Scanner calibration

[Oldtimer74]

HI. I`m new to this slide scanning. I have got a Digitdia 5000 and have a large number of slides of various types including Black and White.
1) I am not very computer literate or knowledgable
2) Although I can understand how to do the calibration, I don`t understand why I need to calibrate the scanner using the IT8. What does it do exactly? The man I bought the scanner from said he never used it. Do I need to calibrate for every type of slide? I have a large number of slides which are professionally made copies of originals (which I don`t have) of a number of different formats. Probably include all sorts of colour film as they go back very many years. I have looked at one and there is no indication of the film material they used. In addition I have slides on Kodachrome and Ectachrome.

Pat

[LSI_Luebker]

Dear Pat,

in order to get accurate colours the IT8 Calibration is very important.
In the latest versions of SilverFast this Calibration works fully automatically ans is very easy to use:
http://www.silverfast.com/highlights/autoit8/en.html

Normally you can calibrate for all positive Film with our standard target but you would need a different one for Kodachrome.

[Oldtimer74]

Thanks for reply. Do I assume that I need to buy from you another calibration slide for Kodachrome? If so, what is cost please?
Regards
Pat

[LSI_Morales]

Dear Pat,

If, you are going to scan Kodachromes and want to generate a calibrated profile for that type of material then yes, you will need a special Kodachrome IT8-target. If you only want to scan normal slides, then you do not have to buy a Kodachrome target, an Ektachrome target will suffice.

All prices can be found on our online store at: http://www.silverfast.com/show/store/en.html

Cheers

[Oldtimer74]

Thanks.
I think that I will see what they look like using the target I have (Which I assume is the one you refer to as being Ektachrome as I do not see a specific Ektachrome one listed.)
Pat

[LSI_Morales]

Dear Pat,

If it does not say Kodachrome anywhere then it is supposed to work with all the normal slides.
Good Luck

Cheers