Noritsu + Frontier scanners! How do they compare? What are these scanners’ respective strengths? Let’s break it down:
Let's see how each scanner handles the same film frames. Kristine Herman’s roll of Portra400 was scanned on both the Noritsu + the Frontier using her standard preference images.
As you can see, the scans are quite close. Still, there are some important differences to note. You’ll mainly see them in how the scanner handles the highlight and shadow detail, but you can also see how the Noritsu might handle more saturated colors a bit differently from the Frontier in the flowers in the flat lay above.
Each are tools that lend themselves to a variety of aesthetics. As with most decisions in art, it comes down to YOU. What do you want your scans to look like? You might find one of your shoots looks best on the Noritsu, while another looks best on the Frontier. You don’t have to tie yourself down to one or the other. Use the synergy of the scanner + film stock to chase the aesthetic you’re after. Read that again. This is an often overlooked strategy available to every photographer! (We’ll explore this more in a future post.)
📷 by Kristine Herman on Portra400.