Problem scanning prints?

janja93

So I took some photos on an old Fed 5c film camera and got the prints back today.

I'm trying to scan the prints at home (to avoid paying extra to scan the negatives professionally - already paid 50 euro for the prints) but I'm getting some weird distortions on the scanned image which isn't there at all in the print.

Anyone have any idea what's going on here?

janja93

The grey areas around the sky being the problem by the way. And I'm fairly certain it's not dirt on either the print or the scanner itself.

DaireQuinlan

is the scanner glass damp ? Looks like the print is sticking to it in places.

janja93

Don't think that's it, I've gone over it with a microfibre cloth numerous times now.
I tried another print in it and the same thing is appearing so it must be some invisible, unwipeable residue on the glass, or could it be anything else?
I'd try some lens cleaning solution on it but I can't find it, very frustrating!

Heebie

That is the glossy finish of the print coupled with tiny bits of moisture. Microdroplets that you can't even see will do that. If you have a big plastic bin, big enough to put the scanner and the prints in, and a bunch of big silica gel packets to throw in with it, you could put them all together in the plastic bin for a week, then take them out & scan the photos relatively quickly before the damp Irish air gets back into them.
If you have an air-conditioned space to use, that would help too.

janja93

Ah, thanks a lot for the advice!

amdgilmore

If you're going to make a habit of using film, I'd suggest picking up something like a Canoscan 9000 to scan your negs. It's pretty decent for a flatbed scanner.

Only €160 at the moment, because the MKII just came out (they're technically identical, but the MKII comes with different software).

Heebie

The Epson V500 Photo is good for both prints and film. It's highly recommended by a few folks on here. (including me.)

Caxton

I've encountered this problem often in the past on a Reprographic camera, reducing the pressure between the gloss surface and the glass will resolve the problem. Not sure how easy this is with your scanner however if you place strips of paper just thicker than the photo print, around the edges of the print this may resolve your problem.

upaho

When negatives are printed the dynamic range is fixed to what can be reflected off the paper. This in nothing compared to the dynamic range of the negs themselves. If you stick with the negs themselves you have a potential of much better quality result. (they're made to be printed not scanned) If you want the best quality film result shoot tranny or ....... go digital.

The problem with the prints is most likely damp and caused by the surface tension between the two glossy surface's. You could try desiccating both, reducing the humidity or having your prints made on matt paper.

Heebie

If you get your photos printed on matte paper, choose one that doesn't have a super-bumpy surface. Some places offer glossy, matte, and "lustre" and some actually call the "lustre" matte. Matte generally scans OK unless you have a ridiculously high resolution scanner. Lustre tends to scan very poorly, because it has little bumps all over it, but still has a glossy finish, and this tends to add lots of weird distortions due to reflection of light from the scanner through all the little bumps and valleys.
If you can scan from negatives, as someone else said, you should. (transmissive scanning is much more sensitive than reflective, generally, and has a significantly wider dynamic range.)