Is Elements 5.0 adequate to work with Coolscan V (14 bits vs 8 bits)?

Maybe these questions are better in the Film Scanner category, but here goes...

I will probably eventually end up getting a Nikon Coolscan V scanner (mostly

for the digital ICE) and I understand it will scan in 14 bit mode. In order

to edit images in Elements 5.0 (don't own this yet, but am leaning towards

that direction), will they have to be scanned in 8 bit mode first? I

currently do this with a Minolta Dual Scan III. Is this an option with

Nikonscan s/w? Or should I be looking at a 16 bit editor, something

inexpensive like Picture Window Pro or Paintshop. I don't really care to get

Photoshop, to be honest I really don't enjoy editing at the computer that much

anyway, just want to be able to do a few quick tweaks before sending out to

print at a Shutterfly, MPIX or the like. Thanks for any advice you might have.

Elements 5.0 supports 16 bits, so you will be fine as far as getting the maximum color range and preserving it throughout your edits. The quality of scans is very noticable when you scan at the full color depth.

The Minolta can scan in 16-bit mode as well, though how much it uses I'm not sure. You will also notice a big difference with the higher resolution of the Nikon, assuming you scan at full res.

For the work you describe, I believe Elements 5 will be fine.

<p>Does Elements 5 support <em>all</em> operations at 16 bits? I don't have PSE5; I use PSE3. It supports a number of operations at 16 bits, including levels, highlights/shadows, saturation, and several filters. But there are also lots of things which only work at 8 bits, including anything having to do with layers and many of the tools like dodge/burn, clone, and healing.</p>

<p>That said, I don't find it a huge problem. I start out with 12-bit RAW images, and I find that most of the stuff that benefits the most from the extra bit depth (tonal adjustments) works on 16-bit images.</p>