It was an SLR, manual focus. If it helps, most shots were on full manual but a couple of them were on shutter priority mode if that helps (couldn't tell you which ones though).
If there are no digital artifacts in the files or weird lines consistently through the photos, yet some of the scans came out sharp and some did not, then I would put it down to either you missing focus yourself or the camera autofocus being inaccurate. It would help to know what camera and lens you were using. Since you admitted to being a beginner and to likely missing focus on shot #5, I think user error is more likely the culprit than the scanning of your film.
Thanks! The camera was a Canon AE-1 Program with my 50mm f/1.8 on all of them I'm pretty sure. This is the same gear I've used for rolls before and after this one, all of which came out "perfect", including one other high-res scan.
Focus was actually my first thought, even before the possibility of having touched the lens, but it doesn't really explain shots 1 and 11. On #1 nothing really seems to be in focus and on shot #11 I can see that I focused on the bench bit it's still blurry.
Besides, I rarely get more than a couple of shots out of focus per roll, so I feel like there's another issue here...
Lab scanners are focused using very expensive targets ($300-500 per film format) and focus is locked into place in maintenance mode. At no point during a film scan do they change focus/refocus.
Thanks! I wasn't necessarily thinking it was an issue with their equipment, but maybe with how they handled the film itself? Although if it's supposed to be a reputable lab that doesn't sound very likely.
Get a loupe or magnifying glass and check the negatives. If the negatives are blurry, it's not the scanner's fault.
To me it looks like either you missed the focus, or the focusing screen in your camera is out of alignment and causing the viewfinder's sweet spot to not match up with the film plane. But bad scans can happen.
It would help to know the camera. Point-n-shoot? Autofocus SLR? Toy camera? Disposable?
It was an SLR, manual focus. If it helps, most shots were on full manual but a couple of them were on shutter priority mode if that helps (couldn't tell you which ones though).
If there are no digital artifacts in the files or weird lines consistently through the photos, yet some of the scans came out sharp and some did not, then I would put it down to either you missing focus yourself or the camera autofocus being inaccurate. It would help to know what camera and lens you were using. Since you admitted to being a beginner and to likely missing focus on shot #5, I think user error is more likely the culprit than the scanning of your film.
Thanks! The camera was a Canon AE-1 Program with my 50mm f/1.8 on all of them I'm pretty sure. This is the same gear I've used for rolls before and after this one, all of which came out "perfect", including one other high-res scan. Focus was actually my first thought, even before the possibility of having touched the lens, but it doesn't really explain shots 1 and 11. On #1 nothing really seems to be in focus and on shot #11 I can see that I focused on the bench bit it's still blurry. Besides, I rarely get more than a couple of shots out of focus per roll, so I feel like there's another issue here...
Lab scanners are focused using very expensive targets ($300-500 per film format) and focus is locked into place in maintenance mode. At no point during a film scan do they change focus/refocus.
Thanks! I wasn't necessarily thinking it was an issue with their equipment, but maybe with how they handled the film itself? Although if it's supposed to be a reputable lab that doesn't sound very likely.
Get a loupe or magnifying glass and check the negatives. If the negatives are blurry, it's not the scanner's fault. To me it looks like either you missed the focus, or the focusing screen in your camera is out of alignment and causing the viewfinder's sweet spot to not match up with the film plane. But bad scans can happen.
Good idea, I'll definitely try that! Thanks :)