Is my scanner broken or is this a software problem?

Hi,
I bought a Plustek Opticfilm 8100 scanner and I am running it with the latest version of Vuescan. I also bought IT8 targets from Wolf Faust to calibrate my scanner for slide film.
I month the target

1. Preview at 600dpi
2. select only the white field on the target
3. preview again and lock exposure. (~1.23 for Velvia100 for example)
4. then I adjust my crop to include the entire target
5. I output this as a liner tiff file. No color settings or anything.
6. I then create a .ti3 test file with argyllcms (scanin -v N130501.tif it8.cht velvia100_provia400x_N130501.txt)
7. I create a .icc profile with argyllcms (colprof -v -D "velvia100provia400x" -qm -ax N130501)
8. I add the .icc profile to PhotoShop and load my linear tiff scan of the target in Photoshop
9. Apply the .icc profile I created and the tiff looks much much better.

The only problem I have is that white is not white. When I use the color picker to check the RGB values of the white field in the target scan I expect to see values close to 250, 250, 250. But I only ever get values in the 180s.
I then go back and adjust my exposure lock and repeat the above process, but end up with RGB values in the 180s again!
I do that until exposure lock value 1.999 and only when I hit 2.0 do i blow highlights. Every value before then ends up being something around 180.

Can anybody help?

My experience with an older Plustek model (7500i), is that it doesn't have very fine control over exposure, compared to the Nikons, and even Epson models. Your experience of not getting any exposure change until 2.0 mirrors mine with that model.

While I didn't end up buying it, I always wondered whether one could take the scanner apart, put a high-quality 0.1 ND (or whatever is needed) over the light source, and then just operate the scanner with Exposure=2.

Other than that, you'll have to rely in the input ICC profile that you create with Argyll to bring those values up to near-white.

Best of luck--

Greg

Thanks. Ed from VueScan replied to my email with the same points. Plustek 8100 only takes integer values for exposure control. That basically renders the 'lock exposure' useless. I wish I had known that before I bought it. All reviews praised this model for 35mm scanning. I'll try and see if I can still return it.
Are there any Nikon or Epson models with a finer control in the same price range? (below 500 USD) ?
Also, Nikon scanners have been discontinued right? Are they still available?

The Nikons have been discontinued for a while now, but do show up used at times. The Epson models are all flatbeds and not very good for 35mm.

Other than a drum scanner I think the best results for 35mm black and white negatives and color positives is with a DSLR and macro lens. I haven't had much experience with color negs scanned with the DSLR, but my few experiments had slightly off colors compared to the drum scans. But I need to test that more before I'm ready to say it doesn't work.

What about Noritsu scanners instead of the Nikons?
They LS-600 & LS-1100 Scanners seem to be in the same price range.

for 35mm i did a lot of research and settled on a minolta Dimage 5400 version 1. with 35mm it is much sharper than my nikon scanner. you can find them for under $500 and in great shape.

Yes, but then you have a scanner that no one can fix if something breaks.
Looking at the noritsu options it doesn't seem like there's anything under 4000 USD.
I shoot about 5 rolls per month and each 36 exp roll costs me 10 USD to get it scanned in medium size (2000x3000).
I think I'd need to use that scanner 6-7 years to make it worth the money, that's not considering time put into scanning.

Eric, why not just keep the Plustek and adjust your workflow? Scan your neg as positive, set black and white points for each channel individually, allowing some headroom at either end, import as TIFF into PS and invert, then tweak using curves (or levels, if you prefer). I don't have a Plustek, but I'm pretty sure that'll do the trick for you. You will soon get a feel for the output of your device and your workflow will speed up accordingly.

artobest said:

Eric, why not just keep the Plustek and adjust your workflow? Scan your neg as positive, set black and white points for each channel individually, allowing some headroom at either end, import as TIFF into PS and invert, then tweak using curves (or levels, if you prefer). I don't have a Plustek, but I'm pretty sure that'll do the trick for you. You will soon get a feel for the output of your device and your workflow will speed up accordingly.

Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your post. I should've labeled the title of the thread differently. I don't have issues with black&white and negatives. The problem is with calibrating the scanner for slide film.