikon software here shortly.

My question is: With the VueScan, how hard is it to get good color from C-41?

I would prefer shooting C-41 so that I can still get optical prints if I like, it is a little cheaper, and a lot more forgiving of exposure. I know all the traditional pros and cons of C-41 vs E6, but are there any specific ones with respect to scanning?

Sam

[keithwms]

The main issue with scanning, in my humble opinion, is detail vs. grain. Modern scanners and good software (like vuescan, which is free) can handle the Dmax/min range of E6 films quite well, so that's [almost] a nonissue.

I prefer scanning slide. I maintain that I get more detail per grain.

This is not to knock the new 160 films, they are super, and of course offer more dynamic range, but... until you shoot quite large formats you will see the grain playing a role. Then it's just a personal decision whether you like that or not.

You can definitely get spectacular results from the 160 films but, in my opinion, that is at larger formats that are scanned more conservatively than you would scan E6. I allege that the granularity of E6 films only turns on in the scan when you are really scanning to full resolution. [I leave it open to interpretation what "full resolution" means ] I have no explanation for this but it might be in that article that was recently linked here.

Just my opinion. Incidentally, I think if you are going to scan then you have to think upfront about how you will do that and whether might amend your exposure accordingly. For velvia 100, for example, I go ahead and expose normally if I am willing to drum scan the frame, but overexpose it ever so slightly or go to 100F or astia if I plan to flatbed scan it.

Did you think about cross processing?

[Christopher Walrath]

Not to mention that color films (C41) are a lot thicker and thus less translucent than your Black and White films and I have always gotten more noise on their scans due to the light from the scanning bar reflecting back from the negative.

[Don Bryant]

(like vuescan, which is free)

VueScan isn't free.

Don Bryant

[keithwms]

I will exercise my fifth amendment rights....

Okay, it's not free but it is inexpensive.

[Greg_E]

If you did find it for free, you will almost certainly run into an instance where something won't work right. Or you won't be able to update it. But at $70 (for the pro version) it is pretty reasonable to purchase, just waiting to see if my Nikon 8000 really arrives and really functions before I buy it. I did print the user manual the other day, sure are a lot of features in that software.