Re: filmscanners: Multiple Pass Scanning on the SS4000

["Moreno Polloni" <mp@dccnet.com>]

> Registration of the SS4000 isn't consistent between scans therefore multi
> scanning produces less than ideal results for real world images. The SS120
> is slightly better in terms of registration but still not good enough.
That
> said I tend to agree with Ed and David there really are not the big
> advantages that some would have you believe. There MUST be ACTUAL detail
in
> the shadows to make it worth the effort. I have a few test images that I
> used to compare the shadow noise of the SS120 against the Imacon and more
> recently the Nikon 8000. The Imacon beat both and the Nikon only just beat
> the SS120 when multisample scan was used. However, even though it reduced
> the noise below that of the SS120 it did NOT extract any more actual
> information. The Nikon seemed to loose the detail as part of the process.
I
> don't know why that should be but it was what I got with all 3 test
images.

Were you scanning colour or B&W? I compared colour slide scans from a
Flextight II to the 8000, and the 8000 had significantly less noise in the
shadows.

With B&W films, NikonScan doesn't dig as deep into the shadows, but the
overall tonality and "sparkle" is very good. VueScan on the 8000 can pull
out clean shadow detail right down to the film base. Multiscanning with
either NikonScan or Vuescan doesn't seem to make much of a difference, and
it's use beyond 2x is questionable. Perhaps the feature was more useful on
previous generation scanners.