SilverFast SE and PORTRA NC 400 on 6x4.5 Neg

[rayvalois]

SilverFast SE completely overexposes (understatement)Portra NC 400 6x4.5 negs. No adjustments correct this overexposure.
I've used 3 other MANUF-FILM TYPE-ISO SETTING more or less successfully but never really giving justice to a perfectly exposed neg.
Is there a fix for this????

Ray

[President_LSI]

SilverFast NegaFix and overexposed Portra NC 400 6x4.5 negs.

Please let us know which scanner you are using under which OS and we will check and eliminate this bug!

[rayvalois]

I have sent all relevant info - including sample scans - to Paul and Martin. They have been extremely responsive and are currently working on the problem. I posted a message here as well on the off chance that someone in the user community had run across this problem and had a solution. I advised Martin and Paul that I had posted a message here on the forum.
In response to your question: I'm using an EPSON 2450 scanner, Win 98, SilverFast SE bundled with my scanner. Am looking forward to upgrading to AI if this problem can be fixed. It's MOST important for me since I use PORTRA 400 NC almost exclusively for all wedding shoots and portraits.

Ray

[President_LSI]

Dear Ray,

please make sure you are using the latest version of SilverFast since those NegaFix profiles must have been corrected (too much contrast).

Download this version: https://www.silverfast.com/sf-download/242/ise/en.html

regards

KHZahorsky

[rayvalois]

Thks for the info ... I downloaded the version of SilverFast SE stated in your message but it won't accept the serial nbr with which I had registered my initial version. My intial version came bundled with my Epson 2450 scanner.

Am I to understand that I have to pay $10 for this upgrade?

As well, the Kodak Portra VC ISO 400 parameters work quite well with PORTRA NC 400 with the SilverFast Portra NC ISO 400 is still washed away most unaccpetably although it is somewhat improved.

Please advise.

Ray

[rayvalois]

Just re-read my post and I think it's confusing. So here goes again in an effort to clarify.

I scanned a PORTRA NC ISO 400 6x4.5 neg using the "new" SilverFast version that I downloaded. My first scan was with the KODAK PORTRA NC 400 parameters. The result is an unacceptable and unusable image. I conclude that the problem is not fixed.

I redid the scan of the same neg using KODAK PORTRA VC ISO 400 parameters and it is usable.

However, it seems that the Silverfast NC algorithm for 6x4.5 negs is simply not exploiting the special characteristics of NC negs.

Somehow, doesn't seem like much has changed???? Except that I have to pay and additional $10 or re-install my old version ????

I must say that this is not setting up the pins for my purchase of the AI version.

Please advise.

Ray

[ianders1]

Ray,

I have an Epson flatbed as well, and I have found it near impossible to get good results from the Portra series. You have to understand that Negafix is great, but it's not perfect. There is far too much variation in scanners, film processing, monitors (unless calibrated), etc. to allow Negafix to be perfect every time.

NegaFix is <i>however</i> usually a really good start. What you need to do is to start with the settings and then work on the image using Silverfast. Silverfast and Negafix are very powerful tools - you just have to learn how to use them. Please check out Ian Lyon's tutorials on Negafix and Silverfast -they will really help you learn how to get the best results:

http://www.computer-darkroom.com/sf5_contents.htm

Be sure to check out Tutorial #3 in particular.

Good luck,
Ian

[President_LSI]

NegaFix and Kodak Portra VC 400

Dear Ray,

Ian is right, there are too many variations possible. That is why we built a very powerful negative profile editing capability into NegaFix for SilverFast Ai.
Please check out the NegaFix tutorial on how to correct and optimize existing profiles. Anything that would be possible with a scanner and negatives can be achieved with NegaFix with profile editing.

https://www.silverfast.com/downloads/doc ... xAi-en.pdf

We will soon release a QuickTime movie on how to best edit and optimize NegaFix profiles.

Best regards
Karl-Heinz Zahorsky
President
LaserSoft Imaging

[rayvalois]

Hi Ian and Karl ...

I hear you and have "been-there-done-that". I also like to think that I can appreciate the difficulties in providing a scan recipe for each film type and ISO speed. I also understand that some tweaking might be necessary, no problems there.

However, if scanning Portra is "near impossible", why build an algortihm for it that DOESN'T work???? I mean, the neg is completely washed away and there's no way of fixing the scanned image. I simply have to use the PORTRA VC 400 and it's significanly better.

As well, why does Silverfast work fine with 35mm PORTRA NC 400 and not with 6x4.5 negs????

Ray

[ianders1]

Ray,

I didn't know what level of experience you had - that's why I suggested trying to learn more. I'm not sure what you mean about the image being washed away -but that doesn't sound good. Maybe you could explain that a little further?

To clarify my "near impossible" comment - Kodak uses a much different mask with some of their negative (as I'm sure you're aware of) and this makes things much more difficult. I find the Portra films to be the most challenging. It seems that no matter how I do it, one color or another is fixed at the expense of another color (usually blues vs. greens). As such, I use Silverfast's incredible selective color tools to fix this. It is a lot of work, however. As for images being over-exposed and the like, I don't have this problem.

Personally, I take the NegaFix profiles for what they are - a starting place. Some, such as the Fuji and Kodak Gold profiles are dead-on - others such as Portra aren't quite as accurate. I will often try other Portra and other Kodak profiles to get the image to work. So if the VC works better than the NC on VC film, just use that! In time, these profiles may become more accurate, but just play and get it to work for now.

One last thing - if you haven't noticed, NegaFix t is very susceptible to <b>what</b> is selected. If you get some of the negative frame around the exposure in the selection, it can throw everything off. Also, if you don't have a true white or true black in your image, you'll need to play with the highlight and shadow sliders to get things on track. Same goes for high- or low-key work.

-Ian