RE: filmscanners: Nikon 8000 ED or Polaroid Sprintscan 120 ??

["Richard N. Moyer" <dickmoyer@mail.earthlink.net>]

Removing dust from digitized images:
This is a quote from another poster (elsewhere - not this list, and I 
don't have the author since I clipped the quote) regarding the use of 
PS and the History Brush in PhotoShop:
" - - working with a 16-bit file -
1. do your initial color space conversion (if necessary) and an initial
levels/ curves adj
2. save a snapshot of current state
3. run dust and scratches (See Filters), checking the preview to make 
sure most of the
debris is caught by the filter
4. create a snapshot of the dust and scratches state, set it to history, and
revert to the previous snapshot
5. select the history tool and set it to lighten (if using transparency
film) or to darken (if using neg film); if you have a palette set options so
that pressure in "on" for size and "off" for opacity' set opacity to 100%;
choose a soft brush

The history brush should now work to remove most of the debris (setting the
tool to "lighten" or "darken" limits the effect to the spots you are aiming
at), but some debris will defeat the d/s filter (either it is just too much
for the settings you chose or is in an area where the contrast just isn't
enough for the "lighten"/ "darken" brush mode to work properly). For these
occasional spots I use the rubber stamp tool, reversing the palette options
so that opacity is set to "pressure" and size is set to "off."
   end of quote -


>In researching for the SS120 we asked medium format users about features
>including the various dust and scratch solutions. They said pretty much to
>the person they took excellent care of their film and did not consider dust
>to be a problem. They said they would rather address dust with localized
>Photoshop work rather than a global system they perceive as softening the
>entire image.
>Polacolor Insight has software based dust removal. My personal testing has
>shown if I take a tremendously dirty slide which I have made no attempt to
>clean the Insight dust removal appears to be about 80% as effective as ICE.
>If I take a more realistic slide which has be cared and cleaned the results
>are much closer.
>  I also polled several Imacon d
>dealers to see if any of their customers have requested hardware dust
>removal solution. They responded they have never had a single request. I
>don't think Heidleburg has it on their drum scanners. I also noticed at PMA
>that Imacon was  demo'ing dust removal in Photoshop using the history
>palette. Pretty neat.
>All that being said if we did have ICE it would be easier at the point of
>sale but I don't know how much better a scanner it would be..>David Hemingway
>Polaroid Corporation