Julian Robinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I haven't been in the loop on this, but Rob's preference for slides over
> negs on his LS30 surprises me - I get satisfying negative scans now out of
> my Nikon scanner but still have trouble with slides.
>From what you write later, it sounds like you aren't using Vuescan. Since
you have an LS2000 you probably get much more useful results out of
Nikonscan than I do. Vuescan is essential with the LS30 to get 10 bits per
channel. Aside from eliminating jaggies.
> a) I scan EVERYTHING at 12 bit depth into PS.
Only possible with the LS2000, but at least there's vuescan to get 10 bits
from the LS30.
> e) I use ICE for all scans - it reduces grain visibility somewhat which
> presumably means it is degrading sharpness but I can't notice it.
The cleaning filters in Vuescan have a similar effect of reducing grain.
However, grain is *much* more obvious in Vuescan than in Nikonscan,
especially in highlights like the sky. I think this is because the 8bit
output from Nikonscan is simply losing the detail.
> OTOH I still am constantly frustrated by lack of ability to scan the
entire
> dynamic range of slides - my histograms are always cut off at the top or
> bottom, and I find it hard to believe that my slides are so contrasty that
> not one of them scans as well as I would expect.
I suspect this is a fact of life with most scanners. However I am not
really worried what the histogram looks like if the scan I make looks like a
useful image to me. My main grumble with negs is the horrid grain which is
nowhere near as prominent in slides of the same film speed.
I have found (thanks to the folks in the PSP newsgroup) a filter in PSP7
which looks *really* useful. It's an edge preserving smooth. It seems to
work really well to remove grain without losing focus in the image.
Rob
