Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/10/26

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Subject: [Leica] Slighty OT - Scanner Question
From: hartzell at kestrel.alerce.com (George Hartzell)
Date: Tue Oct 26 15:46:29 2004
References: <0I6700I4YOHZ9E@mailsj-v1.corp.adobe.com>

Wade Heninger writes:
 > [...]
 > I went down to the local digital shop (Glazers in Seattle) and had a talk
 > with the digital salesperson.  She said that the V ED wouldn?t do well 
 > with
 > B/W and that she recommended the Minolta Elite 5400.  Of course they 
 > didn't
 > have any in stock, so I have to wait a few days.
 > 
 > So in the meantime, what scanners are you using for B/W and are you happy
 > with it?

My only complaint with my Nikon LS-4000 is that it really seems to
emphasize the grain in my fast films (Delta 3200, Fuji 1600).  It's
bad enough that I consider it a problem, but for now I've just been
contenting myself with a "going for the grainy look" attitude.  If
it's important, I rescan it on my LeafScan45.

I've heard explanations that the effect is caused by an unfortunate
confluence of the small light source (led?) that Nikon uses, along
with an aliasing interaction between the film grain and the 4000 spi
sampling rate.

I've read that scanners at a higher resolution don't have as much
trouble with aliasing of b&w film grain, and that scanners that use a
diffuse light source also make less of it.  Both of these observations
run true w/ the results from my Leaf.

Hopefully you've also figured out that Nikon's automagic
dust-n-scratches stuff doesn't work with silver-based B&W films
(although it does work w/ the chromogenic varieties).

g.


In reply to: Message from heninger at adobe.com (Wade Heninger) ([Leica] Slighty OT - Scanner Question)