Scanning Help. (Nikon Coolscan 5000)

[peter_lamotte]

I will be the first to admit that I am new to scanning photos with equipment

this nice. But I am missing something in the process. Every time I scan photos

the get a massive amount grain. I use the software in the scanner to reduce

grain, but have to think I am doing something wrong. Can anyone help here? I

am not sure what to tell you about the settings, I think I have everything on.

But if you ask a question I can tell you whatever the setting is.<div></div>

[Robert_Lai]

For color negatives or slides which are NOT Kodachrome, you can try these settings for Nikon Scan 4.0.2. These are in the "Toolbox" tab.<p>

Toolbox:<p>

Curves, color balance, unsharp mask, LCH editor all disabled.<p>

ICE normal<p>

ROC 0<p>

GEM 3 (Higher values diminish grain even more, but may blur details)<p>

DEE = off<p>

Scan Image Enhancer = OFF<p>

Multisampling 4X<p>

16 bit scans<p>

The actual grain suppression is performed by GEM (Grain equalization management), which is listed under the ICE4 tab.

<p>

If you're scanning Kodachrome, make sure that "Film type" is set to Kodachrome. Otherwise, if ICE is turned on, the scanner will crash. Kodachrome requires a modified version of ICE compared to the standard C41 or E6 films.

[peter_lamotte]

Thanks Robert, I will give it a try. And yes these are Kodachrome. I will report back.

[ilkka_nissila]

Your scan looks normal to me. At high res film scans are grainy. Try a newer film such as Fuji Astia.

[radfordneal]

If this is a 100% crop at 4000 ppi, then it looks about normal. If it's

the full frame, then it is definitely not what I'd expect. For

Kodachrome 64, I scan on a Coolscan V without ICE, and with nothing else like GEM enable either. Here's a full frame example:<div></div>

[radfordneal]

And here's a 100% crop from the above, at 4000 ppi:<div></div>

[radfordneal]

As one can see, the grain is invisible at small enlargements of the full frame, and not that bad at 100% for 4000 ppi. The main problem is the large dynamic range of Kodachrome, which the Coolscan V doesn't handle that well. The Coolscan 5000 should be better. If it's not, you're doing something wrong.

[jeff_z.]

Radford, I scan Kodachrome occasionally, too. If you disable ICE, would you mind telling

me specifically what you use to pre-clean the film before scanning? I'm guessing that you

must do so, because I've experimented both using ICE and not using it with K-64, and

when I didn't use it, the work involved with the cloning stamp was too much. Also, do you

really notice much of a difference not using ICE on Kodachrome? Thanks!

[radfordneal]

I just use a blower to try to get dust off. There can still be some gunk left, which does indeed need photoshopping away...

 

ICE sort-of works, but for Kodachrome (not C41 or E6) it also produces artifacts at times, so it's a trade-off of annoyances.

[peter_lamotte]

Those adjustment to the software did help. The colors are off but I can adjust that in Photoshop later. Thanks.