scanning slide is a b$@#!ch

[jaffa_777]

Just come back from a big trip into the outback. I shot about 2/3rd slide and the rest colour print. Well man I got so excited getting my film back and looking at that gorgeous 120 slide on my little light table. So rich and dripping wet with colour and contrast. But scanning them in seens to be another thing altogother. :bang:

The lighter, less contrasty ones scan in no problem and I can boost the contrast a bit after to give them some pop and they turn out really good, better than anything actually. But the ones that look beatifull and rich on the light table just turn out like crap on the scanner. I am not sure what to do? I have a Nikon 9000 and use Silverfast AI with HDR, if anyone else has got the same maybe they can give me some tips, thanks!

The colour print film surprised me actually. It's deceptively good and my keeper ratio is a lot better. I think I will shoot a lot more print film from now on and save the slide to only the best light. But when you do get a slide right and am able to scan it, well nothing beats it.


Here are some of the ones that have worked and I am happy with.

 

[rogue_designer]

Some nice shots in there!

Can you post an example of the ones you think fail? perhaps we can help diagnose what's going on.

My guess is a scanner setting issue - probably clipping contrast - I love the 9000 when i get a chance to borrow my friends. I have started shooting neg film almost exclusively now - the extra range is well appreciated.

 

[gavinlg]

Love the shots! What film where you using, and where abouts in the Australian Outback were you? Some of it is quite desolate but most is very beautiful.... In a desolate sort of way....

 

[jaffa_777]

Cool rogue designer, you will have to give me an idea on how to adjust the settings. As for the ones not working I will post some denser slide scans tomorrow, its late and I gotta go nye nyes.


Cheers

 

[jaffa_777]

Hi Gavin, these were shot on a Mamiya 6 RF using E100g. I fnd the mamiya lenses very contrasty in themselves, and films like velvia or E100vs I find I can't really use. These are from the Kimberly and the Pilbara.

 

[dmr]

OMG, those are gaw-jus! If the ones I've been scanning the past couple days (30yo Ektachromes) looked anything like yours, it would be nirvana!

All I have experience with is the K-M Scan Dual IV, but I've never had any real trouble with any normal slides. As RD said, if you post some of the ones you're having trouble with maybe the collective gang here can help.

 

[cmedin]

Looking forward to this discussion... I have some MF slides that I have never seen other than on a lightbox, and while they look just gorgeous there my attempts at scanning fell short. Using an Epson 4490 here, and getting killer results on negatives so guessing I just need to tweak something somewhere.

 

[dmr]

Using an Epson 4490 here, and getting killer results on negatives so guessing I just need to tweak something somewhere.

Lots of people seem to report great scans with color negative film, but awful scans on slides. I was braced for this when I got the scanner, but my experience was that there was a learning curve, and when that was successfully climbed, scans from both negatives and slides were about equal in quality and consistency.

I think the thing that made the most improvement for me was attention to detail, like make sure the slide is clean, help the auto-focus if the slide is bowed, do multiple passes always and always scan at a much higher res than you really need. Scan at 16 bits if you have that.

One trick I learned is to avoid making all kinds of adjustments on the scanner software. I'll do level adjustments if they are not in the ballpark, but nothing fancy. Clean up in Photoshop later.

Here's one I recently posted on the photo section of a local board.

This is just a quickie scan, stock K-M software, auto-exposure, auto-focus, minimal Photoshopping for minor levels and spotting. Of course this is 35mm and not 120.

 

[mfogiel]

I do have Silverfast, but don't use it in favour of Vuescan... one of the things to do is to check the "multipass" option for getting better shadow details - normally you get 75% of the improvement just with a double pass, and most people who use it don't see improvements beyond quadruple pass, so check it. This is a function brought up on purpose for contrasty slides.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

But the ones that look beatifull and rich on the light table just turn out like crap on the scanner.

Be sure to turn "auto-brightness" off; people love the results with negative film with it (that's what it's for), but when you're scanning slides, you *really* don't want to mess with that exposure.

Set HDR to "positive" scanning, and turn the autobrightness off. I forgot exactly how to then do the next step, but you *must* also set your Gamma in the preferences to 2.0, not 2.2 (trust me, it doesn't make sense, but it seems to make a huge difference).

And last(ly), try to turn the shadow compensation off. I've seen many pictures ruined by it; I never turn that feature of ICE on. It makes for some cheesy, tacky scans. And it will ruin slide film scans most of the time. In my experience.

 

[cmedin]

Well, after re-reviewing the slides I always thought were so awesome, I think I've convinced myself that the colors aren't really as great as I thought after all... so I will find some better examples to scan.

Here's one.. sorry for the dirty neg!

http://www.beyondthematrix.com/stmtrocks.jpg

 

[jaffa_777]

Ok, thanks to Gabriel and everyone else too. Gabriel, I turned off auto brightness and changed the Gamma value to 2.00 and it has fixed the problem straight away! I am now getting unbelievable scans and seeing the potential that the nikon 9000 plus medium format can produce! Thanks

On another topic, I have just started scanning in some of my x-pan slides and I have to say I am very impressed with the type of resolution this camera produces. Compared to my Mamiya 6 it's a very beautifull sharpness with more tonal graduations and less the brutal sharpness of the Mamiya.

The Mamiya's are great, but I think they are a very different concept of drawing compared to the xpan lens which would essentialy be a fuji lens? or a zeiss? not sure? Anyway there is a huge difference in the way the two draw. I really wish the Mamiya's were like the Zeiss T* lenses but I guess that would mean I would have to carry a Blad around which would be way to heavy and restrictive.

Anyway here are some pics from the xpan for you to see and compare if you like.

 

[Ronald M]

The biggest hurdle is to scan on manual rather than auto. Just set it up yourself and don`t let some algorithm decide what it should look like.