Digital BW, The Print

I have an Epson 4990 flatbed scanner which includes a frame for strips of negatives. 

I want to scan the negs to at least make decent proof sheets, but my first attempt was absolutely horrible. 

Using color produced scans with a heavy blue tint, and using 16 bit gray scale gave me very flat, dull gray scans with a Dot Gain 20% embedded profile. 

I used Professional mode, B&W negatives, and changed no other settings except the 16 bit gray scale. 

Can anyone point me in the right direction to get decent scans from chromagenic B&W film (Ilford XP-2 or Kodak BW400CN)? 

Thanks in advance, 

Walter 


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