Plustek 7500i problems

[Kiyatkin]

Hello,

I used to scan tons of B&W negs in the 90's with Nikon scanners at work and got quire nice results.

Since getting back into photography, I bought a Plustek 7500i with Silverfast SE software. I cannot get a reasonable scan from it in B&W. All looks soft, super grainy and with blown out highlights.

Are there settings that I should use or some trick I am missing? The cheep lab quick scans looks better than anything I can get.

To make things worse, there are also long straight fine white lines that are impossible to remove that are obviously not on the negs.

Any ideas? I can fill in missing info as needed here...

Here is my scan (unadjusted, but adjustments help little):

Here is the lab scan (still sucks, but at least looks like a photo:

Thanks for any help.
Dmitry

 

[wblynch]

Most scans need some post processing in a program like Photoshop.

You can get good scans right out of the scanner but you have to play with the settings and can not rely on the auto functions.

I have found that my best scans are flat looking from the scanner but that gives me a lot to play with in Photoshop.

Also I believe that people have a proclivity to oversharpen their scans in attempt to make them look digital. The lab scan you posted has that way oversharpened look.

Edit: Try to rescan using a touch less 'brightness' and a tiny bit more 'contrast' and see if you like it better.

 

[lewis44]

If you are scanning B&W, the infared channel needs to be turned off. On a Nikon, no ICE, on the Plustek, whatever the dust removal is called. (I think it's iSRD)
That feature will pick up the silver in the film and try and remove it.

 

[juno_lau]

sorry to ask it here,
but how do you tell if it is oversharpened or not?
from the grain?

Most scans need some post processing in a program like Photoshop.

You can get good scans right out of the scanner but you have to play with the settings and can not rely on the auto functions.

I have found that my best scans are flat looking from the scanner but that gives me a lot to play with in Photoshop.

Also I believe that people have a proclivity to oversharpen their scans in attempt to make them look digital. The lab scan you posted has that way oversharpened look.

Edit: Try to rescan using a touch less 'brightness' and a tiny bit more 'contrast' and see if you like it better.

 

[wblynch]

The edges and highlights all have that 'crinkly' look. I know everyone thinks photos have to be razor sharp in this digital era but I don't think most 'sharpening' software really helps.

If you look closely at the posted lab scan jpg, all the edges and features have extreme jaggies.

I'm sure for a 4x6 print the photo looks great and that's all lab scans are intended to do is create 4x6 prints on the automated equipment.

You own scan is much better than the lab scan.

 

[v3cron]

Multiexposure scan as HDR file, adjust curves and compensatory sharpening in Photoshop.

 

[---f]

I have the same scanner and have been getting terrible results from the Silverfast software for all my BW shots. Yesterday I downloaded Vuescan and tried it out. It was night and day. The default settings from Vuescan gave me an image with way more density in the mid to high values. I knew there was something wrong with the software since my negs showed way more detail than the scanning software was pulling out. So from now on I'm scanning with Vuescan.

See a compared scan. Vuescan on the left (watermarked demo software) to the Silverfast on the right:

 

[v3cron]

Be careful with Vuescan - I've used it for years with other scanners, but had some registration issues with multipass scanning on my 7600i. Silverfast works well, just use HDR.

 

[mdruziak]

Odd artifacts on B/W scans are almost always caused by using infrared dust and scratch removal. Make sure you turn iSRD off.

A couple of tips...

Make sure you select the correct film type in Silverfast.
For well exposed negs, try the Auto feature in Silverfast.

Please let me know how you are making out.

 

[---f]

Be careful with Vuescan - I've used it for years with other scanners, but had some registration issues with multipass scanning on my 7600i. Silverfast works well, just use HDR.

For the images above, the HDR still didn't come out as well as in Vuescan.

In hindsight, I would've bought the 7200 or 7300 without the iR since I'm only scanning B&W