Thank you to Valoi for sponsoring this video! If you are interested in the Valoi Easy35, the Valoi 360 system or analog camera and equipment check out Valoi over at KameraStore: kamerastore.com/karinmajoka With the code VALOIMajoka10 you can get 10% off your purchase. NOTE: THE LINK IS ONLY VALID UNTIL 1ST AUGUST 2024.
I wish they offered an option to swap out the light for a better one (97/99 CRI) and added a film advancer. It breaks my heart to see the film being wrangled through this thing.
It's just too expensive! Your Valoi 360 setup costs far more than 2000 EUR. Even with the cheapest acceptable camera, it would still be at least twice as expensive as the Epson. There has to be a better way!
That is true, if you don't own a digital camera it is in fact expensive to buy one just for camera scanning. It's certainly easier for people who already own a digital camera. But for camera scanning it's not necessary to use the best of the best digital cameras - Kyle McDougall actually made an interesting video showing results from a cheap (less than 150€) camera for scanning and they were surprisingly good. Also, a macro lens does not have to be as expensive either, I got mine for 70€.
Hi Karin, many thanks for presenting the analog film scanning kit! It is really versatile! Up to now I use the Nikon ES-2 alongside with a Micro-Nikkor 2.8/60 mm AF-D lens. For the software, do you know a standalone software for negative conversion. I avoid the Adobe subscription plan. Best wishes, Ralf
That 25k plaquette! 😂👍 I build myself a diy kit with the pick-latr and valoi gates as Center of the rig. Sadly some weeks After that the easy35 was announced and I really like the idea. It’s a very smart solution. 😊
Vielen Dank! I was one of the first users of the Valoi 35. I completely forgot how easy it is to use. It is in a dust free bag, with the tubed and macro lens attached. For fresh negatives, I only have to check the battery, which lasts long. Hook it up to the camera in seconds and I am ready to go. The quality of the scans depends entirely on the lens and camera. In case I forget, I have gloves in the bag that holds the Valoi. Perfect.
Hi! Ever since getting the easy35 I have not used anything else for scanning my 35mm film. And I have scanned toooons of film with it, it's just the most convenient and fast
Hi! I started using this valoi but when I invert the scanned image, I get a hard white vignette, why could this be happening? Am I doing somethings wrong?
The main issue with every single film scanner is the flatness. How flat does it hold the negative and how much warping is caused as the light source heats up the negative. This is the last remaining issue with DSLR/ Camera scanning, and really the only reason the absolute pickiest scanners still go with anti newton glass and more forgiving/ custom masks and C-stands.
My film scanning setup avoids all that. JJC scanning attachment to my Canon macro lens and I use a light panel that doesn’t heat up my film. I only hate changing the film out every six shots. Would rather scan a roll non stop.
Oh, I did not really consider heat an issue before but good to keep that in mind. Most LEDs these days don't really get warm, at least I cannot remember having an issue with this with any of the setups I use.
I usually send out my film to develop and scan. I don't shoot much film so having the dev and scan together has not been a big deal. However, I see the ROI of this setup pay off quickly (within 6-8 months maybe). I just would need to decide which digital camera to use.
I totally get that, not everybody is interested in self development and scanning. But as you say, depending on how much you shoot a home scanning setup like this might pay off in the long run actually :)
Have you compared your scans with a professional scan from for example a Frontier? I love the idea to do the scans myself but i am afraid i am spoiled by those (very expensive) professional scans.
The Epson scans look terrible in comparison to a lab scan. But the camera scans actually come pretty close! Also, the resolution from camera scanning is usually even a bit bigger than the small or medium sized scans from the lab (at least the standard Frontier scans I got from most labs).
Sehr interessantes Video, danke dafür. Ich schiesse analog zwar nur 120er Film, finde das Prinzip vom Easy 35 aber sehr spannend. Immer gut, wenn sich in dem Bereich was tut. Ich tue mich nur etwas schwer mit dem Preis, mit einer Leuchtplatte, einem Filmhalter und einem Selbstbau Reproständer (d.h. selbst zusammen bauen) komme ich deutlich günstiger weg. Aber wie du schon sagst, wer den Platz nicht hat ist mit dem Easy 35 wirklich sehr gut bedient.
Valoi arbeitet grade an einer Mittelformat-Version des Geräts quasi dem easy120 - wird bestimmt auch ganz spannend, sobald es draußen ist. :) Ja, das mit dem Preis ist denke ich wirklich Ansichtssache, ich finde es nicht günstig aber durchaus fair (weil 3D Druck mit hochwertigem Material auch nicht unbedingt günstig ist). Es sind halt auch super viele extension tubes mitgeliefert sowie alle Arten von Größen von Step-up Ringen. Sie könnten vermutlich den Preis geringer halten, wenn nur die "notwendige" Anzahl mitgeliefert wird, aber das würde den Bestellvorgang sicherlich deutlich verkomplizieren. Und so ist man für jeden Fall gewappnet.
@@KarinMajoka Natürlich Ironie... ich hasse es. Spare gerade auf einen vernünftigen Digitalen Body damit ich endlich auch Kamera Scanning machen kann..
@@kaeptnkrunch9212 du willst war nicht wissen, was ich manchmal für absurde Kommentare bekomme, deshalb die Rückfrage :D das klingt nach einem Plan! Falls du es noch nicht kennst: Kyle McDougall hat mal ein Video gemacht einer mit einer sehr günstigen, alten Digitalkamera scannt und die Ergebnisse sind besser als erwartet :)
Yes, that's another thing to consider. You could technically do the inversion yourself by using the curves tool in any photo editing software. But in my opinion nothing comes close to the results you get from something like Negative Lab Pro.
Sicherlich ein durchdachtes und solides Produkt. Aber revolutionär ist das Ganze nicht. Schon in Analogzeiten hatten wir Dia-Duplikatoren. Für Nikon-User gibt es den ES-2. Und es ist schon ein stolzer Preis für ein Gerät aus dem 3D-Drucker - vor allem, wenn man erst noch ein 1:1 Makroobjektiv kaufen muss. Von JJC gibt es ein sehr ähnliches Produkt für knapp 80,- inkl. der Extension-Tubes, Lichtquelle etc. Was mich hier stört ist der nicht wechselbare Akku. Wenn der in ein paar Jahren schlappmacht, ist das Ganze ein Fall für den Sondermüll.
16:07 impressive results! By the way, the video is fantastic overall. Structured, interesting, has direct comparisons and examples. Thank you very much! PS: Not sure if this is possible but a 120 version of that device would be nice. I know, there is the 360 version but this approach of a closed chamber looks more direct and overall better.
Thank you so much for the feedback, I appreciate it a lot! Actually, as I had already filmed the majority of this video, Valoi came out with the news that there will be an easy120 in the future! They are currently still working on it but it will come out sooner or later which is awesome for people who shoot a lot of medium format but still want the ease of the easy35.
300 euros for a cheaps a platic housing that could be 3d printed and step up rings you could get for 30 + a light box wow I love the film photography community they certainly would never take advantage of each other
May I say that this video was very well presented with a cool look and that included the Presenter. Well done. Only thing for me is, I have an Epson V850 and it pretty much does everything, albeit a bit clunkily with 35mm. If I only shot 35mm, it is as you say a no-brainer. When are the going to bring out an Easy-MF???
Flatbed scanners are terrible for 35mm film. Flatbeds are good for medium format and larger. For 35mm I have a dedicated PrimeFilm XA scanner. The quality I get out of there is great. CCD sensors are great.
I started my film scanning with an iPad as light and stacked books to hold the film while I shot them with my iPhone. Since 90% of my film shooting is on 35mm I got the easy35 right after it went on sale on Kamerastore + a 120 holder and light for the times I shoot medium (no tripod, I just bend forwards). I’ve been using a Nikkor 55mm 2.8 AIS and it’s a blast.
give me an Easy120 and i'd be happy... i understand that medium format is still not all that popular... but i don't care... i hate my Nikon Coolscan and i want to sell it
Great video and echoing my sentiments exactly. I actually bought the easy35 during the initial indiegogo campaign, and then it just sat in my closet for months because i hate scanning so much. Then i finally gave it a go after Kyle's video, and lo and behold, i actually look forward to scanning a little bit now.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Phil! Glad to hear I am not the only film scanning procrastinator here 😅 And glad to hear the easy35 helped you to overcome it a little bit as well!
But it’s a big deal that you need a macro lens.. I have a lot of lenses and a professional camera but not a macro lens, so if I have to buy that lens, it cost you a lot of money!
True, that was one of the reasons why I did not switch to camera scanning any earlier since I did not want to make the investment. But as it turns out it's not such a big deal either, I found my macro lens for 70€ (+15€ for the adapter to be able to put it on my Fuji digital camera). Not too bad of a price if you ask me.
Great video! I really love the Easy35. I always hesitated on developing film at home because I didn't want to get a flatbed scanner. At the time I was looking, I was about to get the 360 when I saw the kickstarter for the Easy35 and I decided to wait. So glad I did!
In my workflow, dust and scratch removal usually is a very time consuming part. So I am more than happy to let the scanner / silver fast do the job. My scanner takes a whole roll on itself, so I do not have to waste time feeding it shot by shot.
Good that you have found a solution for you! :) With the Epson it's not like I did not had to do any dust removal at all, so I still had to invest that time. So in the end, for me the time post processing is almost identical for flatbed and camera scanning and then I will rather save some time in the scanning process itself. ☺️
I thought about getting the Easy 35 but ended up opting to get the 360 setup instead because I'm planning on going to medium format in the near future. While I love Valoi products, the only downside of the 3D printed parts is that (in my experience) they tend to "stick" as the friction of the plastic can be fiddly. However, that's nothing some light filing didn't fix quickly. The plastic overall is pretty quality. Great video, though, and I'm glad Valoi is getting in front of more people!
I totally get that decision, sounds like it makes a lot of sense in your situation! That's also the reason why I rather wanted to try out the 360 over the easy35 in the beginning. But for me currently I probably shoot 80% 35mm film and only 20% medium or large format. So if I could only pick one, with that ratio I would probably still go for the easy35 and scan the other formats with my flatbed if I had to. The easy120 they plan to bring out will also be an interesting product for people who shoot multiple formats.
It doesn't have to be a weak link, but (disclosure: I worked at a mobile phone company doing illumination work for cameras) Their are three different spectra to deal with: the spectrum of the film dyes, the spectrum of the light source, and the spectral response of the camera imager. A "decent" match across all 3 helps a lot. The best place to start is to have the best "broadband" spectrum from the light source, *starting with* CRI of the LED source... CRI isn't "complete", but, unless you can see the actual LED spectrum, it's all we get in the "consumer" space. The "smoother" the spectrum, the better. Matching the camera response to the film is almost impossible, so we're a bit stuck with that, although you can improve the results with some tweaking of the RGB curves/gain. In any case, getting rid of any stray light/reflections in the scanning pathway helps with contrast and colour. If using a camera that saves Raw, good, otherwise, turning off sharpening, setting 100% JPEG quality, or saving to DNG,
@@lohikarhu734 and the way camera sensor just sees color - it's incapable to lift all the gamut there's on the film/scene - to my knowledge and many observations like this one with all the color filters and interpolation. Digital goes to nearest pure color quite fast, whilst scanner sensor shows shades of green in the yellow /beige water. And projecting slides - scanned images are way closer to color of projected slide :)
Setups with camea stand are aa absolute NIGHTMARE to setup. I have a really good tripod and I lost so much time setting everything up to align perfectly. Idk why they didn't make something on rails that is always parallel, similar to nikon slide copier on the rails....
This product sucks don't buy it. Myself and many other have purchased this only to find you get terrible vignetting on all of your scans thanks to the poor design of the backlight. They say to try flat field corrections in LR but this doesn't solve the problem.
Thank you for the informative video :) One question: Does the easy35 pose any difficulties when shooting the first/last frame of a film strip with 6 images? For example, is there a tendency to lose tension, curl up or miss alignment? Thanks!
a guy from a photostore in my town when i was younger gave me extensiontubes and an old slide duplicator attachment to do this with my cameras. pretty sure you could find one of these for cheaper than what theyre asking. Cool extra accessories but something you could scrounge up and DIY.
Wonderful video, Karin! I have just started digital scanning with a light table, copy stand, and inexpensive film holder. I wish I'd seen this video before buying that gear. This will be my next purchase. Andy
I have been through all types of home scanning film. I was always against scanning at the lab. All that until 4 years ago when I opened up a developing lab and bought a Noritsu hs1800 It is an amazing machine. I could never reach the same quality results and the reliability of this scanner with home made setups. AND I can tell you this: if nobody will scan at the lab because everyone scans at home, that local lab shop will not be self sufficient with Dev only. So it will either develop only every now and then to keep costs down, which will deteriorate the developing solutions and you will get worse quality, or it will drive the price of developing a roll much higher. PS: when trying out scanning gear, always compare the results to a professional lab scan.
Having a Noritsu accessible at all times is truly a dream ;) there are enough people who are not interested in home scanning at all who will still use labs. In fact I sometimes still send my film to a lab in case I don’t have any time for self developing and scanning but need the film fast. Yes, adding a lab scan to the comparison would have indeed been interesting. But even lab scans differ a lot depending on the lab, scanner and setting used so probably I would still need to add several lab scans from frontier, Noritsu, flextight…
"This video is sponsored by VALOI". Wow, first Kyle McDougall, then Karin Majoka. Valoi really are on a roll to buy up all the top film photography voices on youtube! Well done lads!
The Valoi is wicked good. The time I take issue with "influencers" advertising stuff is when it's dishonest. In this case, she's spot on - it's FANTASTIC. I dumped my PIE XAs scanner a matter of days after getting the Easy35, and then I sold my V850 a week after testing the Blackscale labs holder for medium format.
And it's actually a good product. Good on them for putting some money back into the creators advertising they're product. (Currently editing my own video on it, unfortunately didn't get that sponsorship 😅)
I've met the folks from Valoi at Photopia last year and we had a really nice chat - that's kind of how the collaboration happened. I love that they gave me full creative freedom with this video which is a base requirement for me to take over sponsorships or collaborations. :)
Hi Karin! First of all, I'm a heretic and I need to confess - I don't shoot analog. That however do not prevent me from enjoying your videos, and I was a bit surprised by how much softer the results from your Epson scanner were. That got me thinking since I've done some scanning in my line of work using an Epson V800. I'm not familiar with the film holder you're using with your Epson (probably as flimsy as the standard one provided with the V800 - I hardly even dare sneezing around it for fear of it breaking in half...), but do you know if your holder can be adjusted? I know the ones I've been using can be adjusted slightly if you suspect that the scan sharpness isn't optimal, but perhaps you've already thought of this. If not, it could be worth checking out. Having said that the Easy35 seems like quite a nifty little gadget and if you're only scanning analog film it seems like a much more handy option than a bulky scanner taking up desk space.
Thank you so much for tuning into the video besides not shooting film anymore - I appreciate it a lot! :) I have the Epson V500 which is a rather old model and there is no way to shift focus plane or adjust the position of the holders. And I don't think the issue is a focusing issue with the epson but in fact just a resolution issue. In comparison to the camera scans the Epson just looks somewhat compressed (I have tried with various setting and various software so that's not the issue either). It's just older technology I guess.
Great video! This is the first time I watched you. I love your sense of humor too. I bought one from the Kamera store with your code. I hope it helps you
Don't throw away your flatbed scanner! I think it's still the best option for scanning medium format film on a budget. The film format is a lot bigger than the sensor format, so a lot of information is lost by camera scanning. For 35mm film, camera scanning is the better solution, but it's a bit of a struggle to find a good set-up. I always had problems with the film holders, so maybe I will give the easy35 system a try!
True, I still sometimes scan with the flatbed because I actually like the results I get from it with 120 film. Especially when scanning several formats (645, 66) it’s easier to scan with the flatbed than change up the setup for camera scanning according to the negative size.
I've had issues with the weight of the tubes putting downward pressure on the barrel of my lenses (with both 55m Micro Nikkor & 70mm Sigma Art). Have to put a couple coasters under the lens to get a straight image. Love it otherwise though!
Ahh I understand. Not ideal indeed but good that you found a workaround! When having the cage on my Fuji it's actually one perfectly straight plane with the easy35 so I guess I just got luckily the sizes match so perfectly with my setup.
You reminded me that I have a Valoi Easy 35 at the darkroom ... which is actually a lot easier for cut strips. Perfect for the large amount of cut strips a customer just dropped off to scan. 😎
Well made and very interesting comprehensive video ! I love the Easy35 Setup ! For a fresh developed 36 picture film, there is nothing better out there and I could not wish anything better. The only downside , at least for me, in my opinion is when you scan cut parts of the film ( normally 6 picture parts ), the first and the last picture is most ob the time unsharp at the very end, because the very first and very last part is not fully plain when shooting the photo. So best is to use the fresh developed film, and "scan" all pictures and keep in mind if you scan them afterwards, it could happen that the outer pictures are maybe not perfectly sharp. In terms of equipment, I use a 50mm Sony FE Makro lens for Sony A7 and the related single parts of the available extension tubes and then leave it as it is. If I want to scan film, I just need to adapt the lens to the camera and I can start with scanning. This lens is cheap and I have no issues with manual focus and it speeds up the process even more.
Thanks so much for your comment, cool to hear you enjoy your easy35 as well! :) That's interesting, I did not have the same problem luckily (yet). In fact I even think I had less issues with out of focus frames or curly ends with the easy35 in comparison to other film holders because of the S-kurve of the holder that applies some tension to the film. But I agree that it's always best to scan before cutting for the fastest and most pleasing results! :)
Great video! One question: how it works with the very first negative of the roll? In general I'm used to cut and archive the negatives in 6, so I have a lot of 1st negatives 😅
For me it‘s not a problem at all! In my experience the first and last image are still flat and in focus because the S-Kurve of the holder helps to keep it flat.
Thank you for the insight and look into the Valoi easy35..in your experience what is a good "starting" point lens besides a "macro" lens....that maybe some of us already have..a 35mm, 50mm etc..to use as the "scanning" lens..or we really do need a dedicated macro lens for this system to work?..
Hi! I am not sure if I understand the question correctly. You won’t get far without a macro lens for scanning. A non-macro lens simply won’t get you close enough to the negative to be able to cover the entire frame. You can get extension tubes to make a regular lens into a „wannabe macro lens“, but in my experience the image quality is not the greatest and corner sharpness is usually really bad with a solution like that. So: get a proper macro lens for scanning, there really is no good way around it.
I agree, I also don’t like film scanning. My favorite way to waste time by scanning films is using a tripod and a really sharp macro lens. I use negative lab pro 3.0, but the 50$ for the upgrade doesn’t worth it. The version 2.4 is definitely good enough.
That's really useful info! Thank you :) I am still using the 2.4 version and was considering if I should do the upgrade or not. Luckily I haven't done so yet.
@@KarinMajoka 50$ are 5 films 😉, I don’t make my room dark to scan negatives with my camera, I made a long lenshood with black cardboard. Long enough to touch the mask with the negatives. That works very well.
Yes they will! I had already filmed this video when they announced there will be an easy120 as well. It’s still in the development phase and might take some more time, but it will come sooner or later! (It looks like a beast in comparison to the easy35 though haha)
Couple tips on the scanning of the film. Firstly, it looks like you are on the older version of NLP. The newest one is a lot better and has their new Roll Analysis feature which helps gives better conversions over a whole roll. The conversion algorithm is also improved a lot so you will see better results. As per NLP's instructions, you should be setting up your camera setting so that the pure white light (no film in the holder yet) is just about clipping in the camera. This way, when you insert the film, your white point will be close to clipping but not enough so it actually does and this brings the most detail out of the film. Leave all the camera settings the exact same for the whole roll so you get consistent conversions especially if you use Roll Analysis. I noticed a huge difference when rescanning my stuff. I used to expose at 0 or -1 like you did but when I started to follow the NLP instructions, the results were way better than what I had been doing previously. When in lightroom, you can just set the white balance on the first image and then sync that setting to the rest of the photos. Again, this helps keeps things consistent during conversion. For setting up your camera before scanning, I have found it pretty quick just using a bubble level in the hotshoe to get my camera flat. I haven't tried the mirror method so that could be faster/easier but just an idea. The bubble levels are super cheap so that could be worth trying.
So I don't hallucinate, and NLP3 actually gives better results than NLP2. The mirror method is more precise than using a bubble level, I use it all the time (not so easy to get a small, perfectly flat mirror nowadays, I use a decades old one). I set my camera to -3 on the light source, this way highlights (shadows in the negative) never clip.
Another great video Karin, sponsored or not, still very informative. I was interested to see what you thought of this device as I already bought this for myself 9 months or so ago. Brilliant bit of kit, and transformational for my own workflow. Been thinking about getting a medium format camera, but can't bear the thought of going back to the flat-bed scanner so I'm delighted to heat that Valoi are bringing out a 120 version.
That's a fairly expensive setup, especially for a 3d printed product. If you want to get the same result and convenience, buy a vintage slide/negative duplicator, these are usually sold for 10-20$ and a ulanzi vl49 light source will be more than enough for 35mm. And for the scanning situation where the stray light is causing issues, get a CPL filter, it'll cut down a lot of these weird reflections that falls on the negative.
As I said in the video, it's debatable how you judge the price of the easy35. I find the price fair, especially since you will get all types of extension tubes and step-up rings delivered with it. Also, I would gladly spend the money since I know it's going towards a small company that is constantly working on new products for the film photography world. But yes, if it's too expensive for your taste a DIY option is definitely a great solution! :)
No way people can take a product review sponsored by the company seriously...it's like watching an Apple keynote for the iPhone and calling that a review. Really laughable
If you have actually watched the video, you would have known that I also talk about aspects of the product I don't like or that are debatable such as the material and the price. And if you know anything about the film community you know that's truly where the big money lays lol 😂😂
I use the Easy35 and it is great! However, it does bring home the irony of "scanning film". We go through all the hazzle (and joy) of analog photography just to take a digital photo of the negative? This really makes me think about getting an enlarger and do things properly or just stick to digital.
Haha, I see your point! But I think modern times require modern solutions and I see nothing wrong with digitizing analog images while I love the "all analog" process of darkroom printing... so: why not just do both? :)
Wieder ein starkes Video und interessante Technik auch für Sonntags-Filmfotografen wie mich….🤓🥸 Is immer schön bei Deinen Videos: Tolle Bilder und interessante Technikthemen. I like 👍🏻
