Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/12/19

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Subject: [Leica] B&W Film Scanner
From: drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)
Date: Mon Dec 19 09:10:12 2005

I have the original Minolta 5400. Some people have claimed that it does
a better job on silver BW film because it has florescent tubes -- as
does the Polaroid 4000 -- rather than an LED light source. I don't know
if that makes any difference. But I really like my 5400.

I bought the 5400 because it was less expensive. I wasn't sure how much
film I'd be scanning. Turns out I'm scanning a lot. I bought a scanner
to occasionally scan old negs. I wasn't shooting any film. Now I'm
shooting film again.  

Nikon scanners are built extremely well. They work. They're a safe bet.
They're also the most expensive and no guarantee you'll get great
results. 

A good negative or slide is easy to scan and scanner will do. It's less
than perfect negs/slides that test your scanner, and your scanning
skills.  

FWIW, I proof everything on an Epson 1680 flatbed, which can scan a
whole roll at one time. I've spent time and resources scanning images
high res and processing large files only to end up with a small JPG that
I could have made on the 1680.    

Scanner software seems to be getting better. Some people swear by
Vuescan. I have Vuescan pro. I've used Vuescan since I bought my first
Coolscan 6 years ago, so I'm pretty familiar with it.  But I still use
Minolta Scan utility (raw mode). It's easy and it works. I make
adjustments in PS. I've used Nikonscan and Silverfast. I wasn't
impressed by Silverfast, although some people love it. 

I never understood the difference between having scanner software adjust
the files, or just scanning raw and adjusting in Photoshop. Everything
starts with a RAW file. I trust Photoshop more than most scanning
software; perhaps because I have more visibility into what's happening
in PS. I make the adjustments. It may make sense to use scanning
software for color, since most software has built in color adjustments
for film type. But not BW. Maybe somebody can shed some enlightenment on
that.  

DaveR 


On 12/19/05, Nick Hillyer <obecalp@gmail.com> wrote:
> I am looking for a film scanner to scan my Tri-X negatives, and an
curious
> what others are getting good results with.  I tried a Minolta Scan
Dual IV,
> but couldn't get it to work with my Mac, and ultimately returned it.
I have
> been thinking about the Nikon Coolscan V with Vuescan (which seems to
be
> highly recommeded), but I have not found a lot of info on how it
handles
> silver based B&W film.  Anyone using this combo?  What are your
thoughts?
>
> Thanks!
> Nick
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>





Replies: Reply from bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen) ([Leica] B&W Film Scanner)