Filmomat Smartconvert or alternatives anyone?

Glenn

Glenn

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I use my mirrorless camera to scan negs and have been editing them using affinity. It works well but I have been thinking to upgrade to something like Filmomat Smartconvert. I considered Negative scan pro but that requires a Lightroom platform to work which I don't have.

Does anyone have experience using Smartconvert or other post processing platforms for negative conversion? if so I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I have a significant number of colour negs I made through the years and so colour conversion is also a requirement. Sorry, I know this is a monochrome forum but I guess I am not the only one to be facing this challenge.
 
Postscript: I downloaded the demo version of Smartconvert. First impressions are that it seems OK. Imports NEFs but only allows export of TIFF and JPEG. Would have preferred NEF but TIFF is OK for my needs. Plus points are that it is fast, easy and intuitive.
 
Just converted my old enlarger so I can switch between a LED and Halogen bulb depending if I want to scan or print traditionally. I 3D printed a holder for a 7W LED and made an attachment for scanning with my phone. I wanted an LED as it generates virtually no heat and means I can use a sensible shutter speed of about 1/250 - 1/500 with halogen I was past at 1/2000, also I can get rid of the lump of a transformer and my stop clock when I use it.

Unfortunately my 3D printer which I bought 7 years ago and has been printing ABS like a trooper is now playing up so the project is on hold until I fix it or get a new one! Anyway I have been experimenting with using my SE for scanning 6x6 negs.
 
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I have a big old Polish copy stand which has obviously been adapted from an enlarger. The camera screws on where the enlarger head would have been and I have a Kaiser slimline LED light box and neg carrier (which also looks to have been factory modified from an enlarger neg carrier). It works very well and I did bite the bullet to buy SmartConvert. So far I found it pretty good.

This only niggle I have with it is that grain size and pixel size are similar so enlargements appear noisier than a wet process print. I am using a 50 Mpx sensor and filling the frame area with the image from my Sigma 105mm macro lens (1:1 with 35mm film). I am not sure if this is a limitation of the process or of my workflow but I will persevere. I guess my fear is that SmartConvert is not preserving the full resolution of the sensor but that may just be paranoia on my part.

Fascinating process though.
 
Yes that's what I like being able to use the neg carrier which I already have (no more stuff to buy and store) it's well designed and fast to use.
50mb does seems like a lot of resolution for a 35mm neg how big are you going to print? 24mb max is fine for me -12mb is probably good enough for what I want, but I guess horses for courses - its a bit like the saying "the man who knows he has enough is rich".....
 
Steve said:
Just converted my old enlarger so I can switch between a LED and Halogen bulb depending if I want to scan or print traditionally. I 3D printed a holder for a 7W LED and made an attachment for scanning with my phone. I wanted an LED as it generates virtually no heat and means I can use a sensible shutter speed of about 1/250 - 1/500 with halogen I was past at 1/2000, also I can get rid of the lump of a transformer and my stop clock when I use it.

Unfortunately my 3D printer which I bought 7 years ago and has been printing ABS like a trooper is now playing up so the project is on hold until I fix it or get a new one! Anyway I have been experimenting with using my SE for scanning 6x6 negs.
Click to expand...
Steve, you can print traditionally with an LED bulb in your enlarger if it is the right Kelvin rating. You want 2800K, i.e. the same as the old incandescent bulbs that Multigrade filters were designed for.
 
Steve said:
Yes that's what I like being able to use the neg carrier which I already have (no more stuff to buy and store) it's well designed and fast to use.
50mb does seems like a lot of resolution for a 35mm neg how big are you going to print? 24mb max is fine for me -12mb is probably good enough for what I want, but I guess horses for courses - its a bit like the saying "the man who knows he has enough is rich".....
Click to expand...

The largest I go is generally 14 1/2" on the longest side but I am not at that stage with scanned prints yet. As you say, 25 or 50 Mpx should be more than adequate.
 
Alan Clark said:
Steve, you can print traditionally with an LED bulb in your enlarger if it is the right Kelvin rating. You want 2800K, i.e. the same as the old incandescent bulbs that Multigrade filters were designed for.
Click to expand...
Thanks Alan, I know I can it's just not as bright if I decide to do larger prints or have denser negatives. Having both options means the enlarger facilitates being a low heat, low cost scanner and also still useable in its original form.
 
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