[filmscanners] Re: LS-8000ED examples

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

David writes:

> How long did that take for the scan?

Hmm ... I didn't time it.  Maybe 6-7 minutes, I guess.

> Presumably 1x sampling, not superfine (i.e.
> using all 3 CCDs) would be faster? How much faster,
> and how much worse?

1x sampling would probably be nearly four times faster, logically, but I
haven't timed that, either.  I don't think it would look much worse.  In
fact, I haven't really tried to see the difference between 1x and 4x; I only
use 4x because the scan is still pretty fast, and I used to use it on the
LS-2000.

> From French culture to American kitsch. How
> far the great have fallen<g>.

Well, it was a good test subject.  Too bad the DOF was so deep, as the
background adds a lot of clutter.

> Getting the original close to your result requires
> a major change to the blue channel.

Yes, but all the Nikon scanners I've had tend to produce bluish or
bluish-green scans.  I don't know why.  The correct usually consists of
boosting red and green and reducing blue.  The exact exposure of the film
makes a difference, though, as I'm pretty sure there is a slight color shift
in Provia in underexposed vs. overexposed areas.

One thing I notice is that the red is not blinding, as it has been in most
of my scans in the past.  This means that (1) maybe the exposure I used made
a difference (as far as I can tell, this particular shot just happens to be
perfectly exposed); or (2) Provia 100F has been modified to reduce its
propensity to yield very vivid reds (or the 120 emulsion is actually not the
same as the 135 emulsion); or (3) the LS-8000ED does not emphasize reds, and
previous Nikon scanners did (?).  Historically, I've noticed that red is
always almost totally saturated in Veliva and Provia scans--so much so that
when I boost saturation, I usually do it only for the blue and green
channels, otherwise the red will burn holes in the retina.

> Moving from consumer digital to scanned film,
> I've been quite surprised at the radical color
> adjustments that are required.

They aren't as radical as they seem.  A surprising small shift in the
respective gammas for the three channels corrects the color.

Also, the film itself tends to shift with exposure.  My impression is that
as exposure goes up (at least for Provia), the red goes up and the blue goes
down.  However, on the light table, the slide looks exactly like the
_corrected_ version of the scan, so it can't be just the film.  Maybe the
scanner itself shifts colors based on exposure.

> I suppose that's unavoidable?

I've never obtained a scan that didn't require color correction.  Note,
however, that I never try to correct anything in the scanner; I always make
all corrections in Photoshop, and I leave the original scan relatively raw
as it leaves the scanner.

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