filmscanners: Diffusion vs condenser? was Further report on dust problem in LS4000

[bob geoghegan <bobgeo@dgiinc.com>]

Sounds like the old debate between condenser vs. diffusion 
enlargers.  Collimated light from condensers picks up more dust than 
diffuse illumination.  Would the 2 types of scanners have contrast traits 
with silver B&W films in a similar pattern?  That would be more contrast 
from the collimated source & a bit more grain, where the diffuse source 
would tend not to block highlights?

Bob Geoghegan,
(slowly approaching film scanner ownership)

At 11:50 AM 9/8/2001, you wrote:
>Martin,
>I have scanned images on an older model competitive scanner with the LED
>light source and have found it shows considerably more dust than the cool
>cathode or fluorescent scanner. Over the last few years discussion on this
>list and my personal testing seems to have said that the "collimated" type
>light source of a LED light source "shows" more dust etc. In my personal
>view I wonder if any scanner with a LED light source could produce
>acceptable scans without ICE.
>Regards
>David
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Barbara & Martin Greene [mailto:martbarb@earthlink.net]
>Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 9:38 PM
>To: filmscanners@halftone.co.uk
>Subject: filmscanners: Further report on dust problem in LS4000
>
>
>I made a recent report in which I told of a technique for using Unsharp Mask
>in Photoshop to compensate for the softening caused by using ICE in the
>Nikon Super coolscan 4000.  Despite this, I was still upset by the fantastic
>amount of all sorts of crud and spots that showed up on my scans, despite
>thorough cleaning.  The fact is that, even after careful scrutiny using a
>lighbox and loupe, I could not see hardly any of this junk on the actual
>slides.  Tony sleep said there was nothing inside the scanner for dust to
>settle on, and something like, "What goes in comes out."  I contacted Nikon
>tech-support about this twice, and was told on both occasions that dust
>inside the scanner can definitly be a problem.  They recommended that I
>either send in my two week old scanner for cleaning or return it to the
>dealer from whom it was purchased.  Feeling tht maybe my dust problem is not
>as bad as I thought, and could thus do without ICE, I dedcided to return it.
>If I can find one, I might save lots of money and get the SS4000, or find
>out more about what the SS4000 Plus has to offer.
>
>Martin