Alfred Molon:
Accept my envy on having a 4000-dpi scanner. Your
whole scan looks absolutely out-of-focus: for I see
no sign of grain which must be present at this reso-
lution in the form of brightness-and-color noise.
Your scanner seems to have been not focused proper-
ly. Scanner software (Nikkon's and VueScan) usually
has a setting to disable autofocus and let the user
choose the exact point whereupon he wishes to set
the focus. This may be preferred for two reasons:
1. To choose a spot on which it is easier to fo-
cus. It should have some medium contrast,
rather than being high-contrast or monotone.
2. To compensate for film curl by focusing at
different points, noting the suggested set-
tings and finally setting the focus manually
to a value somewhere between the extremes.
With some experience you'll learn how to de-
termine which deviations of the film from a
plane are incompatible with sharp scanning.
In this case a frame or glass holder should be
used instead of the standard strip holder, or
you should flatten the film, for which several
techniques exist. Or focus on the most impor-
tant object, sacrificing the backgroud and
what's already out of focus on the shot.
But even with autofocus the result must be way bet-
ter.
I liked the photo, especally after cropping it a bit
from both top and bottom.