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Author Topic: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures  (Read 88233 times)

dmerger

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #100 on: December 20, 2012, 06:27:23 pm »

I wouldn't recommend it unless dim, dull, flat scans makes a good starting point for post processing.

Tim, in my opinion, and the opinion of some people who do scanning as a business, dim, dull, flat scans do make a good starting point for post processing.  In fact, for positive film scans, I start with a 16 bit linear file.  You can’t get more dim, dull and flat than that!  Others have other opinions.

I’ve seen lots of examples of people using dSLRs to “scan” their film.  The one you linked looks very good.  I’m surprised more people aren’t doing it.

EDIT:  Tim, who has better BBQ, Lockhart or Luling?  The best BBQ restaurant?
« Last Edit: December 20, 2012, 06:38:38 pm by dmerger »
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Dean Erger

Mark D Segal

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #101 on: December 20, 2012, 09:11:00 pm »

Do all these color gamuts really matter for practical purposes of scanning landscapes.  I'll be adjusting in post anyway to a certain extent.  I'm not trying to match fabic colors for a shirt manufacturer.  What's the point of going beyond sRBG?

Alan,

Retaining the maximum gamut the scanner can deliver DOES matter, depending on what you intend to do with the scan - now and far into the future. No-one wants to rescan, so keep a master file with all the tonality you can achieve. Today's best inkjet printer gamuts exceed ARGB, and our wide-gamut high-res displays (e.g. the better Eizos and NECs are reading within a hare's breath of ARGB). The real issue is the constraint of the scanner gamut, which depends on the scanner you are using, and the wider the colour space, the more important it is to scan in 16-bit.

You can embed the scanner profile at the scan stage, or after the scan stage, but embedding a correct, quality scanner profile is really important in order to get tone and colour in good enough shape that you won't need huge amounts of remapping in editing software, whether at the scan stage or thereafter.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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chichornio

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #102 on: December 20, 2012, 09:38:59 pm »

Alan,

Retaining the maximum gamut the scanner can deliver DOES matter, depending on what you intend to do with the scan - now and far into the future. No-one wants to rescan, so keep a master file with all the tonality you can achieve. Today's best inkjet printer gamuts exceed ARGB, and our wide-gamut high-res displays (e.g. the better Eizos and NECs are reading within a hare's breath of ARGB). The real issue is the constraint of the scanner gamut, which depends on the scanner you are using, and the wider the colour space, the more important it is to scan in 16-bit.

You can embed the scanner profile at the scan stage, or after the scan stage, but embedding a correct, quality scanner profile is really important in order to get tone and colour in good enough shape that you won't need huge amounts of remapping in editing software, whether at the scan stage or thereafter.

I fully agree with you Mark. That´s why a keep an almost 1gb 4800ppi 48 bits scanned 6x9 file (the most I can get from my Epson V600) in my hard disk. I recently purchased an Epson Blue ray external writer to keep my files in a "safe" place. Epson V600 or others prosumer film scanners aren´t the best choice to print bigger, but if I want to print now or later, better to keep the file with all the color information those scanners are willing to produce. I think prosumers flatbed scanners like Epson´s or Canon´s are going to dissapear, sooner o later. I´m waiting for a new generation of film scanners that can make our life easier. Film ain´t gonna to disappear, I hope...
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Tim Lookingbill

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #103 on: December 21, 2012, 12:32:36 am »

Quote
EDIT:  Tim, who has better BBQ, Lockhart or Luling?  The best BBQ restaurant?

Couldn't tell you, Dean. Haven't tried either of them even though I lived 3 years of my childhood in Luling during the late '60's.

In New Braunfels the only decent smoky tasting BBQ is at Schwabs, an old rundown looking 1940's clapboard shotgun shack on business highway 35. I buy raw meat at the grocer and have them cook it on their aged and seasoned smoke pits at around 70¢ a lb. It's cheaper and beats anything for flavor I've come across in Texas for the price.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #104 on: December 21, 2012, 02:02:22 am »

I fully agree with you Mark. That´s why a keep an almost 1gb 4800ppi 48 bits scanned 6x9 file (the most I can get from my Epson V600) in my hard disk. I recently purchased an Epson Blue ray external writer to keep my files in a "safe" place. Epson V600 or others prosumer film scanners aren´t the best choice to print bigger, but if I want to print now or later, better to keep the file with all the color information those scanners are willing to produce. I think prosumers flatbed scanners like Epson´s or Canon´s are going to dissapear, sooner o later. I´m waiting for a new generation of film scanners that can make our life easier. Film ain´t gonna to disappear, I hope...

Don't stand on one foot waiting. This era is coming to an end. Manufacturers have been vacating the field. It will always be around, and there will be a new product or two, but the film era is essentially behind us - except for the smallish minority of photographers who continue to prefer film, a few specialized uses for which film remains necessary, and our archives of prints, slides and negatives - this being the major remaining field for volume scanning.

As for scanners, Epson and Canon flatbed scanners capable of scanning film will be around for a long time to come because there is always a market for reflective scanning, but film is not their primary purposes and they aren't optimized for it. Unfortunately, the choice of new, high quality film scanners has boiled down to very little. The one I woild watch for, but not cheap, is the Plustek 120. It should be hitting the market soon, is a dedicated high resolution film scanner and will accept 35mm and 6*6 (and perhaps 6*9 - not sure) media. Another current choice for 35mm users is the Plustek 8200. Once you want a Nikon 5000 or 9000, you are into the resale market and they have become very expensive. Not to be neglected - the old Minolta 5400 Scan Elite II for 34mm. It was an excellent product, but also now hard to find. It's predecessor, the Scan Elite 5400 (1) was a great product, but very slow.

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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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dmerger

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #105 on: December 21, 2012, 12:04:57 pm »

the Scan Elite 5400 (1) was a great product, but very slow. 

That is about as big an understatement as I can imagine.  I use the original 5400, and slow doesn't begin to tell the story!  It makes nice scans, however.

I think that the new film scanners are already here.  They're called dSLRs.  ;)
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Dean Erger

chichornio

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #106 on: December 21, 2012, 12:48:12 pm »

The one I woild watch for, but not cheap, is the Plustek 120. It should be hitting the market soon, is a dedicated high resolution film scanner and will accept 35mm and 6*6 (and perhaps 6*9 - not sure) media. Another current choice for 35mm users is the Plustek 8200. Once you want a Nikon 5000 or 9000, you are into the resale market and they have become very expensive. Not to be neglected - the old Minolta 5400 Scan Elite II for 34mm. It was an excellent product, but also now hard to find. It's predecessor, the Scan Elite 5400 (1) was a great product, but very slow.
Thanks Mark for your advice. Unfortunately none of the scanners you mentioned above I can buy in Argentina. We have very strong restrictions in our Custom Office so I can´t even buy an used item from E-Bay and make it send it to my country. The Plustek 120 looks very promising, but at almost 2K in b&h it´s very intimidating. Only Chile can import this item near my country. I´m doing some research if I can buy it there with a friend of mine and share the costs. The good with the Plustek is that comes with the latest version of Silverfast. A good saving...
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dmerger

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #107 on: December 21, 2012, 01:06:43 pm »

Do all these color gamuts really matter for practical purposes of scanning landscapes.  I'll be adjusting in post anyway to a certain extent.  I'm not trying to match fabic colors for a shirt manufacturer.  What's the point of going beyond sRBG?

Alan, if you have access to a wide gamut monitor, you can easily see for yourself the difference between aRGB and sRGB.  Take some photos that have always been in a wide color space, such as aRGB or ProPhoto, and with some bright saturated colors, especially reds, magentas, yellows, and gold.  View them in aRGB and as converted to sRGB.  The difference is readily apparent.  Of course you could also print both versions, but using a monitor is quick and doesn’t cost anything.
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Dean Erger

Mark D Segal

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Re: Your Epson Flat Bed Scanner Settings and Procedures
« Reply #108 on: December 22, 2012, 06:19:19 am »

Thanks Mark for your advice. Unfortunately none of the scanners you mentioned above I can buy in Argentina. We have very strong restrictions in our Custom Office so I can´t even buy an used item from E-Bay and make it send it to my country. The Plustek 120 looks very promising, but at almost 2K in b&h it´s very intimidating. Only Chile can import this item near my country. I´m doing some research if I can buy it there with a friend of mine and share the costs. The good with the Plustek is that comes with the latest version of Silverfast. A good saving...

Chichornio, in your situation I would recommend being cautious about becoming an early adopter of new equipment that hasn't been tested and proven in the market yet. The Plustek 120 will be a brand new product. As far as I know it has not yet been subjected to third-party testing/reviews, and not having been in the mass market yet, there isn't an accumulated track record on how reliable it is in terms of quality control and uniform performance of each production unit - this will take some months to accumulate once it is released into retail distribution and enough people have bought it and used it. Especially in light of the issues you have getting such products into Argentina, if it doesn't work correctly for you, there could be other issues returning it.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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