Digital BW, The Print

From: "Marco Fogarolo" <fogmarco@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 13, 2003 9:54 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] scanning Portra 400 BW


> (message posted also in Nikon4000ed group)
>
> I 'm trying to scan the Portra 400 BW film with a Nikon coolscan IV.
> My problem is that I always have a file without a complete histogram. The
black point is always about 80% of the full range.
> I tried with the analogic gain control of the scanner but I can find
changes only in the light; I can't move the black point of histogram.
> I think it is the scanner software that removing the film orange mask
remove also the blacks (or reads the blacks as a 75% grey).
> I tried setting the scanner for BW neg and colour neg without any
difference (greyscale output). With colour setting I have a file with less
sharpness in the lights and mid tones but without differences in the
shadows.
> I tried to correct with PS layers moving the black point to the starting
point of histogram but my file looks like the shadow range was compressed,
loosing details in the dark areas.
>
> I'm thinking to scan this film as a positive in RGB mode, but how remove
the orange musk without loosing details?
>
> So I don't know how to scan this film that looks very interesting for the
possibility of use ICE.
>
> Marco Fogarolo

Marco,

 there are problems with the neg scan mode of NikonScan.
Check one solution here:

http://www.marginalsoftware.com/LS8000Notes/LS8000Notes.htm

Then there is still the problem that you can't use GEM with this detour but
there's an answer to that too:

A quote from the Nikon 8000 list

>I may have discovered that the GEM problem is not with inverted
color, but inverted curves.  I scanned a negative (with GEM) as a
positive with no curve adjustments at all.   Then inverted the curves
in the aquired image rather than the preview.  That seems to work.<

There are more flaws in the software but there is a Nikon representative at
the 8000 list, we hope that that will help to get it alright.

Ernst