[filmscanners] Re: Nikon Coolscan V ED, was: white LED vsCold cathode flourescent

["Berry Ives" <yvesberia@earthlink.net>]

Hi Maurice,

Glad to hear that's working out better for you.

I've not used a target for calibration.  I buy inexpensive 4-packs of Fuji
negative film--usually Superia XTra 400--and it seems to work fine for my
purposes.  My last prints only required adding a bit of saturation for the
Super B size.  I'm processing entirely in 16-bit mode using PS CS and Epson
2200.  But sometimes I do have to make some color adjustments.  I like this
scanner far better than my old Minolta Scan Dual II.

I'm sure you have your reasons for using slide film.  I haven't shot slides
in many years, so I don't know how the results would compare.  Although I
always try to expose my shots carefully, the negative film provides great
latitude with a wide exposure range.  Here in New Mexico--and I'm shooting
usually at 5000-7000 feet [1600-2100m]--we have outstanding contrast which
I'm sure would be much more critical with slide film.  I would imagine that
inland parts of Australia may be similar.  When I was vacationing there in
1998 in late May along the coastal areas in and near Sydney, and especially
in the Blue Mountains, I had real trouble with the haze which I was not
prepared for.  I wondered if those eucalyptus forests contribute to the haze
with some kind of emissions.

~Berry



On 4/5/06 6:34 AM, "Maurice Rickard" <mrickarx@labyrinth.net.au> wrote:

> Hi Berry,
>
> After your last email, I decided to have another look at my settings
> for the scanner. I got out my IT8 target slide and associated IT8
> transparency data file (which came with the Sprintscan I already had)
> and had a careful go at recalibrating the LS-50, using the
> calibration function on Vuescan v 8.3.22 ( . . an absolutely
> excellent and inexpensive piece of stand alone scanner software . . .
> I'm not sure if the bundled Nikon software has an IT8 calibration
> function. It might).
>
> I can happily report I've had considerable success at getting natural
> color  The cyan (and general coolness) decreased, and the saturation
> went down too. After also going through some trial and error with the
> analog gain controls (to decrease the green and blue exposure and
> increase red), I've managed to match on screen color with true slide
> color. I use a handy little Gepe 5000K daylight balanced desktop
> slide viewer to see what color the slide captured (usually Fuji
> Provia 100f). After scanning, i only need very minor adjustments in
> Photoshop - usually Red or Green Curves - to get as good a color
> match between screen image and slide as I could ask for.
>
> I have no idea how IT8 calibration works, or what it does inside the
> scanner software, but it seems to have done the trick very well. I
> usually take landscape shots (Australian rainforest, etc), which can
> often be green anyway, and Provia tends to accentuate the blue. So
> having the scanner add a cyan cast was disappointing.
>
> So, I'm a happier guy now. Thanks for causing me to have another look!
>
> I've yet to scan some negatives. I think there might be an IT8 data
> file specifically for negs. Hopefully, they'll turn out well also.
>
> ICE is excellent as well. It did a miraculous job of cleaning up some
> grungie 50 year old Kodachrome slides, with hardly noticeable effect
> on sharpness ( . . .even though it's not supposed to be the best with
> chromes)
>
> cheers
>
> Maurice
>
>
> On 05/04/2006, at 12:21 PM, Berry Ives wrote:
>
>> Hi Maurice,
>>
>> I have compared my 12x18 prints, on Super B size Epson watercolor
>> paper, to
>> the 4x6 prints I get at a good quality local, fast turnaround type
>> lab (not
>> a custom/pro lab), and I like what I get on my system in
>> comparison.  I
>> think the lab oversaturates to make the customers happy.
>>
>> I am using a G5 with 10.3.9 and the 17" flat panel Apple display.
>> Guess I
>> should update to 10.4, but I haven't bothered to check that all my
>> stuff
>> supports Tiger.
>>
>> Maybe it's a slide thing.  Also, I am shooting mostly in New
>> Mexico, and we
>> have a very strong sun and hence warmer color, and I almost always
>> shoot
>> outdoors in natural light.
>>
>> I always use ICE; it saves me a lot of grief.  I don't notice any lost
>> resolution from it.
>>
>> I print only on the watercolor paper, so that is maybe more
>> forgiving on the
>> resolution issue.  I've been using mostly Fuji 400 neg film, and it
>> still
>> holds up well on the 12x18, for my style of work.
>>
>> Berry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 4/3/06 5:08 PM, "Maurice Rickard" <mrickarx@labyrinth.net.au>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Hi berry,
>>>
>>> It is just with slides. I haven't scanned any negs yet (since I
>>> mostly take slides, Provia, and some early kodachrome (without ICE
>>> on.) The saturation and cyan aren't overwhelming, but they are
>>> noticeable, compared to the slide under daylight and scanned with the
>>> Polaroid/Microtek.
>>>
>>> I'm not sure what the issue is. My monitor is top of the range (ie.
>>> Sony G520 CRT, and there's no obvious calibration problem between it
>>> and the scanner). I've scanned with Nikon color management system on
>>> and off.
>>>
>>> Have you compared the neg scans you do with good quality prints of
>>> the negs you're scanning?
>>>
>>> Interested to hear any views. I'm using a Mac G4 under OSX 10.4
>>>
>>> cheers
>>>
>>> Maurice
>>>
>>>
>>> On 03/04/2006, at 11:30 PM, Berry Ives wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> I have been using the Nikon Coolscan V ED, but only for negatives.
>>>> I have
>>>> no cyan or saturation problems, nor have I encountered any halo
>>>> problems.
>>>> Is your experience with this scanner just with slides?
>>>>
>>>> Berry
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 3/28/06 7:25 PM, "Maurice Rickard" <mrickarx@labyrinth.net.au>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> I was wondering if anyone knew how white LED light sources in film
>>>>> and neg scanners (eg. Minolta Dimage Elite 5400 Mk II) compared
>>>>> with
>>>>> cold cathode flourescent light sources (eg., Elite Mk I, and
>>>>> Sprinstcan/artixscan 4000), when it comes to color fidelity.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've been using a Spintscan 4000 until recently, which I've
>>>>> found to
>>>>> have v good color fidelity (for slides anyway), but I'm thinking of
>>>>> getting a more current alternative (eg. either of the Elites, or
>>>>> the
>>>>> artixscan 4000tf).
>>>>>
>>>>> I've had experience with the Nikon Coolscan V ED, with an RGB LED
>>>>> light source, but this generally gives me raw scan colors that are
>>>>> too saturated and which also err on the side of cyan, with a more
>>>>> noticeable blue halo on image-object edges (more prominent than the
>>>>> sprintscan anyway).
>>>>>
>>>>> Any clues or advice appreciated
>>>>>
>>>>> Maurice
>>>>>
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