Dynamic range when scanning

[Philip]

I raised this matter at Flickr and I wonder what my Nelsonfoto friends might think.

Now and again I look at the scan I get from the drugstore lab that
develops my pictures and I say to myself, "Self, make a better scan."  So, I tried:





The scan on the left here is from the lab. My best effort (at least
using Silverfast in my Plustek OpticFilm 7200 scanner) is on the
right. Had I used my Epson flatbed, I may have gotten a better
result, but probably not much better. I am disappointed with the
Plustek's version, my version, of this negative. Especially in the
dark areas, details are missing. Mind you, the Plustek retained more
detail in some brighter areas (the yellow leaves). In other brighter
areas (the dried flower tips on top), the lab scan still wins out.

It looks like I am getting fairly limited dynamic range in my scans.
I like and use regularly the dynamic-range altering "Curves" tool in
Paint Shop Pro regularly. I wish I had such a tool in the scanning
software, but try as I might, I can't see something like it. I have,
and from time to time use all three of, Silverfast (bundled with the
Plustek), Epson scanning software (bundled with the Epson V700), and
Vuescan.

Leaving aside the dust and scratches of my scan (only some of which I've cloned out), any suggestions to
improve dynamic range at the scan stage?


.

[martolod]

i use Vuescan and an epson flatbed scanner. i do have some preset that i use for particular films, but most of the dynamic rsnge adjustment i do in picasa.
occasionally is PS, but picasa's automated tool usually is more than sufficient.
i don't like using / adjusting dynamic range settings in scan mode as the variation can be widely different from image to image, so genenrally there is minimal adjustment in the scan and that then is treated as the raw source file, and adjustments are made from a first generation copy of said file, and foth are kept and filed for future use.

[LarryD]

I skip drug store scans....  They set it Auto Disposable camera...

 I bet they would have screwed this one all to hell.


Silent game by inetjoker, on Flickr

[Philip]

Thanks, guys. You're both excellent scanners!  Larry, that is a fine job on the baseball picture. The drugstore I go to gives me *small* but mainly usable scans.  But I find there are times when I need a bigger scan. Or a scan of a bigger negative. Or one that goes closer to the edges of the frame. Or whatever.

Martolod, I use Picasa, too, but only as a "finisher" when I've taken care of the more subtle things in Paint Shop Pro. I don't like Picasa's dynamic range tools -- for instance, its lack of ability to lighten dark tones without using the overall "fill" control. Or, for that matter, the inability to bring bright tones down.  But there are other things that Picasa does WAY more simply than PSP, like its ability to convert to b&w using a full range of colour filters. I use Picasa every day for stuff like that.

I see your point about getting a low contrast scan to begin with, which can then be refined in post-processing.  My problem is that I am getting low-contrast or high-contrast without knowing how I am adjusting it in the scanning software. Vuescan is completely opaque to me (despite having bought and read that fairly useless book called The Vuescan Bible).  But with the others (Silverfast and Epsonscan) it's catch as catch can. They seem to do contrast automatically;  I haven't figured out how to pull out my "curves" myself -- widen the dynamic range -- before scanning.

[jamesmck]

Philip - How does the negative look?  Does it look like it should support a better scan?

James

[Philip]

It does have more range than my scan. 

I'm gonna have to open up that Epson scan software a bit . . .

Thanks, everyone.