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b.cipolla
2-Dec-2010, 22:45
I came upon a bunch of kodachrome slides that have been in my family since the 1950's and have set upon the task of scanning them. I am using a Nikon Coolscan 5000, which I heard isn't bad for scanning slides. However, the colors are not as vibrant as I thought they would be for this type of film. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience doing this and/or if you had any tips. I have scanned many different kinds of film before, so I know the basics at the very least. Is it something I should worry about in post while editing in Photoshop? That's where I see a the best differences usually anyway which other film scans. Thanks!

Heroique
2-Dec-2010, 23:21
...I am using a Nikon Coolscan 5000...

I’m not sure if you’re using Nikon Scan software, but I remember there’s a menu option for “Kodachrome” (in addition to others such as “Positive,” “Neg. (color),” etc.)

If so, did Nikon’s “Kodachrome” option produce the unsatisfactory results?

Also, you might experiment w/ adjusting color, contrast on the preview scan, in advance of final scanning. And PS can do wonders.

(Note: Nikon claims that “blurring or localized loss of detail may occasionally result” when you use the 5000 ED on Kodachrome.)

Good luck, it’s a fantastic 35mm scanner whose discontinuation has pushed its used price into the stratosphere.

Paul_C
2-Dec-2010, 23:30
For me NikonScan did okay, but the colors were definitely flat. I got the best results on my coolscan 9000 by using vuescan profiled against a kodachrome it8 target slide from silverfast http://www.silverfast.com/show/kodachrome-targets/en.html.

If you're in the SF Bay Area I'd be happy to loan you the target slide (if I can find it again.)

Moopheus
3-Dec-2010, 05:43
I found that getting the Kodachrome-specific IT 8 target was worth the money--it definitely improved the quality of my scans. I think B&H sells the Silverfast target now, too, as they've run out of the old Kodak ones. The other problem that you might have though is that Kodachrome from the 50s might not match more recent Kodachromes exactly--that was probably KII, when it was still the K-12 process.

Nathan Potter
3-Dec-2010, 09:41
There is likely a very big difference between the color in 50's kodachrome and recent chromes. This both due to basic emulsion changes and fading. All I do is make sure that I linearze the curve and then do color corrections etc. in Photoshop.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

b.cipolla
3-Dec-2010, 09:41
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I am using Nikon Scan. I tried using the kodachrome setting and like Paul C said, it did a pretty okay job but the colors were still a little flat. I have never heard of target slides before but after doing some research I see they involve installing new software onto the computer. The only problem I have with that is that the scanner I am using is at a photography facility in New York and do not have access to installing new software on their computers. I guess my best bet and only option is to get the best scan I can with the kodachrome setting and then play around with the images in post. If you have any specific tips for that strategy I would appreciate it. Thank you for all the advice. I'll definitely look more into target slides once I can afford my own scanner. (Also, thanks for the offer Paul!)