Scanning Film
In contrast to digital photographs, color negatives and slides consist of multiple film layers that respond to light differently. As a consequence, transparent originals (especially positive slides) feature a very high dynamic range.
| Material | Dynamic range (F stops) | Object contrast |
|---|---|---|
| photograph print | 5 | 1:32 |
| color negative | 8 | 1:256 |
| positive slide | 12 | 1:4096 |
When digitizing photographic material with an image scanner, the scanner must be able to capture the whole dynamic range of the original, or details are lost. The manufacturer's declarations concerning the dynamic range of flatbed and film scanners are often slightly inaccurate and exaggerated.
Despite color negative having less dynamic range than slide, it actually captures considerably more dynamic range of the scene than does slide film. This dynamic range is simply compressed considerably.
Read more about this topic: High Dynamic Range Imaging
Famous quotes containing the word film:
“Film is more than the twentieth-century art. It’s another part of the twentieth-century mind. It’s the world seen from inside. We’ve come to a certain point in the history of film. If a thing can be filmed, the film is implied in the thing itself. This is where we are. The twentieth century is on film.... You have to ask yourself if there’s anything about us more important than the fact that we’re constantly on film, constantly watching ourselves.”
—Don Delillo (b. 1926)