Scanning Kodachrome Slides (HD)

[Mike Tough]

Hi,

I'm new to Silverfast, but not new to scanning. I have a couple of questions regarding scanning Kodachrome slides.

Scanner: Nikon Coolscan 4000 SE
System: Windows 7
Silverfast: HDR Studio
Film: Kodachrome Slides
Objective: Scan 1000+ slides in high quality (AiStudio (HDR format with Infrared) then HDR Studio). Slides are good quality "family snaps", not "arty/professional", so need to have a workflow that requires minimal manual intervention on each slide.

Q1. I'm making the initial scan in 64bit HDR format with scanner infra red channel. Can you confirm if it is best to set Colour Management Input => working space to <none> and apply the Kodachrome ICC profile in HDR Studio? Also, should Embed ICC profile be switched off?

Q2. Selecting Multiple Exposure (ME) brings up the Histogram and Gradation tools, automatically setting Highlight, Shadow, Midtone, Contrast, etc. Are these settings carried through to the output? If so, is this advantageous or should they be switched off and the adjustments made in HDR Studio?

Q3. I'd like to be able to use the Find Frames - Slide 35mm function. Is there a way to set this up in the preferences so this it done automatically after the pre-scan?

Q4. After (manually) selecting Find Frames - Slide 35mm the Multiple Exposure (ME) setting is automatically switched off and needs to be manually switched on again. What is the reason for this? Can this be prevented?

Q5. Have you any other relevant tips for the HD scanning of Kodachrome slides?

Thanks in advance for your help

Mike

[LSI_Ketelhohn]

Dear Mike,


A1:
The HDRi images should embed the IT8 profile for Kodaqchrome.
(Either the standard or an individualy calibrated one)
The profile is being stored in the file and will be automatically used by SilverFast HDR Studio during processing.

A2:
No ME should not change the Histogram and Gradation.
Those tools are not used for HDRi files.
Please make sure you are using the latest update.

A3:
SilverFast HDR Studio currently does not offer automatic frame finding when importing images.
But this feature is currently in development and will become available in a future update.

A4:
This is due to the frame finding creating a new frame with fresh settings.
You can however do the following:
Create a frame with your standard settings.
Save it in the frame menu -> frame settings -> save frame settings
Then open the SilverFast preferences' general tab.
There you will find the "Default settings" pull down menu.
This contains your saved frame settings.
Selecting the saved setting will cause all newly created frames to use your chosen settings (including the find frames option).

A5:
Only to remember to activate the Kodachrome mode.
Otherwise the images are not much different from processing other slides.

kind regards,
Arne Ketelhohn.

[Mike Tough]

Arne,

Many thanks for your helpful response. Just to check I've understood your answers properly:

A1. In the Colour Matching preferences, I should set the input->working space to Image Colour Matching. Set Input Profile to the appropriate icc file (SProfK LS-4000 ED in this case). Tick the embedded ICC Profile box to embed the SProfK LS-4000 ED profile into the output file. This will apply the chosen icc profile on the display, but will not apply it to the output file. The icc profile will be embedded into the output file, which will later be recognised in Silverfast HD. Have I understood this correctly ?

A2. The Histogram and Gradation should be disabled for HD scans. Is this correct? However, I found that because I had the Preferences, Automatic Image Optimization by Default set to Auto CCR that the Histogram and Gradation would automatically appear each time a new frame was selected. I found it necessary to set Automatic Image Optimization by Default to <None>. That said, your answer to Q4 also resolved this issue. I am using the most up to date version (Ver 8.0.1r41 Build 11167 NIKON LS4000 Slide).

A3. Thanks for the clarification. I look forward to seeing this feature implemented in a later version.

A4. Thanks or this helpful hint. It works perfectly and resolves the issue. Is there a way of deleting saved frame settings? I've looked but can't seem to find how.

A5. Thanks

Despite the above, I am still having trouble getting the expected quality from my scans. The problem appears to be that the scanner exposure is incorrect. On scanning a slide (which has a good original exposure and a full range of contrast), the output histogram indicates that the maximum highlight captured is around 100 instead of 255, suggesting over half the scan depth is being lost! Clearly this may suggest a problem with the scanner, but when I revert to the original Nikon Scan software the "unprocessed" image captures pretty much the full range of contrast. This suggests to me that the scanner is OK. Boosting the analogue gain (all the way up to setting 200) in Silverfast helps the situation (bringing the maximum highlight up to around 210) but obviously throws off the colour correction since the standard LS 4000 icc profile is no longer applicable. Is this a software issue? Is there any risk that boosting the analogue gain will cause damage to my scanner?

I look forward to your response.

Best Regards

Mike

[LSI_Ketelhohn]

Dear Mike,

A1:
Yes, that is correct.

A2:
The Histogram and gradation are standard windows. they can be shown bt should not not be accessible.

A4:
You can delete saved settings by holding the <ALT> Key while opening the list of saved settings and clicking on the setting you want to remove.


The values you describe are correct for a HDR image.
If you get them in a final, processed image make sure you execute the image auto adjustment or set the highlights/shadows manually.

Kind regards,
Arne Ketelhohn.