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The Sprintscan just can't see very far into the darker shadows in Provia... and Velvia or older Kodachromes are a complete non-starter.
What scanning software do you use? Do you scan in 16bit/ch mode? How advanced is your Photoshop knowledge (e.g. do you feel very comfortable with the levels, curves, masking techniques etc)?
I'm asking because I own a SS4000 too and it took me several months (starting from zero) to understand how to get the most of it. I had to learn quite a bit about Photoshop (I got an excellent book, "Photoshop Artistry"), to experiment with three scanning packages - Polacolor Insight, Silverfast, VueScan - and most of all to go through a lot of pain by getting piles of mediocre scans.
I've seen several tests for both scanners (Nikon's LS4000, and Polaroid's SS4000) and frankly I'm not convinced that the LS4000 is the best in its class. See the links on my web page:
http://www.geocities.com/petru2/scanner/index.htmlIf possible go to a local retailer which sells the LS4000 and ask them to give you a demo. Or, even better, try to convince them to give you a copy of a raw scan of one of your slides so you can compare it at home with your SS4000 scans.
Regards,
Petru.[/font]