Digital BW, The Print

I believe that this opinion about the Minolta being the sharpest film 
scanner is because sharpening cannot be completely turned off in Minolta 
scanners. No matter how you instruct the software, the scanner persists in 
applying some sharpening to the image. This was reason enough for me to 
reject the Minolta when I was medium-format scanner shopping and settle 
instead on a Polaroid Sprintscan 120 which was still in production when I 
made my purchase. The Sprintscan works great though slowly. Silverfast is 
superb though eccentric. I prefer to sharpen in Photoshop using a 
specialized plug-in that lets me sharpen edges without sharpening grain. 
The Nikon 8000 was also rejected because its shallow depth of field 
requires negatives to be supported with a glass film holder to preserve 
sharp corners and its collimated light source heightens the appearance of 
dust and scratches in black-and-white silver negatives. I expect that a 
sharpened Sprintscan image would be a close match to either of the others.

At 08:42 AM 1/29/2002, culturalvisions wrote:

>I am in agreement with Mahesi.  I am probably being too harsh
>on my Minolta Pro.  The best scans are in the slide mode no
>matter what the film.  It seems like the Minolta color adjustment
>settings are best avoided even though they seem so simple and
>comprehensive.  My b/w prints look good.  The prints from color
>negatives suffer the most.  Slides look great.
>
>I should get the Polaroid test scans back soon.  They will be
>done with Silverfast.  So far, Minolta is the sharpest film scanner
>for under $3000, but Nikon makes the best looking scans overall
>from color negatives.  Nikon has better color rendition, less
>grain, less blown out highlights, but can look soft beyond about
>a 20X24 inch blow up.
>
>I also want to support Alan Zinn's comment on the "grain"
>postings that comparing scanners is a great way to learn about
>scanners and scanning.
>
>Frank
>
>--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Mahesi Caplan-Faust"
><caplan@n...> wrote:
> > I thought I would throw in my pennys worth on the subject of the
>minolta
> > Pro. I print with Piezo inks. I scan all B&W  6x7 negs in colour
>slide mode
> > with 4 times oversampling. I do no adjustments in with the
>minolta sofware
> > and leave all that to photoshop. I then invert and have to convert
>to
> > greyscale in order to export to the Piezo software. I have been
>getting
> > truely lovely tonality and incredible depth of detail. No doubt
>Frank has a
> > more informed and professional eye than mine but I am very
>happy with the
> > results and they are an improvement on my Wet processed
>prints.
> >
> > Adam
> >   -----Original Message-----
> >   From: Victor Landweber [mailto:victor@l...]
> >   Sent: 28 January 2002 23:43
> >   To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...
> >   Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Re: Minolta Pro Vs Nikon 8000: Grain
>vs Softness
> >
> >
> >   Frank --
> >
> >   I will be very interested in hearing about your Polaroid 120
>experience.
> >   Will your prior disappointment with the Minolta and Silverfast
>keep you
> >   from trying Silverfast with the Polaroid? I have a low opinion of
> >   Polaroid's alternative software -- Polacolor Insight.
> >
> >   Thank you for persevering with your thorough medium-format
>scanner search.
> >
> >   -- Victor Landweber
> >
> >
> >   At 09:28 PM 1/28/2002 +0000, you wrote:
> >
> >   >Earlier in this post I said that I scanned the same color negs
>on
> >   >a Nikon and on a Minolta Pro.  I will now scan those same
>negs
> >   >on a Polaroid 120.  I'll get them to my friend this week so I
>can
> >   >add a more informed opinion to our options.
> >   >
> >   >  After working with my Minolta for 3 months, trying Silverfast
>HDR
> >   >(much too much grain) as well as the Minolta software, I am
> >   >dissatisfied and cannot recommend the product for any
>negative
> >   >scanning.  The problem is squarely placed on the grain
>aliasing.
> >   >There are other problems such as the highlights blow out
>very
> >   >quickly, but I would be happy to simply get an answer for the
> >   >graininess.
> >   >
> >   >I have scanned b&w and color negs as slides, negs (both
>b/w
> >   >and color) and as 16 bit linear files.  I have oversampled 16
> >   >times, added Gem, Ice and Roc, added gaussian blur and
>used
> >   >the smudge tool.  I have tried the workarounds that have
>been
> >   >offered on this list.  I have not tried Neatscan (or whatever)
> >   >because I have a Mac.  I have also not tried VueScan.
> >   >
> >   >I will say that the negative carriers and the software is a
>pleasure
> >   >to work with.  Ergonomically, this machine is great.  The
>problem
> >   >is in the results from negatives.  Slides look great.
> >   >
> >   >I am considering selling the Minolta Pro.  If anyone out there
> >   >wants it, I will send it to Minolta warranty service, first , so
>they
> >   >can completely go through it , and then send it off to you.  I
>will do
> >   >this for $300 less than what any Minolta Pro is selling for on
>the
> >   >web.
> >
> >
> >
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