burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Thanks! This is a very good point. VueScan does a decent job of getting you in the ballpark, but with a gazillion different historically available film stocks, emulsion batches, process variations, etc... you still have to tweak a bit in post. 1967 Kodacolor doesn't respond like 1975 Vericolor II or 2004 Portra 160.

The other thing to contend with when processing files from color negatives is exposure "slope". The three dye layers of the film respond to exposure at different rates, and have likely FADED at different rates. You might do an exposure ring around at the camera, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2. When you scan these, the overs may be light and cyan, and the unders may be dark and red. Very few scanners can automatically account for this.

Slides' color, on the other hand, can be nailed rather quickly, because you know what they are supposed to look like. Plop one on a 5000K light table next to your monitor, open a raw file of it, and tweak the Lightroom sliders until it looks right... Save a preset profile for it... Apply the preset with the next slide made on the same film, and you're really close. A few rounds of that, and you have a system.

I use presets for as many situations as I can. They get me closer, faster, than without them.