Digital BW, The Print

Yes it is.  Have you confirmed this with people at Silverfast? I know 
SF 6 cannot manually focus the SS120.  But there is a tab for this 
function - must be in all versions of SF.  It toggles between being 
grayed out and showing an "A".  I have assumed that "A" stands for 
autofocus - hey how about the SF documentation, eh ;-(.  

Quite frankly, I have not encountered "soft" scans when scanning 
transparencies (which is mostly what I use).  But, I am going to 
explore this further.  For me, at least, it may be a lesser problem 
because I don't scan too many negatives, and in fact have recently 
decided NEVER to shoot them any more.  I like the grain I get from 
Fujichrome Provia 400 when pushed 1 or 2 stops.  And, it is so much 
easier to scan than Tri-X or Ilford Delta 3200.  I like some features 
of SF 6, but I can live without them.

Is it possible that the problem is in your scanner?  If you like, I 
would gladly scan a couple of your negatives  to test it out.  
Contact me off-list.

If all esle fails, time to be rid of the scanner, and go with a 
Minolta or Nikon (argh  $$$$).

Regards.

Shilesh



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "frankg_photo" 
<fh.gross@s...> wrote:
> 
> 
> It seems you cant ! If you use the glass carrier you have to use 
> other scanning software like Polaroid Insight.
> Very distressing, isn't it.
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Shilesh Jani" 
> <shilesh.jani@s...> wrote:
> > So how do you ensure focus?  I also have a SS120 + SF 6.0 and use 
> the 
> > glass carrier.
> > 
> > Regards
> > 
> > Shilesh
> > 
> > --- In 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "frankg_photo" 
> > <fh.gross@s...> wrote:
> > > Problem discovered ! 
> > > After a number of months of being very frustrated by the scan 
> > > sharpness of my negs in the Polaroid glass carrier, I find out 
> that 
> > > the auto focus feature in SF does not work with the glass 
carrier 
> > > (even though the focus button is on and therefore implies that 
it 
> > > works.
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In 
> DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "frankg_photo" 
> > > <fh.gross@s...> wrote:
> > > > I know that all scans require some sharpening and that is a 
> > simply 
> > > > a 'fact of life' - but how can I tell/measure/establish if my 
> > > > particular scanner is achieving 'normal and acceptable' 
levels 
> of 
> > > > sharpness standards ?
> > > > 
> > > > I personally feel that the scans are all too soft but I've 
> never 
> > > > owned another and cant compare. I also dont know anyone else 
> with 
> > a 
> > > > similar film scanner to try the same neg or transparency 
> > elsewhere.
> > > > Even with fine grain material like Kodachrome 25 or 64 the 
> scans 
> > > > appear too soft.
> > > > 
> > > > I prefer to have no sharpening filter on in the scanner 
> software; 
> > > > preferring to leave usm to the very end of the image editing.
> > > >  And I make sure the auto focus is on (little 'target symbol' 
> in 
> > > the 
> > > > centre of the scan frame) in the scanner software.
> > > > I am using the Glass film holder to ensure a flat film plane.
> > > > 
> > > > Should I be seeing a crisp and sharp scanned image or is this 
> > > > unrealistic ? Any ideas, suggestions ?
> > > > thanks
> > > > Frank