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Nikon 8000 scanning for higher dynamic range


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<p>I use a Nikon 8000 and Nikon Scan 4. I scan only B&W negs and scan them as 'negatives'.<br>

For the most part I'm very pleased with this, but on some difficult negs I'm finding there is a loss of highlight detail. What can I do to improve this?<br>

Can I set up NS 4 more effectively? What are the optimum settings for a full dynamic range on Tri-X negs? Or do I need to use Vuescan or Silverfast? If so, which is better for optimum B&W?</p>

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<p>Scan as positive.<br>

I have a 5000 and experienced the same problems as you. Ultimately I settled on scanning as a positive after going through various iterations of approaches. I also set it to greyscale rather than colour and use the curves to invert the image immediately (just drag the dark point all the way up and the light point all the way down). All other tweaking I save for Photoshop (which usually amounts to setting the black and white points with 0.01% clipping and then adjusting the gamma with the midpoint levels slider to taste). In some cases I use curves because the highlights can take up remarkable amounts of the histogram; for example, in some of my scans the flash reflection off a gloss white cane bassinette took up the top third of the histogram.</p>

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<p>A properly exposed negative has a density range well within the capability of the LS-8000. The dMax of the LS-8000 is 4.2, which is 4 stops beyond the highest value for Tri-X charted by Kodak (3.0), and 8-10 stops higher than the 18% exposure level.</p>

<p>Scan in 14-bit mode and adjust the exposure so that the histogram is tapered at both ends of the scale. Don't try to use Digital ICE.</p>

<p>If you have a seriously overexposed image, you might try making two or more scans with with normal exposure and others with the sensitivity boosted in two stop increments, then using HDR Merge (or Photomatix) to blend the successive scans.</p>

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<p>To be clear - the problem with clipped highlights while using the negative setting in NikonScan 4 is software related as the results from setting it to Positive demonstrate that the hardware is up to the task.<br>

One other thing I noted was that the negative setting in NikonScan appeared to apply a 'strong contrast' transformation to the scan. I could more or less replicate the look of the NikonScan negative output with a positive scan by clipping heavily and then applying a 'strong conrtast' curves adjustment in Photoshop.<br />(I don't know what the actual dMax of the scanners is as I've never seen any tests on that - 4.2 or 4.8 for the 5000 are just marketing numbers that merely reflect the fact that the 8000 is 14-bit and the 5000 is 16-bit. Regardless the hardware should be up to the task.)</p>

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<p>DMax is the maximum density that can be read by the scanner with a resulting signal greater than the noise level. It has nothing to do with the bit depth or, as commonly assumed, the dynamic range. Furthermore, I have no problem scanning Tri-X film, as a negative (automatic inversion), using Nikonscan or Silverfast AI. As you say, it's all in software. You have to let Nikonscan do its job, in 14-bit mode, with most of the adjustments turned off.</p><div>00Vmbb-221035584.jpg.1d2ece15ea686f123b02f62b933cb8f5.jpg</div>
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<p>Edward,<br>

I am having trouble in 14 bit mode. Negatives that I printed well in the conventional darkroom, with dodging and burning, where I can see clear detail in the highlights are showing as burned out in the highlights form scans.<br>

"adjust the exposure so that the histogram is tapered at both ends of the scale"<br>

this is the bit I'm not getting - when my highlights are blowing, the histogram is flowing over on the right. I would love to be able to bring it all back so it tapers on the right, as in your example (and as I can easily do in lightroom from a digital Raw), but I don't know how. I've played around with this and I just can't get it to happen.<br>

This is precisely why I'm asking for help. Complete manipulation seems impossible.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>John,<br>

I have tried your method and so far it seems to work. The histogram gets a different shape and shifts well to the left. Thank you.<br>

But . . .<br>

"and use the curves to invert the image immediately (just drag the dark point all the way up and the light point all the way down)."<br>

When I try the above the two points wont cross over each other - I can bring them together at any point, but can' get them to cross over. What am I doing wrong?</p>

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<p>Robert,<br>

I click on the lower left corner of the line and the cursor changes to a sort of target and drag it up to the top. I then click on the upper right corner and drag that all the way down. (Or vice versa). I never had any problems with it catching at any point and refusing to invert. This step is not essential as it can easily be done in Photoshop, but it just makes it easier to interpret the image within NikonScan if you need to do anything at scan time.<br>

The different histogram shape reflects the strong contrast adjustment that NikonScan does to negative scans. For example, the positive scan will typically be single peaked while the negative scan will be double peaked. You can replicate the default negative look by applying a strong contrast s-curve in Photoshop curves (or NikonScan). For myself, I generally prefer the aesthetics of the positive scan with its greater weight in midtones/greys and find it easier to move from that to a stronger contrast image than doing the reverse.</p>

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<p>Another option to consider is the CF Systems Color Perfect Photoshop plug-in. Scan as a linear positive and then invert with the plug-in. Here's a link to a site with examples and information on how to get a good linear 16 bit positive scan (examples are from an earlier version of the software).</p>

<p>http://www.colorneg.de/virtualgrades.html?lang=en<br /> http://www.colorneg.de/nikonscan.html?lang=en</p>

<p>And here's where you can download a demo version:</p>

<p>http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html</p>

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<p>Try scanning in Nikonscan RAW mode (or Silverfast HDR). That will get as much information in the image file as possible. You must use Nikonscan to manipulate the RAW files, but you can try as many scenarios as you wish without affecting the original. This is a great time-saver because you don't have to load and scan the film repeatedly. When you find the right combination, use those settings when you scan. Unfortunately, you can't use Lightroom or ACR with this type of RAW file.</p>
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