Scanning 4 x 5" B & W negatives with Epson V800 scanner

Because of a history I'm putting together for a local college plus my own personally taken

4 x 5" B & W negatives, I had to purchase an expensive Epson V800 scanner.

 

I tried the scanner out with some old World War II Era 4 x 5" B & W negatives using most

of the "Epson Scan" default settings. The scans came out acceptable.

 

However one negative taken with a flash in a World War II servicemen's club came out

with a little too much contrast.

 

So I wanted to try to improve it by adding more mid-tones. However I could not locate any

specific information on how and why to do the following:

 

1. In which direction, why and which histogram sliders should I move in order to add more

mid-tones?

 

2. Also at the same time do I have to change the default "brightness," "contrast," and

"tone correction curve" settings? If so, how much and why?

 

I wrote to Epson asking for some basic help with this. I even enclosed screen shots

of most of the scan setting pages including the histogram page. But after spending

all that money on one of their products, this company couldn't care less because

I never received a reply to my July 17th letter. What a nice company Epson is!

 

Any help or suggestions with this scanning problem will be greatly appreciated.

 

Please note that none of my computers is hooked up to the Internet. So if a reply is

required, if may be delayed.

 

Thank you for any and all help or suggestions.

 

Ron

Don't expect Epson to tell you how to get the most out of your scanner, expect them to assist if the scanner does not work.

 

Epsonscan is the same for V500, V550, V600, V700, V800.

I run the first and 4th of these.

First off set the software to Professional Mode

Next click on the Configuration tab

click on the No Color Correction, close the box, and scan the negative, edit in post processing for the best looking image.

The histogram adjustments will be negated if the Continuous Auto Exposure is not deselected with Color Control selected.

Information in the negative will be the vertical rise above the base line.

The White triangle is the highlights, the black one the blacks, the grey one the gamma or mid tones.

Set each the black and white to the point where the information for the darkest black and brightest white start to rise above the baseline, then slide the grey one to give the desired mid tones, toward white darkens, toward black lightens, very slight movement is needed or necessary.

Don't expect Epson to tell you how to get the most out of your scanner, expect them to assist if the scanner does not work.

 

I'm really sorry that this message is so late. I have to use a library computer for the Internet. However after posting my

question, I got a lot of water damage to my apartment on two different days. So I've been busy trying to salvage

what I could and haven't been able to get to the library. (I have no car--only a bicycle)

 

Due to the fact that it will be quite a while until I clean up, I won't be able to start scanning again. But I've made a copy

of your detailed reply and will use it as a guide. However at that time several months away, I hope it will be OK to

contact you again should I have any questions.

 

I really appreciate the technical detail you went into. It's just what I was hoping for. (It's similar to what I sent Epson.)

 

Also thanks for alerting me about Epson not offering any help about how to use their products. Many years ago I worked

in the engineering department of a large manufacturing company. Although I was mostly involved with engineering, my

my company always tried to help customers with their problems. And this company was many times larger than Epson.

 

Even Eastman Kodak when it was a going business always provided me with excellent detailed help to any questions I had.

But I guess times have changed and the people who open the company mail don't have too much skill in doing much more.

Also businesses today don't want to spend the extra money for people who will help you with their problems.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to post such useful, detailed information. I really appreciate it. Hope you have a great

holiday season!

 

Sincerely, Ron

 

 

Epsonscan is the same for V500, V550, V600, V700, V800.

I run the first and 4th of these.

First off set the software to Professional Mode

[ATTACH=full]1216010[/ATTACH] Next click on the Configuration tab

[ATTACH=full]1216011[/ATTACH]

click on the No Color Correction, close the box, and scan the negative, edit in post processing for the best looking image.

The histogram adjustments will be negated if the Continuous Auto Exposure is not deselected with Color Control selected.

[ATTACH=full]1216012[/ATTACH]

Information in the negative will be the vertical rise above the base line.

The White triangle is the highlights, the black one the blacks, the grey one the gamma or mid tones.

Set each the black and white to the point where the information for the darkest black and brightest white start to rise above the baseline, then slide the grey one to give the desired mid tones, toward white darkens, toward black lightens, very slight movement is needed or necessary.

Don't expect Epson to tell you how to get the most out of your scanner, expect them to assist if the scanner does not work.

 

Epsonscan is the same for V500, V550, V600, V700, V800.

I run the first and 4th of these.

First off set the software to Professional Mode

[ATTACH=full]1216010[/ATTACH] Next click on the Configuration tab

[ATTACH=full]1216011[/ATTACH]

click on the No Color Correction, close the box, and scan the negative, edit in post processing for the best looking image.

The histogram adjustments will be negated if the Continuous Auto Exposure is not deselected with Color Control selected.

[ATTACH=full]1216012[/ATTACH]

Information in the negative will be the vertical rise above the base line.

The White triangle is the highlights, the black one the blacks, the grey one the gamma or mid tones.

Set each the black and white to the point where the information for the darkest black and brightest white start to rise above the baseline, then slide the grey one to give the desired mid tones, toward white darkens, toward black lightens, very slight movement is needed or necessary.

As suggested above, I'd try pulling down the center of the tone curve.

Here is an article the film guys occasional refer to ..

 

Kenneth Lee Gallery - Scanning Tips with Epson and VueScan Software

I believe Ken Lee posts a lot at the Large Format photo forum. As to the above settings, I would deselect the Unsharp Masking as well.

If you are going to be doing a very large number of images you might consider a Vuescan license, if only because it can be rigged up for one-button scanning to help with workflows. Unfortunately it's got a learning curve that makes Epson Scan look positively easy. And it looks like you're already behind on understanding of scanning jargon. But if you are going to find yourself scanning some gigantic archive building a workflow might be worth learning.