Film scanners - any point....?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.scanner (More info?)

I have a Canon FS4000US film scanner. Seems to work OK and has good reviews.
I am a little disappointed when zooming in on detail that it seems rather
grainy. OK I am zooming in a lot on distant faces but will a better scanner
give any improvement in results or have I simply got down to the film grain
(most films ISO 200 or 400) and thats the limit. Is there any technique I
can use or any software that will 'improve' the results i.e. less grainy and
more detail? Neatimage does a cracking job on grain but does not improve
detail. Unsharp mask simply accentuates the grain. I have tried multiple
pass scans but no noticeable difference (even up to 16 passes). Any advice
gratefully received

 

[Roger]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.scanner (More info?)

On Sun, 14 Aug 2005 20:02:25 GMT, "SS" <xsx2000x@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I have a Canon FS4000US film scanner. Seems to work OK and has good reviews.
>I am a little disappointed when zooming in on detail that it seems rather
>grainy. OK I am zooming in a lot on distant faces but will a better scanner
>give any improvement in results or have I simply got down to the film grain

Film grain will show patterns. If it doesn't then you are looking at
the scanner "grain" or pixels.

>(most films ISO 200 or 400) and thats the limit. Is there any technique I
>can use or any software that will 'improve' the results i.e. less grainy and
>more detail? Neatimage does a cracking job on grain but does not improve
>detail.

If you've reached the limit for either the scanner resolution, or film
grain you can not really improve the detail. It can be done stacking
multiple images, but that's a different ball game.

> Unsharp mask simply accentuates the grain. I have tried multiple
>pass scans but no noticeable difference (even up to 16 passes). Any advice
>gratefully received

My guess is you have reached one or both limits and you can not get
detail where there never was any.

Good Luck

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

>

 

[birdman]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.scanner (More info?)

Neither film nor digital has infinite resolution.
Before a digital image breaks up and pixellates as you enlarge a section it
seems "better" to many viewers because it appears to have less grain. In
fact, despite grain, the film image generally contains more pictorial
information.
Is a paradox.
Unless you are asking the impossible there are many techniques for treating
the grainy appearance of film.
Also there is a great difference between what you see in an enlarged section
of an image on your monitor and what a final print looks like. You may find
your prints look better than you think, especially if you do not print the
image too large.