Digital BW, The Print

mkitei writes:

> I just got an 8000, and wanting to see just how fine a superfine scan could be,
> I tried a 16x.

Superfine scans simply use a single line of the three-line CCD.  It
prevents banding in high-contrast scans, but it takes three times as
long as a regular scan.  Nikon should have called "superfine" scans
"regular" scans and "normal" scans "high-speed" scans.

The 16x is overkill in just about every conceivable case.

> What settings do you use for optimum ( a time vs. quality equasion)
> results.

In almost all cases, I leave superfine scanning off, and I use 2x
sampling at most. Digital ICE is on for color or chromogenic (C-41) B&W,
off for true black and white; I never use anything but the lowest
setting.  GEM is never on.

For some slides, especially Velvia slides of contrasty subjects and
night shots, I use the superfine mode to avoid any visible banding.  In
most other scans, the normal mode is fine.  Banding is occasionally
visible in high-contrast true B&W scans; it's rare (I don't recall ever
seeing it) in any kind of C-41 negative scan, since the contrast of
color negatives is so low to begin with.