RE: filmscanners: Nikon 8000

["Austin Franklin" <darkroom@ix.netcom.com>]

> 2) You scan for a soft contrast and don't use any post-scan USM, thus you
> have dust but you don't see it.

I certainly don't scan for a soft contrast...and I don't use USM...I don't
need to...and if there was dust, I would see it, I assure you.

> 3) All of my dust attached itself to my film during drying, and will not
> "wipe off". This is a possibility I need to look at more thoroughly, but
> it's hard to believe it occurs to every negative (I'm using negative to
> represent any of my film, BTW). I hang my film to dry in my
> darkroom, which
> is clean, but not a "clean room". Do you dry your film in some positive
> pressure environment which repels dust?

I do use a sealed forced filtered heated air drying cabined.  I did have
some dust from film drying on my negatives before getting that cabinet...and
I would fastidiously attempt to get the dust off before printing...even to
go as far as washing and re-photoflo'ing my film just to get the dust off...

> 4) I give up. How can you scan dozens or hundreds of negs, and
> only get two
> pieces of dust in your lifetime with a Leaf? HOW! ;-)

I store my film so it minimizes any dust (PrintFile/closed edge 3 ring
binders/file cabinet)...and I fastidiously clean the dust off...piece by
piece if necessary...before putting it in the scanner.  If a piece shows up
in the scan...out comes the film, and I hunt down that dust and eliminate
it.