Ai 5.5.2 vs Nikon Scan when scanning negatives

[jbouma]

What is wrong with Silverfast 5.5.2r10. I am using Agfa XRG 200 colornegative film and don't succeed in obtaining good scans from my Nikon LS2000 scanner using the highly rated and expensive Silverfast Ai software.
When using Nikon scan 2.5.1 the resulting scans, also from many other brands of negative film, only need minor adjustments in the host application, whereas in Silverfast I have to fumble around with negative profiles, curves, orange mask removal adjustments.
Typically the overview of thumbnails in Silverfast look very good, but the pre-scan of any of these thumbnails spoils my mood.
Has this anything to do with the hardware mediated orange mask removal by the LS-2000 as I have read somewhere, causing Nikon scan 2.5.1 to succeed and Silverfast leaving me struggling.
My settings & stuff:
-Nikon LS-2000 newest firmware
-OS: W2k SP-2 hotfixed Pre-SP3
-Silverfast Ai 5.5.2r10 Twain version, for XRG200 film I use Agfa Optima II Pr200 or HDC 200 profile but they are no comparison to Nikon scan 2.5.1.
-CMS: internal->monitor ICM, profiles for ICM Internal ->"monitor profile", no embedded profile.
-colorcast removal 0% (difference to 100% not very noticeable)
-Q factor 1,0., dpi 2700 (prints on A4 size paper).
-Monitor: Iiyama Vision Master pro 411

Silverfast is doing just fine when scanning positive transparancies

Please some advise

[LSI_Kratzenstein]

Hi,

Could you explain, how the pictures go wrong ?

If they get too much cyan, you need to adjust the frame, so only the picture is in the frame.

Kind regards

Kristian Kratzenstein

Support LaserSoft Imaging AG

[jbouma]

Hello,
Thanks for your reply.
Prescans appear in a bad shape in the prescan window, no matter what profile I choose from negafix. Scans look mostly severly green and cyan casted, sometimes blue.
Prescans are kept within the "marching ants", and if the window is adjusted a new prescan is performed.
The key question for me is why working with Silverfast requires me to choose profiles and do many adjustments whereas in Nikon Scan I just set negative mode, scan and succeed no matter what brand of negative film I use, the orange mask issue seems non-existant. Possibly the hardware does all the work and that may be the reason why Silverfast doesn't work properly in my case. Still the film strip thumbnail overview in Silverfast look good but when (pre-) scanning things go wrong.
I get the impression that the combination LS-2000 and Silverfast don't team up very well when scanning negatives. Or is there a method to let the scanner remove the orange mask and let Silverfast do the rest.

Kind regards.

[LSI_Kratzenstein]

Hello

Nikonscan could scan negatives well, which are linear in the colors. Some negatives have different colorcurves. This negatives need special negativ profiles. Nikonscan work without profiles, so it can't work with them like SilverFast do.
The NegaFix problems with the Nikon LS2000 are known, and in progress. We try to get the profiles fixed very soon. New profiles you could get by update your SiverFast to the newest version.

I hope I could help

Kristian Kratzenstein

Support Lasersoft Imaging AG

[jbouma]

Hello,

LSI has addressed this issue in the recent release of Ai 5.5.2r20 for Nikon(M). Some quick tests show me that difficult negatives scanned with negative direct setting now look much better and equal the results I had before with Nikon Scan.
(See also FAQ)

Thank you LSI for helping us Nikon people