Epson V850 and DI Style Log Scanning

[Dan Finlayson]

I'm interested in replicating the kind of log results you get out of an Arriscan with my Epson for stills scanning.  I know the hardware is quite a bit different but my main interest is getting close to the same color space and log gamma.  Are there any resources out there that I may have missed googling about the viability of this?  Anyone in this forum achieve something similar?

Thanks!

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

Go into more detail as to what you are trying to achieve with sample images of the material.

[Dan Finlayson]

I'll post some example images soon once I have the scans ready.  But for now, here's a little more detail:

I'd like to produce log tiffs that closely match the log curve and color that you would get from an Arriscan scanning Vision3 stock.  This would allow me to use a kodak 2383 print emulation LUT as an editing starting point for example.  I'm interested in doing this for the following reasons:

- I'm not particularly happy with Silverfast's built in negative conversion.  It's prone to digitally clipping highlights

- I'm most comfortable working with tools like Resolve and the catalog of LUTs I use in my motion work

- I'd like to start from a familiar base image that could help translate experience between my stills work and motion work

My understanding is that for a lab to produce useful results on fresh negative film with an Arriscan (or any DI scanner like a Scanstation or Scanity etc), they need to have density data for the particular stock they're working with and then adjust per roll.  Fwiw, I'm really only interested in Portra 400 and maybe Portra 800 which are related to Vision 3 and Vision 2 respectively

[Andrew Wise]

I’ve had issues with scanning home developed ecn2 vision 3 on the epson v850. I find it impossible to get the right colours, I tend to use a b&w profile. No matter what I do, it still wants to do some auto control. But I’m not a silverfast expert.

My uneducated guess and future plan would be to use a DSLR/mirrorless with macro on a copy stand, photograph it and then invert negative in resolve. 

I’ve experimented using my little aputure MC RBG light as a backlight. You can push it to a blue hue to compensate for the orange mask which is quite cool. I have considered making a little 3D printed neg holder with diffuser to sit over the aputure MC, under the copy stand. 

[Chris Burke]

I have used a Nikon  Super Coolscan 4000 ED to scan Portra 400 and 800 with great results. Quite a flat look coming out of the scanner. The scanner has custom settings that I adjusted to scan Lomokino 2 perf footage. The results were typical for that camera, but it was agonizingly slow.

[Byron Karl]

Apologies in advance, if this is too simple a response or not specific to your question.

Basically, with still 35mm color negative scanning you have three steps: 1) Capturing the image 2) Inverting the negative and 3) Editing the image. For your concern about the Epson scan matching an ArriScan, I would focus on step 2. Using the Lightroom plug-in Negative Lab Pro to handle the negative inversion step (#2) might give you something closer to what you expect Vision 3 looks like scans on ArriScan. Negative Lab Pro lets you select a Noritsu or Frontier type scanner emulation, which might get you to a better starting point.

My experience is, I currently use an Epson V600 & Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED and have compared negative scans using Epson Scan, Silverfast, VueScan, Nikon Scan and Negative Lab Pro. Frustratingly, the images all come out different, based on the app used. I have yet to figure out a suitable workflow, years later, as my preferences change and each has a different look.

But I don't know if this is right answer for you. I had experience shooting EXR stocks in the late 90's and then had a great experience with the first generation of Vision (specifically the "expression" line). That said, I do not care for the look of Vision 3/Portra and have never tried for it.