[Leica] Re: Scanners

[drodgers at casefarms.com (David Rodgers)]

John,

>>I also have an older Epson. My problem is with color negs. What  
tricks do you use to get the orange out and the color reversed?<<

Not sure what you mean about color reversed. Is it possible you have
film type "transparency" selected when scanning a color negative? That
would result in strange colors and an orange cast. Also, I think the
initial preview assumes transparency. You must place a selection marque
over the area you want to scan in order for the colors to look right. 

My 1680 does an excellent job on color negatives with very little
effort. 
Silverfast (which I sometimes use as a PS plugin) has built in color
balance for various film types. Same with Vuescan. Epson Scan utility,
which I use most often, doesn't have preset adjustment for film type. I
made and saved adjustments for each film type I use. Rarely do I ever
tweak settings any longer. I only use a couple of types of reversal
film, Portra 160 VC, UC400 (most often) and Fuji Reala.  

Over the years the biggest problem I've had with color relates to
printing. I've owned nearly a dozen printers. I had problems with color
fading in the early days. I experimented with different archival inks. I
was constantly making profiles, clogging nozzles, and spending money
while searching for the holy grail of printer/paper/ink combinations.
Thankfully inks today have come a long way, though they're still not
perfect. 

I've found a combination that I like and I've stopped experimenting. I
have a Canon i9900. I use Canon inks on Epson premium luster paper. I
use a Red River Polar Matte profile. Colors, especially skin tones,
match my monitor (I have a Lacie 19") and they come out great. I print
up to A3. The ink is dye based, but stable.  

I prefer bw. I have an Epson 3000 with Sundance/Piezo inks. However, I
bought an HP 7760 for $80 on close out. I've been so impressed that,
using the gray photo ink cartridge, I plan to get an HP8750 and retire
the 3000.   

DaveR

-----Original Message-----
From: John W. Heintz [mailto:heintz@ucalgary.ca] 
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 11:16 AM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Subject: [Leica] Re: Scanners

Dave, HELP!

I also have an older Epson. My problem is with color negs. What  
tricks do you use to get the orange out and the color reversed?

thanks,

john h

On Jan 12, 2006, at 8:21 PM, lug-request@leica-users.org wrote:

> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 17:12:37 -0500
> From: "David Rodgers" <drodgers@casefarms.com>
> Subject: RE: [Leica] Scanners (nikon to discontinue most film cameras)
> To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
> Message-ID: <DC4B73A4105FCE4FAE0CEF799BF84B366BA9AF@case-email>
> Content-Type: text/plain;     charset="us-ascii"
>
> I purchased an Epson Expression 1680 about 5 years ago. I still use  
> it a
> lot today (which is more than I can say for the dedicated 35mm  
> scanner I
> purchased at about the same time).
>
> I can scan a whole roll of 35mm with ease. It takes a minute to load
> slides or negs. But then I just push a button to scan, and I let it do
> its thing.
>
> For negs -- bw and color -- and even slides it's more than adequate  
> for
> proofing, for web presentation, or even decent sized prints. Plus,  
> I can
> scan MF and LF, reflective or transparency. I use it more than I do my
> Minolta 5400. No way do I want to scan everything with the 5400. It
> wouldn't be practical.
>
> Personally, I think flatbed scanners are highly underrated. They are
> very versatile. I even scan a lot of documents and save them as  
> PDFs. I
> hate saving and filing paper.
>
> DaveR