Vuescan, possible to have a neutral setting?

[gerbilthemistake]

Hello i started developing my own B+W maybe 4 months ago so i am still very new to it. i have a minolta dual scan iv and i use vuescan, my question is, is there any way to have vuescan setup so that when i scan my negatives they are scanned without any changes to contrast, color, exposure or anything. A completely neutral scan that basically scans the negative as it is. If so, how do i achieve such a setting and do i just scan in raw. some of the raw output settings confuse me as to which boxes to check and uncheck.

Any help would be appreciated

thanks,
tim

 

[rich815]

Did you shoot all your images under identical controlled lighting (like in a studio)? If not I think you'll find it better to use Vuescan's adjustments to get your basic contrast at least at a level where highlights and shadows are not blown out and you scan for high-bit and go from there. I generally scan for a very flat neg preserving both ends. The results is not "raw" per se but to get to the best for each neg usually requires a small bit of tweaking for the scan. I use film type Kodak and either Tmax 100 or 400 and then sample each contrast setting below the Tmax settings to find one that gives me a nice histogram without clipping and scan that at high bit. Then use Photoshop with that master scan to apply tonal changes, contrast changes and sharpening.

 

[gerbilthemistake]

ah ok that makes sense, i was just thinking that if i am using presets on a scanner that i would never know what a particular film ever looked like. but my way of thinking could very well be wrong since i dont have that much experience with different types of film and what not.

 

[rich815]

IMO the different "personalities" of film are very much over-rated. Yes, there are differences but with differences in developers, how you expose, development technique and so forth they overlap a lot in the look you get. I have images shot on Delta 100 developed in D-76 that I swear look very similar to ones shot on Plus-X developed in Rodinal. You will in time find consistencies and looks that you find you may like from a certain film and/or film and developer combination but that really takes some time to find as so many people have very subjective ideas of what they want from their B&W work. Many will say pick one film and one developer and stick with it to learn it's nuances and to get the most from it. I cannot argue that as it sure sounds good but I have found through a lot of experimenting and experience with different films and developers that you can get wonderful results and wonderful tonality from almost any film with many different developers. I have in time found some I consider my favs that I sort of gravitate to but then I never forego a deal on any B&W film should I see it, no matter which type it is...

 

[Honus]

Yes, I agree with Rich. I use the same scanner as you do with Vuescan. I will normally start with the TMax 400 & D-76 0.50 setting, then adjust based on the histogram. I also set the black and white point to 0%. I'll just use the setting that gives me the widest tonal range without clipping.

Vuescan may not be the most intuitive interface out there, but once you get over the learning curve it is a great tool.

 

[aparat]

Hello i started developing my own B+W maybe 4 months ago so i am still very new to it. i have a minolta dual scan iv and i use vuescan, my question is, is there any way to have vuescan setup so that when i scan my negatives they are scanned without any changes to contrast, color, exposure or anything. A completely neutral scan that basically scans the negative as it is. If so, how do i achieve such a setting and do i just scan in raw. some of the raw output settings confuse me as to which boxes to check and uncheck.

Any help would be appreciated

thanks,
tim

If I am not mistaken, you are talking about so-called linear scans. Yes, it is possible to get such scans with Vuescan. In fact, Vuescan is a perfect tool for it. Linear scan is exactly how the scanner "sees" each frame. Then, software, either your scanning software, or external software, applies curves, levels, color balance, etc.
Here's my workflow, perhaps you will find it useful:
1. B&W negatives - scan as linear, 16-bit, TIFFS (either grayscale or RGB). Scan, then import into Photoshop and convert with ColorNeg

2. Color negatives - scan as linear, 16-bit TIFFS (RGB) or 64-bit RGBi (this is Vuescan's file that contains information about dust and scratches removal). Scan, then import into Photoshop and convert with ColorNeg

3. Color slides - scan as linear, 16-bit DNG files. Scan, then import into Photoshop and convert with Adobe Camera RAW.

Notes:
ColorNeg is a plug-in for Photoshop that does an excellent job processing linear TIFFs. It has lots of presents for particular types of film and a great deal of options.

Here's how to set up Vuescan for linear TIFFs

Adobe Camera RAW does an excellent job with color slides scanned as DNG.

If you don't want to use ColorNeg, you can just as easily use Vuescan to do your conversions. This might actually speed up your workflow. You can scan in batch as linear TIFFs (the quickest way to scan), and then do your conversions by importing your linear TIFFs back into Vuescan and applyting Vuescan's conversion tools. Vuescan does a great job of that, but I still prefer ColorNeg and Adobe Camera RAW.

Hope it helps.

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[gerbilthemistake]

thanks guys. aparat that is a lot of info there for me to digest it is late right now but i cant wait to try out what you just explained and i am sure i will have plenty of question about what to do and what this or that does. thanks everybody.

tim

 

[aparat]

thanks guys. aparat that is a lot of info there for me to digest it is late right now but i cant wait to try out what you just explained and i am sure i will have plenty of question about what to do and what this or that does. thanks everybody.

tim

I am glad you've find this useful. Please, do ask questions, I will be more than happy to answer them. You can email me directly or discuss this on the forum.
Good luck!
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[gerbilthemistake]

thanks aparat, i have a small question i went ahead and did a linear scan on a frame and when i open color neg it doesnt seem to have any profiles for B+W film, is that only available in the registered version?

 

[aparat]

thanks aparat, i have a small question i went ahead and did a linear scan on a frame and when i open color neg it doesnt seem to have any profiles for B+W film, is that only available in the registered version?

No, I believe there are no B&W settings. The question is: do you really need B&W settings?

It is nearly impossible to come up with profiles for B&W films because of the inherent variability in film/developer/technique/temperature variations. In C-41, one can at least assume that all films are processed in the same way, so the differences that must be accounted for in further processing (printing, scanning, etc.) result from different emulsion characteristics.

The linear scan gives you what the scanner "sees," then ColorNeg simply adjusts gamma (working with luminosity only), so you don't lose any film character in the process. In fact, you can think of adjusting the gamma slider as choosing different grade papers in a wet darkroom. I would still prefer to get a neutral contrast conversion and fine-tune my adjustments in Photoshop.

ColorNeg is a good starting point for getting the most out of a B&W scan. I would also stick with ColorNeg's auto conversions for a while, until you develop a better sense of what your end print needs to look like. Also, if your digital workflow is sound, most variation in your final output will result from film/developer combinations and from your developing technique (temperature control, agitation, etc.)

As I mentioned earlier, you can also use Vuescan to do those B&W conversions. Vuescan has some presents for TMax films, but I never found them useful.

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