What size to scan film images?

[Photographer557]

I am about to start scanning my library of negatives into the computer. I am curious what others have done concerning the size at which you scan them in?

I know some scan at 300 dpi and others scan larger.
I would like to be able to make good size prints from the scanned negatives say 16x20 and maybe a little larger.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. As I do not want to have to scan them in again. As this is going to take some time.

Thanks in advance.
Greg

[srwatters]

Greg,

For best results, I scan my 35mm negatives at 4000dpi. Remember that's dots in the 35mm format. Once you enlarge them, that number will decrease as the print size increases. Scanning a negative at 300dpi won't yield you anything that's printable at more than a couple of inches across.

print
16x20 @ 300dpi = ~27.5MP
16x20 @ 180dpi = ~10MP

35mm negative
.945x1.417 @ 4000dpi = ~20.5MP
.945x1.417 @ 3000dpi = ~11.5MP

I would choose at least 3000dpi and most likely 4000dpi if you want to make large prints.

I just happen to have a Nikon CoolScan 5000 that does an excellent job at 4000dpi!

[xseption]

Thanks gentlemen for the question and the answer!

[sbp]

I was going to scan few next week. this answered my question.
Thank you.

[shutterdrone]

You should always scan at the highest resolution possible w/o serious interpolation on the scanner's part (e.g. 6400 vs. 4000 dpi on the V6700 - 6400 can result in worse quality in some cases, in my experience) and then bounce down to print resolution after doing your post-processing work. The more data you have to work with, the better your changes will be. Also, prefer 16-bit scans over 8-bit, even if they do fill up your HDD =)

!c

[Photographer557]

Thank you very much for that information Scott.

I was goofing the other day and scanned some in at 12,000 dpi. That took awhile!

But they were really big.

[srwatters]

One thing to also consider is the film you are scanning. If it's high speed with golf ball size grain, scanning at 4K or higher isn't going to make the film resolve any better. Use the right tool for the job at hand. If you have a bunch of ISO25 chromes, then crank it up.

The 35mm format has it limits. That's why MF and LF exist (or maybe the other way around ).