"FilmLab" - New Intelligent Negative/Slide Scanning App

stevelmx5

stevelmx5

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I found this new app in development via 35mmc.com and it looks pretty intelligent.

http://filmlabapp.com/filmlab/2017/04/07/filmlab-walkthrough-video.html

I use LB Loupe on my phone to quickly preview my Colour/B&W negatives before scanning so I can get an idea of whether it's worth scanning or not. The problem with that app is it's better as a viewer only because it doesn't identify the frames etc but this new app looks pretty effective in identifying the edges of frames and outputting a colour converted/inverted image. This is still limited by the quality of your phone/tablet camera but for online viewing I reckon it would be good enough.

Looks like there's going to be a Kickstarter setup for it. I'll be keeping an eye out for it.
 
This would be so perfect for me... my current predicament is that I love to shoot 120 film, but have no real way to scan it. I've been giving some thought to swapping my dedicated 35mm scanner for a flatbed, but this could be a great solution!
 
I guess the only limitation for any film, and larger negatives are worse, is that your shooting them using a considerably smaller sensor so throwing away a lot of resolution. The times I've 'scanned' with my phone and a lightbox the results haven't been too bad though, certainly for quick checks before doing a full V500 scan.
 
That's what I'm thinking... for the sake of turning the lightbox on and opening an app, it'd be nice to see which are keepers. I'll inevitably end up getting a flatbed though, I just know it...
 
Whilst I am not sure I would use this, I find the monotony of scanning to be a therapeutic remedy to my professional life (sad perhaps but true), I think it is a brilliant idea. If this makes film more accessible as a viable medium to a wider range of users and breaks barriers down in terms of digitising negs it can only be a good thing. Swelling the numbers of people using film can only be good!
 
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mothdust said:
This would be so perfect for me... my current predicament is that I love to shoot 120 film, but have no real way to scan it. I've been giving some thought to swapping my dedicated 35mm scanner for a flatbed, but this could be a great solution!
Click to expand...

If only someone was selling a V550 at the moment. :wave:
 
Stop it Gaz, I've only got that much to last me until the end of the month! :p
 
This FilmLab thing looks fantastic, just right for a quick scan and upload, as long as its not too expensive I'd consider adding to my scanning options.
 
It certainly looks like it might be worth keeping an eye on for the future. As far as I can tell it is for negative film rather than positive/slide film, but I'm wondering if anyone has tried photographing their negs on the phone and inverting them in Photoshop? It's obviously not as smooth as the app would be, but I guess it might work meantime for MF. :thinking:
 
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The only app I've found that will invert colour negatives (as well as BW) is one called LB Loupe. It will display a live conversion so is good for getting an idea but it doesn't do any frame recognition.

Inverting BW images is quite easy in Lightroom by using the curves and flipping them. Inverting colour neg isn't that simple because of the orange base layer so a straight inversion will end up very blue then require editing of each colour channel individually.
 
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But Colorperfect will do a ... perfect... job of inversion!
 
That looks pretty good. I guess you need a decent phone though. I just have whatever I get from work.
 
I've found a problem... I tried to take some snaps of my 120 negatives on a lightbox today, with my iphone. It didn't like it:
ZG0G0pl.jpg


I'm guessing it's something to do with the refresh rate of the lightbox? I had a similar, but less pronounced effect when I took a photo of my laptop screen. I've used this method with a dSLR just fine, but it makes the app seem a bit pointless now! Unless anyone has any idea how I can avoid this with my phone?
 
What kind of lightbox is it Charlotte? I just tried this with my cheapie Jessops one using a Samsung G5 and it came out OK.

20170415_205758 (1024x576).jpg
 
It's a generic one, no branding. It's pretty old. I had a look at the back, there's a sticker saying 240v at 50hz, so I'm guessing that's different from whatever the iPhone 6's refresh rate is.
 
You could maybe try with a digital camera and keep dropping the shutter speed until you don't get the effect? My Jessops one is 9v DC rather than mains.
 
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