Features
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Holds negatives flat for high-quality digital camera scanning
Designed with a special double S-curved track to flatten the negative
Prevents reflections with matte black plastic and strategic anti-reflection angles
Quick-advance system to push or pull film through, no fiddling with traditional clam-shell designs
Minimizes vignetting on the edges with a beveled design under the film
Comes with stick-on rubber feet to prevent the holder sliding when placed on top of a light source
Can be used with or without the VALOI 360 Advancer
Product Details
“Valoi” is a Finnish word meaning light and creation — a nod to the creativity of analog photography. The Scandinavian roots of VALOI are visible in the minimalist and functional design. VALOI 360 is a film holder system that provides an affordable way to digitize your rolls of 35mm and 120 medium format film using a digital camera, without compromising on features. This system will help you scan film quicker and, with the right setup, with higher quality than traditional flatbed scanners.
VALOI 360 Specialty Film Holders are part of VALOI's Custom Series, which aim to support niche formats (110, 126, 127, APS, Super8, etc.) that are otherwise difficult to scan. The VALOI 360 system's film holders are the perfect entry-point for trying out camera scanning and can be used either on their own atop a light source like the CineStill CS-LITE or with the VALOI 360 Advancer. Stick-on rubber feet are included to prevent the holder from sliding around if used directly on top of a light source rather than the Advancer.
A double S-curved track keeps the film exceptionally flat for the highest quality scans. The design makes it quick and easy to scan by allowing you to push/pull film through the holder instead of a traditional clam-shell design that requires constant opening and closing (cotton gloves are recommended to prevent fingerprints). Optimized for full, uncut rolls. Cut strips will work, but flatness may vary.
While the film holders for more popular formats like 35mm and 120 holders are injection moulded, the Custom Series holders are 3D printed by film community member and 3D printing master Simon Forster in the UK. These are not your average home 3D printed parts, but highly optimized prints from finely tuned high-end printers.
To retain the good quality and film flatness of the injection molders holders, the Custom Series holders are made to such tolerance that most home-printers would struggle to get a useable product. This applies particularly to the film track, which has been kept as tight as possible for the highest quality scans.
Camera Scanning Considerations:
Camera Body
Just about any semi-modern, interchangeable-lens digital camera will work great for camera scanning. There are many mirrorless or DSLR options to choose from with large lens catalogs, tethered capture capability, and excellent image quality. Some high end cameras can even use pixel stitching to deliver extremely high levels of resolution.
Macro Lens
For camera scanning, the one real requirement is that your lens focuses close enough to capture the entire frame. For full frame cameras and capturing 35mm film, the term “1:1” designates a lens that will reproduce the 35mm frame exactly onto the full frame digital sensor. With crop-sensor bodies, 1:1 lenses focus even closer. Outside of reproduction factor (1:1), also look out for lenses that are sharp, have good color reproduction, limit internal reflections (modern coatings), and have very little vignetting. Finally, it’s generally best to use your macro lens stopped down 2-3 stops from wide open, as this gives a good combination of depth of field and sharpness.
Software for Negative Conversion
There are a few plugins and standalone programs for converting captured negatives into positive images. Some older and some newer, all of them try to harness the color science based in darkroom paper to various degrees. After all, even a professional lab scanner is essentially a digital camera and a light source. Most of the options presented here allow you to download a demo version to try before you buy and determine which one best suits your workflow.
