Thursday, May 2, 2013

Three formats

Clips from the same scene in three formats; 12MP digital (the LX7), a 2,400dpi and a 1,800dpi scan both from the same RZ6x7  Arista 100 negative (significantly under-developed - the app is, or I am, doing something wrong) and a sheet of Arista 100 scanned at 1,200dpi from the SR45. The lenses were   Mamiya 50mm for the RZ67, a Schneider Super Angulon 90mm f8 for the large format. The LX7 was at 24mm equivalent.  

LX7


RZ67 @ 2400dpi
RZ67 @ 1,800dpi

SR45 @ 1200dpi
What I find slightly surprising is that the 1,200 dpi scan of the SR45 negative, which creates a file with fewer pixels than the higher res scan of the RZ67 neg, is more detailed. Further evidence comes from the files sizes. The high res RZ scan has 1.3 times as many pixels but generates a smaller file meaning that there are more regularities that the jpeg algorithm can compress.

width height px (M) file size (MB)
LX7 3776 2520 9.5 4.8
RZ67 @ 2,400 6280 4983 31.3 8.6
RZ67 @ 1,800 4710 3737 17.6 5.5
SR45 @ 1,200 5411 4300 23.3 9.1

(The saw cuts in the last image I find particularly satisfying). I also discovered that you can enter any scan resolution directly into the Epson dialog box; you don't have to use one of their presets in the drop-down. 1,800 dpi isn't one of the options, but the scanner did exactly what was asked when I put that resolution in... I should probably read the manual. 

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