Digital Ice and traditional b/w negs

[Dralowid]

Some advice much apperciated,

Before I take the plunge into Epson ownership I remember something about Digital Ice not working with traditional silver based films ... is this right or am I dreaming? Is it a problem?

I will be scanning mostly 35mm b/w and a little colour, also old m/f negs from time to time. The objective it to print from scans up to A4 in size.

Yes, I will crop from time to time but most of it will be full frame.

Do I really need to go all the way to Epson 750 etc or do folks reason one can get by with Epson 500 or less? My printer is not top of the range.

Thanks in advance

Michael

 

[J J Kapsberger]

The ICE dust removal won't work with BW negs. You'll have to remove the dust manually, say in PS with the spotting tool.

 

[jawarden]

On my Nikon scanner Digital Ice does not work for b/w.

 

[Mcary]

Skip the flat bed and go directly to a dedicated 35mm scanner. You should be able to find a use a Minolta or new Plustik that is in your budget.

 

[mfogiel]

A4 from a 35mm negative means 297mm/36mm=8.25 times enlargement, From my experience, Epson V750 works best up to 6x, 8x becomes marginal. Best would be to get a second hand dedicated film scanner right away.

 

[ReeRay]

To apply ICE to b+w scan as a positive - invert in photoshop. Epson V700/750 is superb with MF but not so good with 35mm. As others have said, ideally get a dedicated film scanner for 35mm.

 

[kzphoto]

You are correct, digital ICE will not work with BW negs. The negs reflect the infrared light fired at them and thus, ICE wants to correct your image.

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/1015.htm

 

[Arjay]

Please note that ICE doesn't work with silver halide bw films, as the IR channel that is used to detect scratches & dust cannot discern silver grain from any unwanted artifacts.

The story is entirely different, however, for chromogenic bw films, as these negs do not contain any silver. So, if you scan any bw film coming out of C-41 dev process, ICE will indeed be useful. Examples of chromogenic films are Ilford XP2 and Kodak BW 400 CN.

 

[Dralowid]

Hi,

Thanks for advice so far. I'm going with a flatbed because apart from 35mm I have a lot of 120 and 620 old negs to scan. Mostly silver halide based. Back to Digital Ice. I'm assuming one can turn off or disable this feature on Epson V500 etc?

Am I right?

Thanks

Michael

 

[dfoo]

For 35mm a flatbed is good for web size scans. For decent sized prints (above 8x10) the output is soft. I have a v700 and a CS5000. The CS5000 far superior.

 

[sevo]

ICE can be turned off on every scanner I am aware of.