Digitizing a B&W Negative While Preserving Its Subtlest Textures

⊕ Alain Oguse
  alain (at) oguse.frAlain Oguse - March 2025

My Adventure with Point Light and Some Ensuing Elucubrations

Trained in professional black-and-white printing in one of the best Parisian N&B labs in the 1960s, I sought to achieve the best possible results when digitizing 135 negative films. However, I was disappointed with the results I obtained using the various processes I tested. Digitization with a DSLR seemed to be the most promising technique, yet something wasn't right...

I am not an optics expert. Therefore, one might legitimately question the validity of what I present on this subject. I have only my solid experience and the "eye" I gained from it to support my claims. I wanted to base my approach on the most enlightening sources I found and my ability to evaluate the results of my tests. Thus, through the story of my adventures, I hope to show how I understood the physical principles of light and optics and why they often lead to disappointing results when digitizing silver negatives.

Thus, my research on the web allowed me to discover that the cause of my disappointments was the diffuse light, which is nonetheless used, more or less discreetly, by all processes. Point light thus became the only recourse possible, even though it is well established that its use is not without drawbacks. Would I be able to master it?

Spoiler alert: Yes! But it's not a simple and quick solution. However, what a pleasure to obtain A3+ prints that I don't have to be ashamed of ;-) Here are the videos of the opening of two exhibitions of photographs by François Huchet using collimated point light.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcqbX-MB-bU
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzIiosSaSm4

Full Version

So here's a complete version of the story of my adventure, in which I recount my trials, the prototype, the results, my thoughts, and some personal anecdotes. I hope it will help or give ideas to some. Qptical connoisseurs will easyly improve and, above all, simplify this prototype to make it a more convenient tool.

Available only in ➔ PDF (en) - 58 pages - (39 Mo)

You might prefer the technical excerpt below, which sticks to the technique and results in images.

Partial version - Technical Excerpt

Partial version below in HTML or here in ➔ PDF (en) - 34 pages - (10 Mo)

• First Part: Towards a Prototype Towards a Prototype
  A disappointing first attempt
  Understanding the issues
  What role does diffuse light play?
  A prototype and its optical principle
  Theoretical and "pragmatic" schematic of the prototype
  Necessary equipment
  Settings

  
  

• Second Part: Results and Improvements Results in images
      Initial results with a white LED
      Results with a green LED
      And yet there remains a problem
  Final assessment in a few images
      An example with white LED
      An example with green LED
  In conclusion