Nikon Film Scanner question

[peterb]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have a Nikon Coolscan LS4000 ED film scanner and am scanning my prized shots taken with my M6. Anyone have recommendations on settings for optimal results? I am looking for the highest quality possible scanning film to digital.

 

Thanks.

 

P

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[moikle]

What film types are you scanning? B&W, Colour Negative or Transparency?

 

Mike

[stunsworth]

Hi Peter, a few very general tips.

 

Scan at the highest 'real' resolution of the scanner.

 

Scan at the highest bit depth - i.e. 48 bits (16 per channel)

 

Set the black and white points to low values such as .1%. This will give flat looking scans that you can then play with in Photoshop or similar.

 

Try Vuescan for the scanning software - VueScan Scanning Software - I've been using it for ages.

 

If you're scanning silver b&w film make sure any cleaning action - ICE etc. - is switched off.

 

If the scanner supports it try using multi-pass scanning to reduce noise in the shadows.

 

Hope this helps.

[dfbldwn]

Steve,

 

Your post offers excellent advice.

 

By the way, does the VueScan Scanning software offer multi-pass scanning capability on the Coolscan V you often mentioned using in the old forum?

 

_

David

[stunsworth]

David, yes, the combination of Coolscan V and Vuescan allows multi-pass scanning.

[Lucklik]

Try Vuescan for the scanning software - VueScan Scanning Software - I've been using it for ages.

 

Why do you prefer VueScan?

I've tried it and found it harder to use then the Nikon software (which I used to use)

rgs

Luc

[stunsworth]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Luc, I liked the fact that all the parameters are available and to hand - plus it's a common interface whatever the scanner. I agree that the interface can be a bit daunting at first, but I guess that's the price you pay for flexibility.

 

I also found that it produced better scans than the Nikon software - which if I remember was limited to 8 bit scans at one point, though to be honest I've not used anything but Vuescan for about 7 years, so Nikon may have caught up.

[dfbldwn]

Luc,

 

I have no preference, I do have a strong interest for the following reasons.

 

1) I have never had the slightest suspicion that the Nikon software for the Coolscan V offers multi-pass scanning. A few years ago Nikon seemed to go out of their way to make sure that Multi-Pass scanning was only available on their highest end scanner. Please set me straight if this is not true.

 

2) Ed Hamrick (Vuescan creator) is very generous with time and advice by email. Worse yet, he is consistently helpful and successful with his advice, unlike most corporate help desks I have worked with.

 

3) You only purchase Vuescan once. You can then use it with any subsequent scanner you acquire, as long as it is supported. Since Mr. Hamrick is intensely aggressive in providing support for new scanners as they come on the market, and, in the past, he has supported a wider range of scanners than Silverfast, Hamrick's Vuescan software made more sense to me.

 

4) By reading responses on the old Leica Forum, I have the strong impression that Silverfast has a much tougher learning curve than Vuescan. In certain circumstances, Silverfast may have a slight edge in features (e.g. removing noise/grain in silver-based films). WARNING: My information about this Silverfast edge is probably obsolete.

 

--

David

[erl]

I wholeheartedly support Steves comments on VueScan. I too have been using it for a long time on multiple scanners. "The one interface" is an oft missed bonus.

 

For me, apart from the quality which is excellent, I really appreciate the size of the preview screen which is larger than any other I have seen. Disclosure: I haven't looked at others recently.

 

I also find the simplicity of the interface does not "get between me and my image" as some others do.

 

My only criticism of VueScan is that Ed Hamrick may be a genious with software, but his writing of instructions for users could be greatly improved with more user freindly "teaching". Just a minor point now as I am well into using it "my Way". (apologies to F.S.)

 

Cheers,

Erl