Does anyone have experience with this scanner? I just bought one, and using ScanMagic Pro 7.x I tried altering the dynamic range while scanning 4x5 B/W negative, but find it appears to change nothing. I turned off contrast adjustment, just in case that was overriding the manual setting.
Am I overlooking something or does the driver/utility really not let you change the dynamic range? (FWIW, the scan is actually pretty close; still, I'd like to be able to control the brightness assigned to DMax/DMin.)
Does anyone have experience with this scanner? I just bought one, and using ScanMagic Pro 7.x I tried altering the dynamic range while scanning 4x5 B/W negative, but find it appears to change nothing. I turned off contrast adjustment, just in case that was overriding the manual setting.
Am I overlooking something or does the driver/utility really not let you change the dynamic range? (FWIW, the scan is actually pretty close; still, I'd like to be able to control the brightness assigned to DMax/DMin.)
I've had that scanner for about a year and love it.
I had an unusually long adjustment period with it and didn't really get the controls I wanted until I installed the Silver Fast version that I purchased separately, so it may be possible that there are default settings in conflict with ScanMagic.
Good luck,
Tom
epIn the case of both Epson and Microtek scanners the manufacturers' software works but Silverfast Ai works much much better ... that is why they both bundle it with their "pro" versions. In terms of the OP's original question I am not sure what you are doing regarding dynamic range. If I correctly understand what you are trying to do you can easily alter the dynamic range of any negativ by resetting the white and black point which you can do easily with the Microtek software but make sure you ahve it set to use the manual settings.
Ted, thanks for your response. It's certainly possible that my issue is operator error on my part ...
Yes, I'm trying to set the output density of DMax and DMin. The Dynamic Range histogram has the usual sliders to do that, but resetting them does not change the final scan. I did make sure that automatic contrast is disabled.
I'm using the latest version of ScanWizard Pro ...
That's not the best tool to use .... you want to use the white point/black point tool (see page 85 in your manual ... or about there if you are using Window as that is the OSX page number) you want to use the two eye droppers to set the points NOT the histogram sliders. I can email you a slide from a presentation we use in our Scanning Workshops that also shows what I mean for both Mac and PC if the manual page isn't enough. You can download the manual fromMicrotek if you don't have it.
A tiny bit of blatant self promotion here .... you might want to consider one of our workshops sometime. See my announcement of the latest in the workshops section on this Forum.
OK, so much for operator error. I had asked here whether anyone had any insights into getting the Microtek i800 let you set DMax/DMin using the Dynamic Range histogram. The software certainly appears to give you that control; scans aren't changed by the manual settings, however.
So I asked the manufacturer. Got the response today:
I have done some testing and also asked around and found that the Scan
Wizard Pro and the scanner itself doesn't support changing d-range setting
on Gray Scale Negatives.
The scanner itself? Is it unreasonable to ask that basic features in the manufacturer's software actually work?
OK, so much for operator error. I had asked here whether anyone had any insights into getting the Microtek i800 let you set DMax/DMin using the Dynamic Range histogram. The software certainly appears to give you that control; scans aren't changed by the manual settings, however.
So I asked the manufacturer. Got the response today:
I have done some testing and also asked around and found that the Scan
Wizard Pro and the scanner itself doesn't support changing d-range setting
on Gray Scale Negatives.
The scanner itself? Is it unreasonable to ask that basic features in the manufacturer's software actually work?
1) I'm not at all sure that is correct.
2) Can you please send me a copy of the email you got? I want to see who sent it!
3) I tried to email you and it bounced back so I am posting the image here ... you use the two eyedroppers to set the white and black points .... see ethem under the thumbnails at the right?
Is there possibly a mis understanding of terms here? In scanners Dmax is generally linked to channel depth as in 8,12 or 16 bits per channel. To increase or decrease the Dmax one would choose a higher or lower bit depth. Setting the tonal range or contrast range would be done as Ted suggests. In this instance I'm not sure that dynamic range is directly equivalent to contrast range. I might suggest that you scan the image where the histogram is completely within the highlight and shadow extremes and use photoshop or the application of your choice to adjust the levels/histogram for overall contrast and a curve tool to adjust local contrast. I would also suggest that you do identical scans at different bit depths and see if the histogram becomes more sparse under lower bit depths. Finally, you can, assuming this scanner will allow it and if it actually does what is says its doing, scan at multiple exposures and see if you are capturing more shadow detail or highlight detail in the appropriate exposure.
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Adv Reply
Originally Posted by couldabin 
