Kodachrome and Nikon LS-30 Coolscan III
Jonte Myra
"However, be aware that your Kodachrome slides do not work well with
this scanner (which Nikon does mention in their readme file."
Does anyone know what the problem is?
The scanner has autofocus so it couldn't be the tiny frames that
Kodachrome comes in. I'm about to by a film-scanner and Nikon'n LS-30
Coolscan III looks pretty neat to me, but I also have a lot of
Kodachrome 64 films.
/Jonte
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Ed Hamrick
> "However, be aware that your Kodachrome slides do not work well with
> this scanner (which Nikon does mention in their readme file."
>
> Does anyone know what the problem is?
It's a minor problem with the NikonScan software that I've
fixed in VueScan (which you can download from www.hamrick.com).
The problem is only when using the infrared channel to do
dust removal. Kodachrome images are partly visible when viewed
with infrared light, while Ektachrome and color negative film
is mostly flat when viewed with the infrared channel. This
characteristic of Kodachrome makes the NikonScan ICE
algorithm produce odd color shifts. I've found a way to do
the dust removal without inducing color shifts in VueScan.
Regards,
Ed Hamrick
Don Marcotte
Nikon's software for Kodachrome slides. I have 2000+ mainly Kodachrome
slides from the 1960s. Nikon software just butchers the scans. With
Vuescan I can get better scans but still have not mastered a
quicker/easier method of obtaining good scans without a ton of tweaking.
That is why my scans of 4000 negatives went quickly and my successful
slide scans are below 25 right now. Every once in a while I continue
with my test program for Vuescan settings, looking at what works best.
Nonetheless, success is ephemeral. Recently I scanned some Y2K
fireworks. Vuescan couldn't/wouldn't scan the first 15 or so negatives
properly but Nikon software did a very good job. It seems that each
product has its strengths and weaknesses. All this being said, the LS30
is a great product. I have a negative of a moonrise which has so many
holes in the emulsion it looks like Swiss cheese (I screwed up trying to
clean gunk off the negative). Digital ICE fixed it up in one pass. If
you like, I can send you the "before" and "after" images. Very
surprising to me was that ICE did not clean up a lens reflection. I
guess it must be because it is imbedded in the shot as opposed to a
surface imperfection. Obviously I can repair that in PhotoShop or
PhotoPaint.
Don M
Ed Hamrick
> I can confirm Ed's comment that his product does a much better job
than
> Nikon's software for Kodachrome slides. I have 2000+ mainly Kodachrome
> slides from the 1960s. Nikon software just butchers the scans. With
> Vuescan I can get better scans but still have not mastered a
> quicker/easier method of obtaining good scans without a ton of
tweaking.
One thing to try is to set the black point to 0, and set the
color correction to "Neutral".
> Recently I scanned some Y2K
> fireworks. Vuescan couldn't/wouldn't scan the first 15 or so negatives
> properly but Nikon software did a very good job.
Try setting the color correction to Neutral. It's probably the
white balance failing. Also, make sure you're using VueScan 5.7
or later.
> Very
> surprising to me was that ICE did not clean up a lens reflection. I
> guess it must be because it is imbedded in the shot as opposed to a
> surface imperfection.
Yes, it's because it's part of the image, and doesn't change
the infrared channel on the film.
Scratches and dust significantly change the infrared response
of the film, which is why it can be removed with the Nikon
scanners.
Regards,
Ed Hamrick