Re: filmscanners: Novice scanner

["Ron Carlson" <carlson@olypen.com>]

John, it may be that your banding problem is scanner related but usually
banding is a printer problem. If you haven't already done so, read page 73
of your 1270 owners manual. After a year of no problems, I had to align my
print heads to get rid of vertical banding that suddenly started appearing.
If  you need to go through that proceedure, you may need to go through it a
number of times before the test patterns are correct. I had to use a 10X
loup to read the patterns. Horizonal banding is usually fixed be cleaning
the print heads. That is a simpler process but you may need to repeat it two
or more times. I presume that you know that sharpening can greatly increase
the apparent grain you are seeing. Sometimes you can help by selecting the
sky (if thats where the apparent grain problem appears or is worst),
applying the gausian blur or the dust and scratch filter, then reversing
your selection and just sharpening the rest of your immage. The difficulty
is in the selection process for me. If you really want to learn this stuff,
I't suggest you get a copy of REAL WORLD PHOTOSHOP 5 by David Blatner and
Bruce Fraser. You can probably find it on the web for under $35. Do not get
the 6 version unless you plan to upgrade your software. If you cann't find
it, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
                            Good luck, Ron Carlson
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Pendley" <jpendley@alltel.net>
To: <filmscanners@halftone.co.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2001 6:44 AM
Subject: filmscanners: Novice scanner


> Hello everybody,
>
> I'd like to introduce myself and ask for some help.  I've been lurking for
> about a week and haven't seen anything aimed low enough that I could
profit
> from it--at least not now.
>
> I'm a retired teacher (English); I have been an avid amateur photographer
> for even longer than I taught.  For years, I did my own B&W work in a wet
> darkroom.  I mention these things only to give you some indication of my
> helplessness and frustration with newfangled technology.
>
> I have an Acer ScanWit 2720S and Epson 1270 printer, and I'm using
> Photoshop 5.  The scanner sat here for months while all sorts of friends
> and technical support people tried to keep Windows 98 from installing its
> SCSI card right where it created an IRQ conflict.  Windows XP saved the
> day, and I've taken my first tiny steps.  Here are some of the problems
> I've encountered.  I'm sure all of them are elementary to you--in fact, I
> hope they are.
>
> ...All of the prints I've made so far, color and B&W, exhibit excessive
> "grain."  I'm told that it isn't really grain, and I agree that it
probably
> isn't since it is quite prominent in B&W images shot with Ilford Pan F, a
> film that has no grain problems.
> ...In color prints, this grain has color.  A shot of a white church has no
> apparent evidence of it in lighter areas, but in mid-range areas, it is
> distracting.  The white walls of the church look like they have measles:
> there are tightly spaced red dots everywhere.  The same is true of the
> shingled roof, though some of these dots are green and maybe other colors
> as well.  BTW, everything I've done so far has been on Epson Premium
Glossy
> paper.
> ...Some of the prints are banded, but not all.  In one case, there even
> appears to be banding in the scan!  But in scans that have no apparent
> banding, I still get banded prints at times.
> ...I'm very frustrated that I can't dodge and burn in B&W images.  I've
> read an article about simulating these functions by using multiple layers,
> but I haven't learned about layers, yet, and the whole thing was over my
head.
>
> I feared that this technology would not satisfy me after so many years in
a
> darkroom, but I thought it would at least give me acceptable results in
> color.   So far, it's worse than I expected.  I'm sure that much of the
> problem is due to my lack of knowledge and experience with the software.
I
> also suspect that some of it may be the fault of the scanner.
>
> I've thought about upgrading the scanner.  Recent threads have
concentrated
> so much on the Nikon models and their problems with DOF, so I'm leery of
> buying a Nikon.  A friend who has the Coolscan 4000 ED talks like he
wishes
> he had his Polaroid SprintScan 4000 back.  But Polaroid's business
problems
> are not encouraging.  Not much has been said in the past week about the
> Canonscan 4000.  I've read glowing reviews of it on the web, and its price
> is certainly attractive.  It seems slow but excellent in all other
> respects, and I'm probably never going to be one who must scan large
> numbers of images in a short time.  I know nothing about Minolta scanners
> except what I've read here.
>
> The problems I mentioned about the results I am now getting are the most
> discouraging.  If they are easily solved, the ScanWit may be all I need,
> although I do like large prints.  If you think a change in scanners would
> help, I'd be interested in your recommendations.
>
> Regards,
> John Pendley
>
>
>