Notes
Short write-ups on scanning, film and the occasional camera repair.
Home scanning with a light table and a macro lens
After two years with a flatbed I moved to camera scanning: an old 60mm macro, a cheap LED panel and a film holder printed from a free model. Each frame takes a few seconds instead of minutes, and grain looks like grain again rather than mush. The hardest part is still dust. A rocket blower and a closed room help more than any software.
Colour negatives are inverted by hand in a raw editor. It is slower than an automatic tool, but the results are predictable from roll to roll.
Portra 400 versus Gold 200 on overcast days
Gold is warmer and has more contrast, which flatters grey skies. Portra keeps skin tones calm and holds shadows better when overexposed by a stop. For landscapes in bad weather I now carry Gold; for people, Portra.
Replacing light seals on a Pentax MX
The original foam had turned into black dust. Old seals came off with a toothpick and a little lighter fluid, new ones were cut from a 1mm sheet. Test roll came back clean: no leaks along the hinge.