Flexcolor USM and canned profiles

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>I have to questions regarding the Flexcolor Software.</p>

<p>1. The myth of the -120 USM:<br>

I think setting USM to -120 does not switch USM off, instead it's just blurring the scan a bit.<br>

You can easily check this if you open a 3F-file in photoshop directly (either via the 3F-plugin or renaming the 3F-file to .tif).<br>

What you will see IS the raw data (which is just a 16bit tif-file) and you will see that the sharpness is identical to just having set USM to "0".</p>

<p>2. The canned profiles:<br>

These differ mostly in the saturation setting (most have +15), the gradiation curve (some of them) and the histogram.<br>

If you let aside the first two (saturation and gradiation) and press the auto-button they become pretty much useless. So what's the point of them? Just to show a quick preview?<br>

Having different setting in the color correction tab would be more sense, but that isn't the case.</p>

[digitaldog]

<blockquote>

<p>I think setting USM to -120 does not switch USM off, instead it's just blurring the scan a bit.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well no, it is not a myth. That is zero USM. This is the skinny straight from Imacon (I used to teach the Imacon U). At least on the old days, that was the case, perhaps a newer version changed the behavior (can’t see why they would do this, the -120 was never a secret),</p>

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>Please have a look here.<br /> The raw scanner data (3F) looks pretty much the same like USM=0 in Flexcolor.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6784306381_a52720ea0d_o.jpg" alt="" width="849" height="1542" /><br>

Fullsize Link: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6784306381_a52720ea0d_o.jpg</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>There is nothing raw about that (despite the name created for marketing). There is nothing that therefore suggests a ‘raw scan’ doesn’t have USM applied! </p>

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>The 3F files are just ordinary 16bit tif-files (with some more meta data than a "normal" tif).<br /> I suppose they are not corrected in any kind but of course these files could already have some sort of USM applied, but changing the value to -120 would then mean to alter (blur) the file and not to switch it off.</p>

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>I found the "solution" and we were both right:<br /> If you scan directly to tif then USM = -120 will turn sharpening off.<br /> But if you scan as 3F a value of 120 is always applied (resulting in USM = 0).<br /> So saving a 3F as tif with USM = -120 will actually blur the pre-sharpened scan and you are not able to turn sharping off as with the direct to tif scans.</p>

<p>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imaconusers/message/4697</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Hi, I asked Hasselblad support about Imacon sharpening and got the response below. Note that different settings are needed for Tiff and 3f scans if no sharpening is wanted. Fred Bjorksten Yes that is correct. If you don’t want to add sharpness to your Tiff scan (made from a preview scan) UMS must be set to -120 and the check box must be checked.<br /><br />A value of 120 USM will always be applied to 3f scans. If you don’t want to add any extra USM to your 3f scans USM must be set to 0 and the check box checked.<br /><br />Best regards,<br /><br />Anne-Marie<br />Hasselblad Technical Support<br />www.hasselblad.com</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I also just played around a bit and it seems like using USM=-60 on 3F-scans comes pretty close to using USM=-120 on tif-scans. -120 on 3F-scans makes them look to blurry.</p>

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>Here is another example comparing 3F-scans and direct TIF-scans.<br>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6788864427_255bf066aa_o.jpg" alt="" /><br>

Fullsize: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6788864427_255bf066aa_o.jpg</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>What is the reason you (or anyone) would deal with this 3F stuff? It isn’t a raw. It appears to alter the data the scanner would produce if you just created a TIFF which would apply no USM at -120. </p>

[daniel_mitschke]

<p>I just like the concept of the 3F-workflow.<br>

And if you let scan (like many do) you almost have no other choice.</p>

[allen_ying]

<p>hey,<br>

is this for sure still the case?<br>

i use 3f scans so i can get the most out of my imacon rental time, so that i can set all the settings and export 16bit tif files after i get home. this is especially helpful with color neg, i find it makes a big difference how the file is color corrected in flexcolor, so it takes some time clicking around.<br>

i was used to using -120 sharpening before making 3f scans, and continued to do so after...<br>

seems kind of shame if a 3f is already sharpened, then we'd essentially be blurring it to match a straight tif scan...<br>

not to mention i've for the last year been using tons of scans that have been blurred...</p>

<p> </p>