Negative Inversion Lr Preset Download

[Hamish Gill]

@Richard Mullard emailed me ages ago with this ... Its just been so hectic I have only just got around to posting it...

Its an LR preset for inverting negatives

Before



after



And here is the preset for download ... InvertColors.lrtemplate (right click -> "save link as")

Thanks Richard! Much appreciated!

 

[Ben Jennings]

That's pretty cool, does it work well with B/W? Might help with scanning my MF negatives in as my scanner only does 35mm by default.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Try it ... Else just invert the curve in Lightroom and work from there

 

[Brian Moore]

That's interesting, @Hamish Gill. But, not being too computer-literate, I'm not clear on how I would get the negative into Lightroom. I'm thinking I'd have to scan it. And if I can scan it, why would I want to use the Lr negative reversal technique. (Is it for people who have a scanner but don't have a "film" scanner?)

 

[Hamish Gill]

More for people who digitise their negatives using a digital camera ... Or yes, with a modified non-neg-scanning scanner

 

[Larry Bolch]

My antique Epson 4870 still does yeoman labour when scanning negatives, with excellent results. However, it can do the inversion job with its own scanning software.

I have tried copying negs and chromes with digital photography, but it presents a number of big problems. The major one is achieving perfectly even lighting, which a scanner does automatically. The other problem is solved by using a high-end macro lens with a perfectly flat field. The lens, however, cost more than a new scanner. Lenses for general photography have a curved field which is not a problem when photographing the real world. However, they can be a disaster at photographing negatives or slides, unless your standards are pretty lax.

Both the 4870 and its successor, the 4990 can be found used at quite reasonable prices on eBay. They are rated for 100,000 cycles before first maintenance, so are unlikely to be worn out. With care, extremely high quality scans can be accomplished. I really wanted a Nikon CS9000, but it cost six times the price of the new 4870. Vincent Oliver, a trusted reviewer compared the two. As expected, the Nikon had a slight edge with an unedited scan, but with minimal USM applied to the Epson, the scans were indistinguishable.

While I bought mine to have access to my legacy film, I find I use it a great deal for many other tasks. With OCR, it saves a bunch of typing on occasion, and it even does music OCR with the appropriate software, allowing me to go directly from a score to a MIDI file.

 

[Richard Mullard]

That's pretty cool, does it work well with B/W? Might help with scanning my MF negatives in as my scanner only does 35mm by default.

Hi Ben,
Have tried it on B&W and it works okay, just remember to change to B&W in the develop module or you will get a nice purple tint to the shot.

That's interesting, @Hamish Gill. But, not being too computer-literate, I'm not clear on how I would get the negative into Lightroom. I'm thinking I'd have to scan it. And if I can scan it, why would I want to use the Lr negative reversal technique. (Is it for people who have a scanner but don't have a "film" scanner?)

Hi Brian,
I'd done numerous searches of Google on scanning negatives, and the best I've found so far was by this guy Paulo Ricca he uses a DSLR to get his negatives on to his computer, and with the pre-set I've done it get the shot somewhere close to what it should be. Some people might not have Ps but they might have LR.

This way I've taken some of the hard work and frustration out of the process, because life is hard enough as it is with-out making things harder. Now I need to get a better set up for taking the shots instead of jury rigging all the time.

Rich.

 

[Brian Moore]

Hi Brian,
I'd done numerous searches of Google on scanning negatives, and the best I've found so far was by this guy Paulo Ricca he uses a DSLR to get his negatives on to his computer, and with the pre-set I've done it get the shot somewhere close to what it should be. Some people might not have Ps but they might have LR.

This way I've taken some of the hard work and frustration out of the process, because life is hard enough as it is with-out making things harder. Now I need to get a better set up for taking the shots instead of jury rigging all the time.

Rich.

Ok, Rich. Thanks for the additional information. (I have some Polaroid negs that don't fit quite with my scanner--maybe it can work on them.) Thanks again.

 

[Ben Jennings]

Thanks for the info Rich, I'll give it a try soon.

 

[Ben Jennings]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenkorama/10289329334/
Gave the preset a go and pretty happy with the results. This was shot on Agfa Isolette with some heavily expired ilford XP2 120.

 

[Brian Moore]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenkorama/10289329334/
Gave the preset a go and pretty happy with the results. This was shot on Agfa Isolette with some heavily expired ilford XP2 120.

Very nice, Ben. It has a tintype quality about it.