For years, I had been using my Epson V500 to scan in my film negatives. For the purposes of sharing these photos on social media and websites like Tumblr, the scanner did the job.
I toggled through the Epson scan software, then Vuescan, and then back to the Epson software to try and get better results. I tried scanning as a raw, TIFF, scanning as a positive, etc., but when I went to print the photos, the scanner wasn't giving me the rich high high-quality prints that reflected the images I took.
Recently, I have been digitizing my negatives with my Lumix S5ii, and the results have been incredible. Photos that I took years ago are now starting to sparkle, and I'm getting much better prints. The results are almost as good as the Noritsu scanner we have at the photo lab where I work.
Here's a recent shot I took in the Algonquin Highlands with my Helios 58mm lens on a roll of Kentmere 200 iso film shot at box speed.
If we zoom in a little, we can see the grain and a lot of detail, and the photo is very sharp. Digitizing with my camera allows me to control the sharpness much better, and it looks a less artificial than the V500.
Below is a zoomed-in example. On the left is the Epson V500, on the right is the Lumix S5 II.
With the digital capture on the Lumix, you can see the grain structure of the film, while the Epson has severe issues with horizontal scan lines. Again, for the purposes of compressed images for the web, I have gotten away with the Epson scans, but now that I'm in the process of printing out photos, the scanner isn't up to the task.
Here are a few more shots I recently re-digitized:
andulkaphoto
origamiaround
vaporwave
pixelskylines
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
romaincrisis
ellievsbear