Tips/Cautions on Scanning Slides and Negatives?

[vikasmg]

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I've just acquired a Nikon 5000ED scanner with a SF-210 slide feeder and I'm fairly new at scanning in slides and negatives. Are there any cautions or tips anyone could volunteer?

 

By default the max scan resolution of a slide seems to be 5,782x3,946 at 4,000 pixels/inch. Is this too much? Most photos that I am scanning will never be printed at more than A4 size though some may be printed on an Epson A4 printer and some may be used in magazines or books.

 

TIA for any advice.

 

- Vikas

[archi4]

Vikas,

I have been scanning with Nikons for years - now with a 8000 after having had other makes.

and they are wonderful so congratulations.

After trying all other scanning software (and spending a lot of money) I have gone back to the Nikon Scan 4 - latest download from the Nikon site.

I always scan at the maximum resolution, because I can always later reduce but never increase and I sometimes print A2.

I no longer do any adjustments in the scan software and don't even make the thumbnails.

The only adjustments I make in the software are positive or kodachrome or negative as the case may be and then blindly batch scan as NEF files which can be opened in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw for adjustment. That way I always have the original unedited scans to return to for another development. WARNING Aperture doesn't recognize these files.

 

Maurice

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[erl]

Vikas, I have lost count of how many scanners I have had but currently use a Canon 60 something or other for documents etc, a Nikon ED8000 & a Nikon ED5000. For all of these and others VueScan has proven infinitely superior for quality scans. I have long since dumped all propriortary scanning software including the Nikon stuff. VueScan does have a learning curve, as does any decent software, but once mastered, it is infinititely superior. Of course, it is conditional upon how critical you need to be. I am referring to high level demands. If you only need 'general' scans, propriortary software may well satisfy your requirements. Experiment with results. If you are happy, the problem does not exist.

 

VueScan can be had for a free trial download @ VueScan Scanning Software. I have no affiliation with VueScan other than as very satsified and critical customer, as many other on this forum will also attest.

[ghulkhan]

I am fairly new to scanning as well. (I have only scanned about 4-5 rolls of film using an epson at my schools computer lab) I have a question and it might be a really stupid one...

 

archi4 had mentioned opening the files in lightroom when saving them as nef files. does this allow one to edit photos like one can edit raw format photo in digital photography? is this possible at all with scans?

[stunsworth]

Yes. provided the scan is in a format that the software can understand Lightroom, Photoshop etc. can read and process the files just as you would with a file from a digital camera.

[vikasmg]

I no longer do any adjustments in the scan software and don't even make the thumbnails.

The only adjustments I make in the software are positive or kodachrome or negative as the case may be and then blindly batch scan as NEF files which can be opened in Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw for adjustment. That way I always have the original unedited scans to return to for another development. WARNING Aperture doesn't recognize these files.

Maurice

Thanks for that response Maurice.

 

The only adjustments I've made in Nikon's scanning software is the use of Digital ICE which seems to do a good job of removing dust - far better and way more painless than I can manage manually. After that I tried to do it in Lightroom. However I scanned to TIFF files but found that lightroom has much less flexibility with TIFF files than with raw DGN files (I use a Leica M8 these days) - maybe I should be scanning as NEF files like you and that may give me more control in Lightroom.

 

ghulkhan, I suspect that last sentence addresses your query as well?

 

- Vikas

[vikasmg]

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I have long since dumped all propriortary scanning software including the Nikon stuff. VueScan does have a learning curve, as does any decent software, but once mastered, it is infinititely superior. Of course, it is conditional upon how critical you need to be. I am referring to high level demands. If you only need 'general' scans, propriortary software may well satisfy your requirements. Experiment with results. If you are happy, the problem does not exist.

Thanks for that tip. I have heard of VueScan before and should probably give it a try. The Nikon Scans are good but from time to time I get the feeling that a scan hasn't really captured the best that a slide has to offer...

[ChrisC]

.... The Nikon Scans are good but from time to time I get the feeling that a scan hasn't really captured the best that a slide has to offer...

 

Vikas - I'm wary of opening a can of worms here, but the Nikon scanners are better than the stock film holders they supply. The Yahoo User Group is the place to ask questions concerning the 8000/9000 scanners :

 

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/coolscan8000-9000/

 

There will be lots of information in their archives to help you. I believe there is a separate Group which deals solely with the 5000 series.

 

The challenge is to work around very poorly designed trays and get the film flat and in the right plane for in-focus scans. There are ways to tweak and customise film holders [too involved for here, but do research at Yahoo], but to get the utmost out of the scanner you will need to be 'Wet Scanning' in a custom bought wet scanning tray [again; Yahoo]. You might prefer instead to to use a glass sandwich tray to keep the film flat, but if you have trannies already cut and mounted, that might not be an easy option either. I hope the Nikon scanning software has improved because I hated using it, and also switched to Viewscan [which was regularly recommended on Yahoo 8000/9000]. As noted earlier, the Viewscan interface is less than brilliant, but the software produces very good files. I'm a little out of date with scanning, but it's unlikely that Viewscan has been superceded.

 

Good luck.

 

.......... Chris

[erl]

Just to add a further note to all the above. In the last week I have undertaken to open my archives as far back as the early fifties. All B&W stuff, processed by me, a bit sloppy in those days. My point is that now I am scanning selected negatives, using VueScan and I have opted to scan in DNG format, which VueScan will do. My reasoning is that the DNG file can be much better managed in ACR RAW where previous corrections can be quickly carried other images and much better control over my originally (sometimes) poorly processed films.

 

Regrettably, some of the dust and scratches on the (early) poorly filed films must be hand cloned out as B&W film cannot be subjected Digital ICE and their like. Strangely (maybe) the films will still print OK in the darkroom, but scanning picks up many things an enlarger misses.

[vikasmg]

The challenge is to work around very poorly designed trays and get the film flat and in the right plane for in-focus scans. There are ways to tweak and customise film holders [too involved for here, but do research at Yahoo], but to get the utmost out of the scanner you will need to be 'Wet Scanning' in a custom bought wet scanning tray

Good luck.

.......... Chris

Thanks. Wet scanning and stuff sounds like a bit overkill for me. I'm still trying to come to grips with VueScan so it may work out. Any thought on SIlverfast ? Someone in the SuperScan 50000 yahoo forum mentioned it in passing.

[ChrisC]

.... Wet scanning and stuff sounds like a bit overkill..... Any thought on SIlverfast ?......

 

Vikas - For optimum results from Nikon scanners, wet scanning is the answer. I decided against it for myself simply because it is not a good idea for me to be exposed to the 'wet' fluid's vapours. I opted instead to adapt a scanning tray with a glass sandwich to keep film flat, and to 'shim' the trays. The standard Nikon film holders did not keep the film flat enough to be sharp from edge to edge - do a test with a grainy B&W negative, over-sharpen the grain, and decide for yourself whether the scans are good enough. In which case a return trip to Yahoo is required; that's the place for helpful, learned advice.

 

I have no experience of Silverfast, but like Vuescan; it has it's advocates. Do a search in 'the other place', there might be user interface and functionality issues that make you prefer one over the other.

 

................ Chris

[vikasmg]

Thanks again for your responses Chriss.

 

- Vikas

[sjt1]

Dont know if this will help but I use Vuescan with a (sadly obsolete) minolta scan multi pro, and in Vuescan you can have different options about the film type (slide, colour neg / BW neg etc). I have found that you get much better results when scanning BW negs and setting Vuescan to slide. You seem to get much more dynamic range that way. You do get a negative version but this is easily inverted in PS (CTRL+I for invert I think). This might apply for the nikon scanners so it might be worth a try. Vuescan is great for the scan multi pro and a 64 bit operating system as the supplied software wont work on a 64 bit OS.

 

Hope this is useful in some way

[wda]

 

By default the max scan resolution of a slide seems to be 5,782x3,946 at 4,000 pixels/inch. Is this too much? Most photos that I am scanning will never be printed at more than A4 size though some may be printed on an Epson A4 printer and some may be used in magazines or books.

 

TIA for any advice.

 

- Vikas

Vikas, there is a lot of good advice in the replies above. May I merely comment on file sizes.

 

I have both 5000 and 9000 and adjust my output sizes to meet specific requirements. If I am scanning a family picture for printing at up to A4 I produce files to that maximum. On the other hand, when I am scanning for stock library use I always scan for the maximum resolution. With the former I might have files around 25mb; with the latter they can easily be over 120mb at 16 bit. Do the sums and you will see that it is overkill and unnecessary storage burden if you only need small files. It is no hardship to rescan a slide if you subsequently decide you need something bigger for exhibition.

[jpattison]

Hi,

I use Silverfast Ai on a microtek i900.

I have their Ektachrome IT8 calibration transparency, and the set up is easy, with great results.

 

It is excellent, and continues to be updated, with good support from the company.

 

SilverFast: Scanner Software, Printer Software and Software for Digital Camera and Imaging :: LaserSoft Imaging

 

I've just noticed they now sell Kodachrome IT8 targets for calibration!

 

John

Edited February 18, 2009 by jpattison

[Photoskeptic]

First of all, 4000 dpi is about right for scanning 35mm. Secondly, ditching the original software is good advice. SilverFast and VueScan are both good programs. SilverFast is much more expensive but has some features missing in VueScan. I've used both and either are vastly superior to factory supplied software.

[vikasmg]

Vikas, there is a lot of good advice in the replies above. May I merely comment on file sizes......Do the sums and you will see that it is overkill and unnecessary storage burden if you only need small files. It is no hardship to rescan a slide if you subsequently decide you need something bigger for exhibition.

 

I have to say I got a lot more feedback in information than I expected, including the pointer from Cris to the Yahoo site. I landed up purchasing Silverfast after also trying VueScan. However Silverfast does have a bit of a learning curve. I'm tring it our and experimenting on occasional weekday mornings [i'm an early riser ;-)] while for a short time on weekends I scan some transparencies that are both in too bad a condition as well as not meaningful enough to me to justify a lot of fuss. This I do using Nikon's software that came with the scanner. With surprisingly few tweaks I can get acceptable results. These scans will just become a way to store pictures that I will likely never need in very high resolution and your point above is exactly correct.

 

Once I get the a good grip on Silverfast (or decided Nikon's software is good enough) I will scan the more valuable slides :-)

 

Thank you everyone for so much help.

 

- Vikas

[Guest V64]

I am trying (and failing) to use SF Ai v4.6 to scan standard Silver Halide negatives (FP4).

 

Whatever settings I use - I get a reasonable prescan image, but the scan (in Save mode) results is an image with no mid tones whatsoever - it is posterised

 

I attach an example (a spray of orchids against a window.

 

What settings should I use?

 

Thank-you

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[stunsworth]

Are you scanning with ICE - dust removal - switched on? If so, switch it off as it doesn't work with traditional b&w films.

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[andybarton]

What scanner are you using?

 

Does it have Digital ICE (or similar?) (Dust removal in scanner software?)