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:
“Television does not dominate or insist, as movies do. It is not sensational, but taken for granted. Insistence would destroy it, for its message is so dire that it relies on being the background drone that counters silence. For most of us, it is something turned on and off as we would the light. It is a service, not a luxury or a thing of choice.”
—David Thomson, U.S. film historian. America in the Dark: The Impact of Hollywood Films on American Culture, ch. 8, William Morrow (1977)