Looking for a film scanner with a specific feature

[Patrick]

I am seeking recommendations on a scanner that I can use for 35mm negative still film. However, I am after one that has a feature that may or may not be very common. And that is preselecting the level of image brightness. I know that with some scanners, the embedded software selects a brightness level that is heavily influenced by the picture information in the negative. In other words, if there is a lot of black in the neg, the scanner will pump up the brightness and do the opposite if there is a lot of white in the image. What I'm looking for is a scanner that will allow me to select one, single brightness setting and apply that to a whole bunch of negs, regardless of how much black or white is in the individual images or whether they are underexposed or overexposed.

What I am looking for is similar in principle to how a contact print is produced by an enlarger in a traditional darkroom. With the enlarger, you select an aperture setting, and all the negs receive the same exposure. Thus, all the frames that were correctly exposed in-camera will look relatively neutral in terms of image brightness, all the frames that were overexposed will look quite light and all the frames that were underexposed will look quite dark in the resulting contact print. Now, are there many brands / models of scanners available that can be operated much like this?

Oh, and another requirement of this scanner would be to scan negs at a high enough resolution for good quality 8 x 12 inch prints.

[Patrick]

I'm actually rethinking my options here. I only need to scan about 34 frames for a project of mine. Instead of using a scanner, I could of course employ my Panasonic G2 Micro 4/3rds digital camera and photograph the negatives. I also have a very sharp Canon FD 50mm macro lens that belonged to my father that I can mount to the camera with an adapter. This way, I can ensure that all of the negatives are receiving the same exposure. I could also purchase a negative carrier from eBay to keep the film relatively flat. The only thing I'm not so sure on is what sort of diffused light source I can use behind the negatives. Any suggestions?

[Patrick]

The other thing is I am fairly new to digital cameras and I confess that I haven't done any RAW processing as yet. I am happy to shoot the negs in JPEG to simplify the process though is it true that RAW will offer greater dynamic range? If so, would that be the better option to reproduce all the various tones in the negatives? By the way, these are black and white negatives that I will be photographing.

[woods01]

As far as diffused light goes, if you saw the stills I took of colour neg processed in E-6, I just held the film crudely over a normal light box and hand held the camera. You could get better results with a tray and the camera on a tripod. You could make one yourself or use one of those light trays people used to organize their slides back in the day. Its not hard to build (directions are all over the web) and they are handy if you have slides to examine or have other films to inspect.

[Patrick]

a normal light box

Yea, I was considering that. I'll think I'll go with a sheet of white cardboard tilted at a 45 degree angle. I'll bounce a bright desktop lamp off a white wall and then place the cardboard opposite that wall, and under the negs. Ive just ordered a negative carrier from an eBay seller who's selling various enlarger parts.