Nikon Coolscan 9000 question

[A miller]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Apologies if this question has already been discussed, but I am trying to figure out if the scanner that I just purchased is functioning normally.

 

Upon scanning color medium format negatives (both very old and very new) at 16 bit with ICE on and no other adjustments, I get a resulting scanned image that is overloaded with blue tints and is overexposed and lacks contrast. I get this result even with the digital ICE off. I seem to be able to completely correct the color and exposure in Lightroom, but I just wonder whether there is something wrong with the scanner or whether this is normal in cases in which brightness, color and contrast adjustments are not made directly in the scanner software prior to scanning? In other words, do people not worry what the per post-processing scanned image looks like as long as they get acceptable results in PP?

 

I am using the Nikon software and the regular film carrier (not the glass mount)

 

Thanks in advance for all who can shar their experience.

 

A

[Advertisement]

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

[nikau]

I have run a 9000 since they first came out, have scanned many MF negatives, among others, and do not get the characteristics you describe. I use VueScan software (VueScan Scanner Software for Windows 8, Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), Linux, iPhone, iPad, iPod) and go to some trouble to set up the parameters before scanning. My scans usually need little more than a tweak here and there in post processing. I'm sorry that I can't pinpoint why your scans come out as they do, but I suspect the answer is in your settings rather than a fault with the scanner.

[A miller]

Thank you very much for your response. To make my problem clearer, I have attached a photo that shows the nature of the scanned images that I am getting from the 9000. This is an old picture of Joan Crawford, don rickles and a number of other celebrities that my father took at the friar's club in NYC back in the 60's. I will now paste in a post below the same image that has been corrected in Lightroom

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[A miller]

Here is the same image after a good scrubbing in Lightroom. I am happy with the results (especially in full resolution which is way too large for this forum), but confused as to why i get the bluish idle right from the scanner, on old and new negatives.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[250swb]

I don't see what the problem is if it comes out OK by using Lightroom? There are many ways to crack a nut.

 

Steve

[pop]

Colour negatives usually have an orange mask which - if I remember correctly - serves to control the contrast. The particulars of the mask apparently vary from brand to brand. I think I've seen scanning software where you specified the type of film to be scanned.

 

It's all some time ago that I last scanned any colour negatives, so I can be mistaken.

 

In any event, the excess of cyan in your images could be consistent with an excess of orange in the negative.

[janki]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi A miller!

 

Normally I would say that scanned negatives would appear on the screen without colorcast.

But sometimes it can certainly happen. Negatives from the same roll and processing, will most likely have the same type of colorcast.

Old negatives can have real bad colors. Old slides are even worse.

A negative is almost as RAW format; incredibly much can be corrected by “pulling and dragging” in the color curves.

Old slides with "sick" colors, it is much less hope for.

Nikon Scan 4 software is certainly capable of processing both slides and negatives. You have a large tool box in the "Tool palette 1".

Here you have your tiny little original image (33Kb) in return after some color treatment in “my” Scan 4.

 

To learn what Coolscan 9000 and Scan 4 can do, I think I would start with processing negatives which I'm sure is of good quality.

 

Regards!

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[erl]

Broadly speaking the advices given above are all correct. What Steve said about cracking a nut sort of sums it up.

 

IMO you should remember the 9000 is a (very good) scanner and NOT a post processor. Use it primarily to gather maximum detail from the film, some of which you will discard later in PP.

 

I do tweak around the edges in the scanner using VueScan , but not necessary. Learning to scan has a learning curve like learning to use a camera. You will always keep learning better ways.

[Nick_S]

One of the hardware controls of Nikon Scan 4, in addition to ICE dust and scratch removal, is the Analog Gain setting found near the bottom of the Tool Palette which adjusts the actual brightness of the LEDs (i.e., not just a software post-processing adjustment) . You might try adjusting this setting so that you consistently produce scans which have red green and blue channel histograms that neither clip the highlights nor the shadows. The remaining adjustments to correct for colour casts, contrast etc., can then be carried out by post-processing in the software of your choice.

 

There is some scanner flare in the man's jacket standing to the right of JC (from our viewing point). It is possible that reducing the analog gain may also help with this issue. I have seen the flare problem in scans from dense transparencies, but not my negatives.

 

Nick

[Your Old Dog]

That is the look of cigarette smoke to me. Back in the 60's everyone smoked and you could cut the room air with a knife. I wouldn't worry about it, the second image looks great! I'm surprised Jack Benny wasn't smoking. I've never seen him without a cigarette unless he was on the violin.

[A miller]

Thank you all very much for your thoughtful responses. I jus purchased this scanner used and the most important thing to me is that it is in good working order and that I didn't buy a unit that needs repair.

 

It sounds to me that the consensus is that there are certain tweaks that I could try (e.g., in the Analog Gain settings) but that ultimately all is well that ends well. I will follow up on the suggestions made as well as others and see if it helps obtain more normal looking negatives.

 

Your Old Dog - if you look closely, you'll see a plump cigar (probably Cuban) in Jack Benny's left hand. Also, the man cut off on the right of Joan is Georgie Jessel.

 

Thanks again to all.

[pes084k1]

Apologies if this question has already been discussed, but I am trying to figure out if the scanner that I just purchased is functioning normally.

 

Upon scanning color medium format negatives (both very old and very new) at 16 bit with ICE on and no other adjustments, I get a resulting scanned image that is overloaded with blue tints and is overexposed and lacks contrast. I get this result even with the digital ICE off. I seem to be able to completely correct the color and exposure in Lightroom, but I just wonder whether there is something wrong with the scanner or whether this is normal in cases in which brightness, color and contrast adjustments are not made directly in the scanner software prior to scanning? In other words, do people not worry what the per post-processing scanned image looks like as long as they get acceptable results in PP?

 

I am using the Nikon software and the regular film carrier (not the glass mount)

 

Thanks in advance for all who can shar their experience.

 

A

 

Scanning color negative is a problem, due to the wide scatter between film masks and colour dyes. I suggest:

1) Checking raw histogram to avoid saturation and trim exposure to fill the interval. Apparent overexposure is not a problem.

2) Roughly adjust colors looking at the peaks of the image istogram;

3) Adjust the contrast (slightly soft for a master).

4) Iterate until satisfaction and the save a 16 bit TIFF master file.

ICE is rarely a problem. You can use AkVis Retoucher if you are in trouble.

Please avoid IT-8 calibration for negative. The risk of red saturation is high.

All these steps are very easy in Vuescan.

 

Elio