Why Unsharp Mask -120 on Imacon?

[tony_black1]

I rent Imacons in several labs in London and some says scan your films with

unsharp mask -120. Why is that?

[emre]

Because setting it to zero does not entirely disable USM.

[jagtar_semplay]

I too have -120 unsharp mask setting due to the software's default setting at 0 is actually

sharpening by +120. So adjusting all scans at -120 will give a less sharpening of grain,

artefacts within film particularly neg film.

 

Hope this helps as I use an Imacon Flextight 848 at my studio and really like the scan quality.

 

Regards

Jagtar, London UK.

[elliot_n]

I used to scan with USM set to '-120', but now prefer the results with USM switched off

(which I assume is the same as having USM set to zero).

 

I scan medium and large format colour negs on an Imacon 949.

 

I think

'-120' is too soft. Not a problem if I you can add a bit of bite using Photoshop's USM, but

Flexcolor and Photoshop seem to apply USM differently. I think Flexcolor is better for this

initial 'capture' sharpening.

 

(When using rental scanners, it's a good idea to scan 3f files. Process these files in

Flexcolor at home - more time to check out the different parameters...)

[philippartridge]

I was looking at some old raw scans a friend did on his mid range Imacon last weekend and was shocked to see seriously bad haloing and over-sharpened grain! I cannot understand why any scanner maker would inflict *any* sharpening on users by default, but many do, of course.

 

None I have seen do it well, IMO - I am guessing they aim for users who do not use dedicated tools like PS. I use Photokit Sharpener, for night and day results over scan software, with the option to vary several layers at capture and for final preparation. Even PS CS2 is far ahead of the mess the Imacon produced...and there are so many good methods to carry out this function, why not get a true raw scan?