I scan both color 4x5 transparencies and B&W negs on my flatbed scanner. I have a fully endowed and color managed imaging workstation. Recently, while discussing the varying degrees of scanning success with an associate, we both noted that some pieces of film just scanned better than others, without requiring the numerous repeated adjustments of every conceivable software menu control and the constant fighting with the thing just to get a half decent result. He suggested that perhaps the tonal curve and the dynamic range of a particular exposure more closely matched that of the device, the scanner in this case. So, we thought that the 5 stop range of velvia, for example, better matched the scanners range, and that trying to get a beautiful 10 stop range B&W neg to give us all it had was a futile effort. The question arose..... what is the scanner's range in stops? Is this even a measurable value? Is that what Dmax means? Seems to me that if your scanner's range matches that of your film, and your software and monitor's range equals or exceeds that value (which they usually will), then things will go better. Perhaps scanning color trannies and converting to B&W in PS will give me better results than trying to scan a full scale neg. So, I picked up one of those long B&W test charts from Kodak (in the long yellow cardboard sleeve) and am about to scan it to see what the scanner (4870) will do. The chart has 20 increments from W to B each being a third stop, I believe.
Perhaps that's why Kurt suggests using Fuji NPL color neg film for B&W conversion for better results. Has he matched his curves?
Has anyone here already done this?
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