Across Borders with Marina Boichuk and the DigitaLIZA+

Join us today on a journey with Ukrainian raised and Seattle based visual artist Marina Boichuk as she explores European architecture as well as her own self through visual storytelling on film. We've fallen in love with her work and unique view on the world and people. Therefore, we sent her our latest DigitaLIZA+ to find out how she got on creating her unique aesthetic when scanning her rolls with it.

Hi Marina! Welcome to the Lomography Magazine! Please introduce yourself to our readers in your own words.

Hi! My name is Marina Boichuk and I am Ukrainian raised but Seattle based portrait and music photographer. I am a hybrid shooter and still consider myself new to film photography. Nevertheless I enjoy every aspect of it and slowly implement it more into my work. I like to travel and most of the time while traveling my digital camera stays at home and I only have a film one on me. By getting into film photography I actually started taking more photos of cityscapes/landscapes and other things non related to portraits.

What was your first impression upon receiving the DigitaLIZA+ / Max ?

Wow! It is small, portable and is very easy to set up. Also it’s nicely built. Starting from rubber pads on the backlight panel and the base plate, to little magnets for easy attachment of 120 and 35 mm holders. Everything stays in place and doesn’t move.

What has been your usual scanning setup and in what ways is the work with the DigitaLIZA+ different?

I have been using the Epson V600 for nearly 3 years since starting film photography. I never really considered a digital camera for scanning because of the lack of macro lens, and scanning kits that were already on the market were the most budget friendly.

Which format(s) did you scan and what device did you use for scanning?

I’ve scanned 35 mm film, and 645 and 6x7 formats of 120 film with Sony A7R2 and macro rings to make my non macro lens focus up close. I went through a roll of 35 mm in a few minutes, got amazing scans. Because of such an easy scanning process I’ll definitely be shooting more 35 mm film in future.

Are there any features and abilities that you’d like to highlight?

The ability to scan film with borders! I was impressed that the film holders are able to flatten the film, even the curlier types. Compared to flatbed no Newton rings on the curlier film stocks, no digital noise, only high quality scans.

Any tips or tricks you picked up with the scanner you’d like to share?

Definitely you don’t want your negatives cut for 35 mm scanning. But I still was able to get through several older pre-cut negatives, it just took a little extra time. Still faster than a flatbed though.

What did you use for color correction / post-edits?

I use Lightroom Classic and Negative Lab Pro plugin for conversion.

Who would you recommend this setup to?

I highly recommend this set up for anyone that wants to start scanning their negatives. Especially people that shoot tons of 35 mm film, because you go through scanning those in no time.

Make sure to check out more of Marina's work on her website and follow her on Instagram and her YouTube Channel

Ready to take the scanning process home? Shop for our DigitaLIZA+ and DigitaLIZA MAX now!

written by birgitbuchart on 2022-07-01 #gear #scanning #digitaliza #digitaliza #digitaliza-max