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Category: Scanning Photos and the Digital Darkroom

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Scanning Slides


I have a Nikon SuperCoolscan 5000ED. When I make a scan, the unprocessed version is dark with a bluish tint. The slide, when viewed with a slide viewer, doesn't look this way. Shouldn't the unprocessed version look like the original slide as viewed with a projector or a slide viewer?


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January 30, 2005

 

Bob Cammarata
  Not always. I have a Nikon Coolscan 4000 ED, and some of my slides scan this way as wel l... especially my ice and snow scenics. You should accept that during the transfer to digital, some loss is inevitable ... that's a given fact.
The slides I've found that scan best have bright colors and are just a little over-exposed on the original. (I will deliberately bracket a half-stop over on critical shots I plan to scan for my Web site).

There are setting adjustments in the Coolscan software that can get you pretty close to the color and integrity of the original (assuming your 5000ED is similar to mine.)
If you're interested, you can contact me and I can elaborate further.


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January 30, 2005

 

doug Nelson
  I've used Nikon and Canon film scanners and have noticed the same. I find Nikon's terrible for slides, although just fine for negatives. Ed Hamrick's scanning software will help this situation, as will Silverfast. Keep in mind that you probably will not be able to get ALL the shadow detail you see on a light table.

When you get a better software driver, scan at the higher color bit depth setting and the highest resolution. THEN, work the image in Photoshop to get the exposure and contrast the way you want it. After that, reduce it to 8-bit, so that you can edit it further.


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February 01, 2005

 
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