Underexposed Negatives

This page describes my current feeling as to the best way to scan an underexposed negative.

Step 1

First, adjust Analog Gain towards a positive value of 1, 1.5 or 2.

Step 2

Then 'redraw' or do another preview so that you can be sure the amount of Analog Gain you've done is appropriate.

Look at the Curves. Previously they were hunched towards the left of the histogram. Now they will be off to the right. In fact, there may even be a spot on the left hand side that is flat (no values). Drag the Black point to the right where the histogram starts to rise.

Sample:

Step 3

Apply Digital Ice On (fine)

(On a negative with low density, it seems that scratches are more prominent if you don't use Digital ICE to eliminate them.)

Step 4

If necessary (eg for indoors photographs) set the colour balance to something neutral by clicking with the grey pointer (part of the Curves control) on a grey part of the image.

Step 5

In the Scanner Extras settings, apply Multi Sample Scanning at a high level (such as 'Super Fine (16x)'. This forces the scanner to read each pixel multiple times. Any random bits of noise (which don't correctly reflect the contents of the negative) will be suppressed by Multi Sample Scanning, thus providing a more accurate scan. This is more important if the negative is underexposed since noise will be more prevalent when the scanner is not picking up much detail from the negative.

Step 6

Consider whether you want to use other settings such as Digital ROC (to restore colour) or (?DigitalGEM Digital GEM?) (since an underexposed negative will only have exposed the most sensitive parts of the film which have the coarsest grain. The improvements provided by Digital ROC and Digital GEM might also be possible to some extent in image editing programs after you have done your scan.

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