What to expect from a nikon ls-5000 ?

[yoni_weismuller]

Hi,

 

I've had some 35mm negatives scanned, allegedly with a ls5000. The exif data of

the files seems legit (Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED, nikonscan 4.0.0 W, dpi,

4000, etc) and the files are huge indeed. Also, it is clear that ICE has been

applied.

 

The issue comes when I compare the scans of the ls5000 with the ones obtained

with a ls1000 and vuescan from the same negative. The picture is bigger, but i

see no extra detail. Moreover, I've upscaled the ls1000 scans from its 2400 to

4000 with photoshop cs3 and the results are about the same.

 

Now, some *unedited* images:

 

full frame:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4122/fullframedp2.jpg

 

ls5000 crop:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6777/cropls5000kk1.jpg

 

ls1000 crop:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9537/cropls1000ut6.jpg

 

ls1000 crop upscaled to 4000dpi:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4779/cropls1000upscaledco8.jpg

 

 

My questions are:

 

Is this because, generally speaking, there's no information worth 4000 dpi in a

35mm negative (shot with reflex camera, 55m fixed focus lens, hand held, asa100)?

 

Where my expectations regarding the ls5000 too high or am i comparing the scans

incorrectly?

 

Am i just a pixel-perfect paranoid or there's something wrong here?

 

thanks

[wogears]

I can see a fair amount of difference between the 1000 and 5000 scans. It IS true that the information on a 35mm neg is somewhere between a 2400 and 4000 dpi scan, but the 5000 looks substantially better here. Also, it appears that the 5000 scan was made WITH ICE and the 1000 was not. The noise in the 5000 scan is much, much better, and yet there is more detail in the 5000.

[Ed_Ingold]

The key factor is "hand-held" - the great leveler of resolution. At ISO 100, the shutter speed is what? 1/50 second. If it's not on film, it won't matter what resolution you use to scan.

 

The grain, at least, is well defined in the LS-5000 scan.

[roger_smith4]

It looks like the focus is maybe a bit off on the collar crop with the LS-5000 scan. I'd suggest doing a few comparison crops at different places in the frame to see if you are getting grain-sharp scans or if it's a focus/film curvature issue.

 

Also the LS-5000 scan is a bit darker which is masking some detail. Try a quick levels adjustment before comparing.