The image posted is from scans (Vuescan on the left, Nikon on the right) preceding any post-processing. Note that detail in the shadowed areas is much more apparent with the Nikon scan.
Vuescan endpoints are default (0,1) for my use. I've altered them, but didn't see any improvement. This isn't an indictment on the overall merits of Vuescan (because it does many things well), but judging from postings on various discussion sites, what I have experienced is a widespread, longstanding and consistent issue that detracts from getting a "scan and done" archive quality image. Hence my enduring the aggravations of resuscitating Nikon's software.