Scanning Kodachrome

digiconvert · Nov 10, 2006

Anyone know of a good, cheap, scanner to get decent images from K64?

Thanks

Chris Benton

Tom Kershaw · Nov 10, 2006

Chris,

I suspect something like the Nikon Coolscan V might work well, I use a Nikon Coolscan 4000 (an older model). Although I don't shoot Kodachrome, you could post me a slide to scan if you wanted to see what kind of quality to expect from K64 on the Nikons.

Tom.

dmr · Nov 20, 2006

Although it's no longer available new, I get very nice scans from both older and new Kodachrome slides with the Konica-Minolta Scan Dual IV.

It does not have ICE, but ICE does not work on Kodachrome nor for silver-based B&W.

Baxter Bradford · Nov 20, 2006

I had to scan a load of these on my Flextight for my photolibrary who were struggling to get them done well on their Nikon Coolscans - I think models are 4000 and 5000.

Peter Schrager · Dec 9, 2006

kodachrome

actually I have a bunch of great kodachromes that I would also like to get scanned. I'm not interested in buying one more piece of digital hardware that I'll use once so can anyone tell me where I can send them out to be done....
Thanks, Peter

GoGo · Dec 9, 2006

Hi

Peter,
Just wondering what part of the country you are in?
I would sugest taking your slides someplace local, I tried Baboo color lab and Duggal color in NYC, but asked for some of the scans to be redone at both labs. In the end I decieded to just wait until I can buy a decent scanner for myself, as it will pay for itself soon enough. If you can't wait find some place local.
Good Luck,

Helen B · Dec 10, 2006

I'm happy with the scans of Kodachrome I make on my Nikon 5000. ICE does work on Kodachromes with Nikonscan, though not perfectly. I also scan Kodachromes on a rented Imacon 949, but only for the 8000 ppi resolution. There's no significant benefit in terms of shadow detail.

Here's ICE and no ICE on a deliberately uncleaned K64 slide from Easter 1979. Nikonscan, Nikon 5000, 4000 ppi when viewed 884 pixels wide. I was surprised to see that Tim's ice axe strap was resolved. Rollei 35T.

Best,
Helen

Dead Link Removed

clay · Dec 10, 2006

I have always been a big fan of using Vuescan with my Nikon 8000 scanner, but primarily with black and white negative film. Recently, I tried scanning some Kodachrome slides from a hiking trip in the mountains, and I got pretty crappy results. I fired up the Nikon Scan 4 software, which I had pretty much consigned to the 'almost never use' category, and I was surprised at the excellent results I got. Far superior to Vuescan. Interestingly, when I used the Nikon Scan on some black and white negative stock last week, the results were awful. I'm sure that there is some element of user cluelessness involved, but I am definitely going to use Vuescan for B&W and Nikon Scan for Kodachrome until some apple falls out of a tree and hits me on the head and knocks some sort of aha into my thick skull.

dmr · Dec 11, 2006

Helen Bach said:
Here's ICE and no ICE on a deliberately uncleaned K64 slide from Easter 1979. Nikonscan, Nikon 5000, 4000 ppi when viewed 884 pixels wide. I was surprised to see that Tim's ice axe strap was resolved. Rollei 35T.

Hmmmmm ... They keep telling me that ICE will not work on Kodachrome (or on silver-based B&W). From your example it appears that ICE is indeed somewhat effective on Kodachrome.

Helen B · Dec 11, 2006

Here's what Kodak/ASF say in the ICE FAQ:

"Q4: Does DIGITAL ICE Technology support Kodachrome film?
A4: The individual DIGITAL ICE Technology components support Kodachrome film in different degrees. DIGITAL ROC and DIGITAL GEM Technologies fully support Kodachrome film. In general, DIGITAL ICE Technology works with Kodachrome film. However KADC’s experience indicates that some Kodachrome images suffer a loss of image detail as a result of DIGITAL ICE Technology image processing. Any loss of detail will depend upon the particular Kodachrome film, exposure level, and image content. Kodachrome slide film uses a unique dye that responds differently from other slide films. Due to the nature of the dye and the Kodachrome film development process, DIGITAL ICE Technology can misinterpret certain image detail as a defect. An example of a general group of images that can be affected is underwater images due to the lack of content in the red channel. Similar images in which the green and blue channels overshadow the red data may present a problem."

The FAQ is here.

Best,
Helen

clay · Dec 11, 2006

One thing I forgot to mention is that I had ICE turned on in the Nikon Scan software, and it worked fine with the Kodachrome. Sort of a black box thing, but hey, it gave me some fine results.

dmr said:
Hmmmmm ... They keep telling me that ICE will not work on Kodachrome (or on silver-based B&W). From your example it appears that ICE is indeed somewhat effective on Kodachrome.

frugal · Dec 11, 2006

My understanding is that the issue with silver based B&W and ICE is because the silver grain of the film is opaque to IR so the IR dust and scratch detection just sees all of the film grain as dust and scratches that need to be removed.

I'm not sure what the exact issue is with Kodachrome.

Helen B · Dec 11, 2006

As far as I know, it's because the cyan dye is not fully transparent to IR. The relief image may also cause problems.

Best,
Helen

frugal · Dec 12, 2006

Helen Bach said:
As far as I know, it's because the cyan dye is not fully transparent to IR. The relief image may also cause problems.

Best,
Helen

I thought I'd heard something about the IR opacity but couldn't remember and was going to guess the relief image as well.

Baxter Bradford · Dec 19, 2006

Saw this earlier today and have not looked at this article in depth, prices very low, but 6 colour scanning offers a new angle and seem to be pushing the Kodachrome benefits. Odd since not exactly a growing market, but oneupmanship in this market sector.

New HP scanners

Not making any noise about the optical lens quality, so tread carefully.

Scanning Kodachrome

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