So you've developed your film or maybe you got it back from the lab and when they asked if you'd like scans you told them to go f**k themselves because you're an independent film photographer who don't need no man. Well once you have your film a possible next step for you might be to scan them so that you have a digital copy of your shots. They can then post to Instagram to get six likes from all of your parents' alt accounts. You're here today because the scanning software that you choose can actually make a huge difference in the final outcome of your image. Today we're going to be comparing three programs that do just that. First up on the list today is Epson Scan which is the free and default software that is provided when you purchase an Epson scanner. Additionally we'll compare some pricier alternatives like SilverFast which goes for about $50 per license. And of course the popular plug-in for Lightroom, Negative Lab Pro which retails for about $100. Luckily for you I just acquired a new scanner and by acquired I mean I broke into their house, beat the crap out of them, took a s**t in the upper deck of their toilet, grabbed the scanner and ran. It's the Epson V700 which replaced the Epson V550 that I've since smashed a piece with a hammer. Not because it's a bad scanner. It's actually really good. I just get satisfaction from destroying beautiful things. Like friendships. Does that make me an unstable sociopath? That's for my psychiatrist or sono and me to find out. So here's a first shot we're going to compare. To a shot on Portra 400 in Catmandu Nepal at box speed. So let's go back, find the physical negative, load it into our scanner and crack open Epson scan. For your reference I won't be making any color or levels adjustments to any of the scans. I'll just keep the images as the default scan that the program gives me because any adjustments after that point kind of just become subjective. You'll see here in SilverFast since this shot was on Codak Portra 400. I'll use the preset Portra 400 profile. And lastly, negative lab pro which does things a little bit differently as it needs to be scanned as a positive so you get an image that looks like this. That the plugin itself will later flip in Lightroom after white balancing. This is the image that is initially prepared on the default standard preset in negative lab pro. So again, no adjustments. So here are all of them compared to one another. So right off the bat the colors are quite a bit different. SilverFast and negative lab pro are pretty similar. They seem to have a bit of a yellow cast which I'd say the Epson scan doesn't really have. The SilverFast scan definitely has more contrast than either of them and because of that it naturally pushes out some of the shadow detail. What's interesting to me is the negative lab pro and the Epson scan both have nearly identical contrast or latitude but the negative lab pro scan is a lot more saturated. Let's take a look at another example. Here's a comparison of a landscape shot I shot many years ago on Ektar 100 which is dead. It's not discontinued, it's just dead to me. So this one example is where we see the biggest shifts for some reason. SilverFast was significantly brighter than the Epson scan. Furthermore the blues and the negative lab pro scan are quite punchy and turquoise like the waters of a Caribbean island. Remember when we could go places and weren't quarantined in our depressing apartments? So that's something I'd definitely noticed about negative lab pro. Oftentimes I'll have to color correct blue skies back to like a normal hue. Additionally the reds in negative lab pro will sometimes come out redder than a baboons ass and sometimes need to be desaturated in my opinion. Lastly to change it up here is a color negative night shot from a yet to air video shot with my Mamiya 7 with Sinistil 800T. So the Epson scan definitely came out the flattest to where we can really see the grain. SilverFast again has more contrast but way better colors I think. Negative lab pro looks like a lot more exposure was applied to the brights of the image but the colors are solid in my opinion. Now that's all great and you may already have a program in mind that you think produces the best results. But sometimes these programs will give you sh**t results if you're scanning an image that's backlit or has mixed lighting in frame. Let's use this example of a backlit scenario of kale playing on his game bowl instead of enjoying nature. Shot on my contacts T2 at box speed. And also this photo of sunrise for mixed lighting. Epson looks like it came out kind of flat again the colors on silverFast are definitely more accurate I think. Some reason I like the negative lab pro scan the most. Those blues are turquoise as sh**t though so that would need to be something that needs to be fixed. Now let's do mixed lighting here's the final edit for reference. Again I think silverFast nailed the tones to real life. Negative lab pro definitely has a greenish cast like it got a mountain due pre-wash and development. And Epson scan kind of just looks like swamp ass in my opinion. Okay so let's take a look at some black and white photo scans and see if there's a huge difference between them. So here's a shot of a gas station in Iceland taking on HP 5 on the contacts T2. So for once silverFast actually calm the f**k down and actually seems to have less contrast than the Epson scan. The negative lab pro scan seems to want to brighten the sky quite a bit for some reason. I think the Epson scan actually nailed this one. Let's try out another black and white image. Here's a different black and white shot of some downtown LA skyscrapers taking on Kent Mirror 400. Once again it looks like silverFast rendered a flatter image somehow especially in the highlights. Negative lab pro seems to have the most contrast. So that's it that's all I got for examples. My overall thoughts Epson scan actually seems to be quite good for black and white work but the color negative scans are kind of bland in my opinion. SilverFast is not a bad option. I actually quite like the look it gave to some of the shots. I think the color algorithm that it uses is probably the most accurate overall. Worth mentioning though I kept getting errors on the Epson scanner but only in silverFast for some reason. SilverFast also made me purchase another license because I changed scanners so just a heads up I guess. Negative lab pro definitely has some crazy colors a lot of the times but at least it's pretty consistent in my opinion. The scan process for negative lab pro is definitely longer overall. So which one do I use? You ponder as the mystery deepens. You've probably already figured out my bias at this point. These days I've been using none other than negative lab pro for all of my work because frankly I feel like it takes all my stupid boring shots and as an other level of pop and range to them. Especially if you know what to look out for and you can correct for it. I might be like I like negative lab pro quite a bit but why is it $99? I could buy 99 things off the dollar menu for that price. Well the good news is you're free to use whatever program you want. Negative lab pro isn't paying me money or sexual favor coupons to endorse them. But consider this, the plugin itself is built in the light room which is really convenient and as far as I know it's just one guy who makes it. Probably in his dorm room at Harvard after his girlfriend broke up with them. Additionally negative lab pro still gets updates every now and then and I can only assume it'll continue to get updates into the future. You know at least until it becomes sentient tries to wipe out the YouTube film photography of engines. At some point in the future it might be cool to try other programs like View Scan but I'm pretty happy with the pipeline that I have going right now so why change it. So that's that. I hope that this video was at least a little informative and at the very least provided a little entertainment during this crazy time. Until next time you can find me eagerly watching the news in quarantine waiting for the first zombie to appear. See you guys.