filmscanners: GEM + highlight detail + Nikonscan

["PAUL GRAHAM" <peegee@btinternet.com>]

Hi,

following all the posts about obtaining good highlight detail from
Nikonscan, just wanted to add an observation:

having just spent 2 days trying to sort out a particularly difficult
negative, I couldnt work out why vuescan was giving me detail in the whites,
where nikonscan wasn't. I could get the numbers right (say 250:250:250) for
near whites, but no detail, which vuescan was giving at similar numbers.
Then I did two more test areas in NS with and without GEM.
bingo
GEM smooths out the grain, which is what was giving (apparent) detail in the
whites.
switch off GEM and the whites get some texture from the grain. switch it on
and you get these featureless whites, which *look* burnt out.

this is just grain (I think) but wouldn't fine highlight detail would look
like grain to GEM and get smoothed out, anyway?

whatever, the point remains true, GEM does work very well in skies etc, but,
smoothing out the tone in the highlights (say above 240) does make the tonal
distinctions at this top end very hard to see, and apparently burnt out. I
knew that film grain adds to the apprarent sharpness of a scan,  but I never
knew it affected tonal perception so much also.

paul