new to scanning on Nikon Coolscan 5000

[flip]

I happily received this in the mail last night. After stealing off to the shop to buy a couple cables, I downloaded a trial of Vuescan. [The scanner was *very* bare-bones.].

I quickly set to fiddling with Vuescan with what negatives have been piling-up. I had some Fuji 800Z half-frame, some HP5 in xtol, and some Foma in Pyrocat.

The Fuji looked fine but will obviously require some color balancing and some research on my part into how to handle half-frame negatives efficiently.

The Foma and HP5 were a bit odd in that I noted a surprising amount of what seemed to be pixel noise. It didn't appear to be grain. This was in spite of (or perhaps due to) my efforts to scan at 4000ppi DNG Tiff and at A3 size. [This was visible with only slight magnification on my screen.] Obviously, I have a lot to learn about scanning!

Anyhow, I am currently poking around online for advice and will likely download and try Nikonscan as well. I am hoping someone might offer recommendations to set me in the right direction. Perhaps tonight I can post a sample of what I see under Vuescan.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[sojournerphoto]

I would start off by downloading Nikonscan and trying that. I tended to use 4 times multisampling on mine and never noticed any worrying electronic noise, although it would pull grain from black and white films (or colour). HP5 in xtol is usually fine though.

Mike

 

[robert blu]

I suggest as well to start with Nikonscan, play a little with it. I use delta films which are finer grain and easier to scan, sorry cannot give you better suggestions for HP5.
regards
robert

 

[not_in_good_order]

A third vote for trying Nikonscan if you are using a compatible operating system. Though a lot of people seem to dislike it, I find it to be more intuitive than Vuescan.

Anyway, to troubleshoot your issue:

Can you post an example of the noise you are seeing? Or can you describe it in more detail? When you scanned the B&W film using vuescan, was the infrared dust detection system disabled?

 

[benno]

Though a lot of people seem to dislike it, I find it to be more intuitive than Vuescan.

Yes, but I'd rather be punched in the face than kicked in the balls.

 

[flip]

I have obtained nikonscan. Looks like I will have more time to check it out this weekend. It seemed more capable of detecting the edge of the frame than vuescan. That's nice. 🙂 I hope to produce some scans of comparable size to better recognize the point at which things pixelate. It's possible that my expectations of foma 400 and such are simply too high.

I used IR dust removal on low. No ICE. I seem to have little white specks on the negative, but I suspect this is part and parcel of re-learning to develop my own film.

I, too, prefer the punch in the face.

Thanks again for the input. I will supply more details soon.

 

[flip]

Seem to be getting the hang of this. I'm using my lens cloth to gently wipe negatives and using the dng files as the indicator of quality - which isn't half bad. yay.

I mad an attempt to convert the SA-21 to SA-30, but after 2 tries, decided I would clip the negs and get on with my life. Some other day.

 

[dfoo]

All you have to do is put a wire across two pins in the back to do the conversion. Its very simple. No need to open up the thing, which I've seen recommended in several places online.

BTW, with the CS4000 it always scans at 4000 DPI (that is the native resolution is 4000 DPI). If you request less in the software this is accomplished by the scanner software downresing the image. Requesting less DPI doesn't make the scanning go faster, nor does it produce better images. All it does is save you a step in processing the scanned image, assuming you want lower resolution images in the first place.

 

[mfogiel]

Try to switch off all dust cleaning tricks while scanning silver film, it does not work on silver, and it could be the source of your grain problem.

 

[flip]

All you have to do is put a wire across two pins in the back to do the conversion. Its very simple. No need to open up the thing, which I've seen recommended in several places online.

Unfortunately, My multimeter is in the states and my soldering iron is one of the larger types. I am wary of melting the board. 🙁

 

[Brian Puccio]

Unfortunately, My multimeter is in the states and my soldering iron is one of the larger types. I am wary of melting the board. 🙁

Again, why do you need to do this?

http://www.jrobertlennon.com/articles/vuescancoolscan/

This should take no longer than 10 seconds, a small piece of wire and a centimeter of clear tape.

There is no soldering, no melting, no taking things apart, no technical skills needed.

Being able to run a roll while I sleep and another while I'm at work lets me get 2 rolls scanned a day, sometimes 3 if I can time things right.

 

[ferider]

Congrats on the scanner, love mine. Tell us a little more about your half-frame process, please.

I recommend to start looking for an FH-3, the most valuable accessory, IMO. See here:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83811

Roland.

 

[stompyq]

Again, why do you need to do this?

http://www.jrobertlennon.com/articles/vuescancoolscan/

This should take no longer than 10 seconds, a small piece of wire and a centimeter of clear tape.

There is no soldering, no melting, no taking things apart, no technical skills needed.

Being able to run a roll while I sleep and another while I'm at work lets me get 2 rolls scanned a day, sometimes 3 if I can time things right.

THANK YOU!!!! I've looked forever for something like this.

 

[tomnrides]

Brian, thanks for the link this is invaluable info.

 

[flip]

Thanks from me, too! That's the sort of easy fix I needed.

Next challenge is frame spacing, but I think that is fixed in the current full version of vuescan. Researching that this week.

Cheers!
Phil

 

[hlockwood]

Again, why do you need to do this?

http://www.jrobertlennon.com/articles/vuescancoolscan/

This should take no longer than 10 seconds, a small piece of wire and a centimeter of clear tape.

There is no soldering, no melting, no taking things apart, no technical skills needed.

Being able to run a roll while I sleep and another while I'm at work lets me get 2 rolls scanned a day, sometimes 3 if I can time things right.

Has anyone done this on the 4000 ED, i.e., is the pin layout the same as on the 5000?

Harry

 

[stompyq]

I can confirm the jumper trick works with the 4000ED. I did it this afternoon on mine and it works like a charm.

 

[flip]

This scanner is working pretty well for me now. Still get some in-between frames, but I'm working on that. Color scans are very fast. One issue I find a bit odd is the corner burns i get. Check the right side here.

 

[Brian Puccio]

Has anyone done this on the 4000 ED, i.e., is the pin layout the same as on the 5000?

Harry

Yes, I did it on my 4000. I've never tried it on a 5000, but I assume if the author did it on his 5000 and I followed his steps on my 4000, that everyone else with either of these models can repeat it in 2 minutes.