Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>Where I work we have a Polaroid SprintScan 35 LE. When I scan slides they >are coming out fairly dark and detail is lost in the shadow areas. I can >turn up the brightness in the settings, but then the blacks look faded and >I am still losing detail. I can restore the blacks in Photoshop, but I >still have the feeling something is not right. Have you tried different gamma settings in the scanner software? >When we first got the >scanner a year or so ago I seem to remember a well exposed slide would need >very little adjustment. Now, they all need to be lightened and tinkered >with. If this is consistent, find a setting that works then save that setting so you can use it over as needed. > >Negatives don't seem to be affected quite so badly, but the highlights are >tending to block up and lose detail. If a negative is dense enough it can >be quite difficult to deal with, sometimes impossible, even though it is >printable in a conventional darkroom. The limited dynamic range of this scanner may be the problem and even the best desktop scanners will be overcome by really dense film. Your scanner has a density range of 3.0 which is not great. It probably is NOT going to give exceptional shadow detail from dense areas. Lack of detail in shadows will happen even more when the film is dense. (transparency is underexposed or B&W negative overexposed). Exposure for desktop scanners can be different (thinner) than what might be just right for a slide projector. Thinking about your exposure in terms of the final output will help you here. If you know the picture is headed to your scanner try for a smaller dynamic range in the scene if you can. > >When the scanner was first installed in the lab, the person running the lab >insisted that it be left on all the time. Huh? this is a bad idea. Do you leave your car running in the driveway when you're not using it? Same goes for monitors. >He's gone now You're lucky here. (no personal offense to him intended) > and I make sure the scanner is off when not in use. The original bulb had turned pretty >dark. I put in a new bulb hoping that would fix my problems, but that >helped little if at all. If you are pretty sure your scanner used to do a much better job than now, I suggest you contact Polaroid about service. Or maybe your organization can buy a new 12 bit version (the Plus model) Or even better the latest 4000 model. Henry Ambrose