Best for scanning: negatives or slides?

[ianjmatt]

I am planning on buying a decent scanner and was wondering which colour format gave the best results when scanned, negatives or slides?

 

[joxby]

I don't think there is much difference, maybe slides are a little more challenging but its really down to the scanner, the software and your input as the operator.

I would say that scans really only sample the true content of the film frame anyway..

 

[s162216]

Slides are best for scanning as theres no orange mask to invert which differs between films, with slides all you have to do is scan them. However having the scanner profiled against an IT8 target will give a much better result because otherwise each scan will be like how each scanner interprets it, when profiled against a target each scanner will in theory give the same result.

More recent negative films such as Kodak Portra 160 and 400 and Kodak Ektar 100 are more optimised for scanning and using software such as Vuescan with film profiles can make negative film scanning much more easy. I would definitely recommend getting Vuescan as well.

 

[Gandhi]

Depends what slide film and how well exposed it is. A slightly underexposed Velvia slide is a biatch to scan on a flat bed due to it's density. Well exposed Astia is a cinch. Colour neg is much, much easier in that respect. Just more difficult to get the colour balance right in the final image.

 

[freecom2]

I reckon the latest colour print film emulsions like Portra are probably the best - developed during a time when computer scanning was becoming more and more popular.