ABSTRACT
Film scanners do the best job with 35mm film and can scan a strip of negatives at one go. Some flatbed scanners have 35mm film adaptors but the results from flatbeds are not always as good as from a dedicated film scanner. High-quality flatbeds with transparency adaptors make a good job of scanning medium-format roll film and large-format negatives. When scanning it is best to check that the scanner is not making unwanted assumptions about one's image by performing an auto exposure when one is not appropriate. One must keep their eye on where the scanning software places the white and black points. It does seem that some films are better suited to scanning than others. This may be connected with some interference between the sampling rate of the scanner and the size and distribution of the film grain. Some films seem to scan with very ‘gritty’ results. Other films produce a very smooth tonality. Chromogenic films scan particularly well.
