LaserSoft Imaging

Hi!

I´m looking for a scanner (even hi-end) that can handle Kodakchromes in large volumes with satisfactory results.
Right now I have the Nikon LS5000ED and the iSRD and SRD works great as long as one have the time to mask out faces/details, but it´s quite time consuming and not an option when you have to scan several hundred or thousands of pictures. Just scanning with iSRD at the lowest setting (and threshold) still produces unwanted artifacts (from picture to picture), so I guess there is no batch scan possibility with the current hardware/software setup.

I´ve heard that there are better machines when it comes to scanning Kodakchromes than the Nikon LS5000ED and I´m really curious to listen to your experiences and thoughts.
The problem when scanning Kodakchromes are due to the IR (infrared) beam, so it should be the same for all scanners that use IR. But I´ve heard that there are scanners that deals with Kodakchromes better than others, so I´m all ears! ;-) Please don´t limit your answers to consumer scanners only since I´m interested to see the whole spectrum. The unwanted artifacts are my main priority to get rid of, if this means that a few more scratches and dust are visible then so be it.

Kind Regards,
R

Dear Robbafett,

Good questions you post, you have also posted most answers to your questions. The main issue here is the density of the Kodachrome film, it does not allow the infrared light to come through all areas of the film, recognizing some dense parts of the image as defects.

The process as described by you is the correct way to use the infrared channel to make dust and scratch correction in the case of Kodachrome and some B&W films.

There are a couple things that should be considered here:

- First and most important, the infrared channel behaves exactly the same way for all scanners. No matter which scanner you use you will have to do the job as you have been doing.

- From the drum scanners we support none has an infrared channel. One thing to consider is that for drum scanners every single slide should be taken out of its frame and fixed to the drum, it will take a considerable amount of time to do this and you will risk scratching you film in the process a bit more than they actually are, which would lead to more corrections.

- Another option would be to use a flatbed scanner with Infrared channel like the Epson Perfection V750 or Perfection V700. The only problem here is that this scanner comes with ICE (due to patent issues) and ICE does not allow for masking so in this case you would be left only with SRD (software based). The main drawback here is that you would be losing quality because you would be downgrading from a dedicated film scanner to a flatbed scanner (Although many report to obtain excelent scanns with the fluid mount but then you are left again with the same problem as with a drum scanner, having to take all slides out of the plastic frame).

If it comes to quality probably I would remain with the Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED, If you make a compromise between keeping dust and scratches but obtaining the best quality possible at a high amount of time then I would go for the drum scanner. If you want to scan a huge amount of slides relatively quick without using dust and scratch correction I would go for the Epson Perfection V750 (top of the line) which will provide you with quality near that of a film scanner, and if you want to save more time at even less quality and no dust and scratch correction then I would probably go for the Epson Expression 10000 XL (it has an optical resolution of 2400 which is not the best for 35mm slides) but a huge scanning bed (A3 equivalent and two slide holders at the same time).

So there you have a few options to consider, I hope this helps you take a decision according to your needs.

Cheers

Hi Alejandro and thanks for your answer,

Regarding the quote:

First and most important, the infrared channel behaves exactly the same way for all scanners. No matter which scanner you use you will have to do the job as you have been doing.

The Nikon 9000 have as known the ICE4 Professional which ackording to many seems to work a lot better with Kodakchromes and still it uses IR (which contradicts the above statement). Is this just hype from Nikons part or does this really work? Or is it like iSRD on the lowest setting (incl. threshold) Anyone out there with hands-on experience?

Kind Regards,
Robert

Dear Robafett

When I mentioned the statement you quote I was thinking about the physical characteristics of an infrared beam as a determined frequence of the light spectrum. As far as I know ICE 4 does not have any difference with its predecessor ICE3 in terms of infrared correction, it has two levels (standard and fine), it has one extra software based tool that has absolutely nothing to do with the infrared process.

I believe experience has the last word here, opinions from experienced users would be very useful.

In terms of time saving you should consider the fact that the NIkon CoolScan 9000 has a 5 x 35mm slides film holder. Where as with the Nikon 5000 you have the slide feeder which (I believe) can contain up to 40 slides.

Again, it all depends on your time, quality and level of corrections equation.