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Kirks518
30-Jun-2015, 08:14
A year ago, I never thought I'd be shooting 4x5, so at that time, the Canon 9000F II fit my needs just fine. Now, not so much. So I understand I have to make two passes for the 4x5, but I'm having a couple of problems.

First, it seems when I move the negative for the second scan, the software changes the exposure, which is really annoying. Is there a setting to eliminate any and all of the auto adjustments? In the manual, it says to set the adjustments to 'None', then hit apply, but even still I'm getting a variation. Photomerge seems to adjust the two images to emulate the same exposure values for each, but I'd still like to have them both scanned with the same values.

Next problem is when I stitch. I use Photoshop CS6's Photomerge, and it does a good job, but I'm getting a transition line between 'images' where the stitching occurs. I don't tape the negative to the platen glass, and was wondering if that could be part of the problem.

Before you look at the attached, there are a ton of things wrong with it that I'm aware of; A)The film was Kodak Super-XX that was in a film holder for an unknown number of years. B) I used box EV (ASA 200) when I used it (should have been around 80) C) light leaks are either from the holder or that the holder had not been properly handled over the years. D) Bottom of the image is essentially undeveloped (the FR tank uses a ton of developer, more then I realized) E) Just about anything else you notice

136142

This is a 90% crop just to show the transition line:

136143

andy
30-Jun-2015, 09:05
which software are you using?

andy
30-Jun-2015, 10:56
I haven't used that specific software, but I've had a similar problem with epson scan. It's likely that the software is doing some auto adjusting based on how it reads the negative, which will make your stitching a real headache, if not near impossible. Maybe it's time to upgrade? I bet you could find a good deal on a used v700. Otherwise, a copy of silverfast might make the difference.

Kirks518
30-Jun-2015, 11:52
I was thinking of trying out Silverfast and Vuescan. Any opinions of one vs the other?

Kirks518
30-Jun-2015, 11:54
I was thinking of trying out Silverfast and Vuescan. Any opinions of one vs the other?

My other response was deleted, but I'm using the software that came with the scanner.

andy
30-Jun-2015, 11:57
I can't speak to vuescan, but silverfast is a capable program, though it isn't the most intuitive.

Ootsk
5-Mar-2016, 21:11
I have the 9000 as well.
Always use the "open scanner driver" box.
Under "image settings" look at the "apply the tone value to all crops" box.
It says either "reset" or "apply"
Once you pre-scan the half of the negative, click on reset. If you like the brightness, it changes to "apply"...click on that
and it's now locked at that exposure level. Sometimes you have to change the crop box so it's on different parts of the negative to get
the proper exposure level. But...once you've clicked "apply", it's locked. So when you move the negative, and re-crop and scan it, the
same exposure levels will apply. If you move on to a second negative, you need to repeat the process, unless the exposure was exactly the same.
Hope this helps.

rbultman
6-Mar-2016, 04:42
I use Vuescan and an old Epson 4490. I scan twice to set exposure and then two times in order to get the whole image. I also use a Beseler 4x5 holder instead of just putting the negative on the scanner glass in order to avoid Newton rings. It is flat and makes a nice mask for the negative.


Place the negative in the scanner such that the area to be scanned contains all of the tones in the negative.
Make sure the 'Lock Exposure' box is unchecked.
Click 'Preview'.
Adjust the crop box to include all of scanned area.
Click 'Preview' again. I'm not sure this second scan is really needed, but I want to make sure that Vuescan knows about the area that I care about.
Click the 'Lock Exposure box' to check it.
Adjust the position of the negative such that 1/2 of the negative will be scanned.
Click 'Preview'
If the negative is not in the proper position, reposition the negitive and click 'Preview' again. Repeat this until the scanned image capture the area of the negative that you want.
Click 'Scan'.
Adjust the position of the negative such that the second 1/2 of the negative will be scanned.
Repeat steps 8-10 until you are satisfied with the second scan.
Stitch the two halves together.


Some additional notes:

I use the Microsoft Image Composite Editor (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/ice/) in order to stitch images together. It is very easy to use.
I know that others use Photoshop or other editing programs to convert the negative image into a positive. I let Vuescan do this and save the files in the TIFF format for later stitching.
The few images I have scanned and stitched to not have large areas of featureless sky, for example, which is where you might expect to see the artifacts you mentioned.



Like you, I never imagined I would be shooting 4x5 and am just now starting. I have only shot and scanned a few sheets to date. Here is an example using the steps described above.

147822

The image was shot using a Busch Pressman Model D with a 135mm Fujinon-W on Ilford FP4+ and developed in Obsidian Aqua 1:500.

Regards,
Rob