Digital ICE with B&W Negs and Color Slides

i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

thanks.

-
woody

"Steven Woody" writes:

i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true?

It also works on colour slides.

i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

You probably mean wet mount scanning. I guess it could, if someone provided
the required tools and fluids for it. I don't know if any are available.

"Steven Woody" wrote in message
ups.com...
i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?



Yes, it does not work with B&W and works poorly, if at all, with Kodachrome.
There is a Digital ICE4 that is purported to be better, and it is available
on some Nikon Scanners. I don't know if it can do B&W.

You need Digital ICE built in to your scanner--it is not a software product
that can be added later and used with any scanner. No flatbed scanners have
Digital ICE, only dedicated film scanners do.

There are other software solutions that try to fix scratches on negs, but
they don't hold a candle to Digital ICE, which scans the physical film with
an infrared beam, identifies scratched areas and then fills them in
digitally. It adds about 4 minutes to each frame on my scanner, but it
saves many times more by making it unnecessary to manually correct for dust,
scratches and faded colors in the editing stage. I would not even consider
any film scanner that did not have DIGITAL ICE, ROC and GEM. You just would
not believe how much of a difference they make until you compared scans made
without them versus scans made with them.

"jeremy" writes:

You need Digital ICE built in to your scanner--it is not a software product
that can be added later and used with any scanner. No flatbed scanners have
Digital ICE, only dedicated film scanners do.

Some Epson flatbeds have digital ICE. It doesn't work as well as in my
dedicated film scanner, though. That could probably be just because the
scanner glass is harder to keep clean.

Fluid (or wet) mounting can provide benefits. With certain films, it can be
quite noticable. With others, not so much. It is a slower workflow so you
have to decide if it is worth the extra time and procedure.

Fluid mounting supplies:

http://www.prazio.com/

http://www.aztek.com/Products/KAMI%20MF.htm

Doug

--
www.BetterScanning.com - Custom Film Holders and Accessories for Agfa,
Microtek and Epson Scanners


"Steven Woody" wrote in message
ups.com...
i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

thanks.

-
woody

On Feb 26, 9:36 am, "Steven Woody" wrote:
i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

thanks.

-
woody

My two bits:
1. Yes, digital ice only works on color scans (both positive and
negative). You can scan your B&W negatives/positives in RGB color,
though, and use digital ICE; then in post-processing convert them to
greyscale. I've had mixed success this way, it's not perfect but I
think it helps.
2. "Wet mount" scanning can minimize negative scratches and dust quite
well; there are special fluids and kits available for this at
aztek.com and wetmount.com. It's a lot of mess, it's expensive and
it's only available for some scanners, but if you have to try it....
I'd point out that a flatbed scanner will simply not have the
resolution to make the wet-mount process worth while, except perhaps
if you're scanning large format. It won't turn a flatbed into a Nikon
5000. My (very, very few.... sigh) good negatives I either enlarge the
old fashioned way or get them drum scanned for about $15-25 each -
cheap.
3. There are several flat-bed scanners that offer some level of
digital ICE. It works OK on my Epson 4990, but it doesn't play well
with the grain reduction tool at all; a flaw I've reported to Epson
and gotten no response.

On Feb 26, 11:36 am, "Steven Woody" wrote:
i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

thanks.

-
woody


I disagree with the Digital Ice over promoters, never mind "roc" and
"gem." Mostly because I don't like Nikonscan.

I've used it, with a 9000ED, yes it all works. Infrared dust removal
works, Vuescan has it too. It's a big time saver, and in batch
processing it is smart. I'm not restoring color in old family slides,
but it sounds smart for that.

I have two observations.

1. My Silverfast software seems to have a better dust and scratch
interface, you can really protect areas from processing, preview the
results, and magnify to 100%+ . My last Nikon software was ver4, so
maybe it does this too now, but not then.

In the end, I've found that turning off ALL dust removal works best!
To hell with it. Instead I clean the neg like a lab scientist. After I
save a file I fix any defects in Photshop with methods that are very
fast, using layers and painting from history. In the process I get a
fine look at every square centimeter huge file at 100% mag, very
important! There really is no better software dust remover than
Photoshop. I am not a production user, I only scan my 6x9 color negs,
rather few, and work the 16 bit 650 megabyte files in Photoshop.
Landscapes.

"ckphotodigital" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Feb 26, 11:36 am, "Steven Woody" wrote:
i heard Digital ICE only works with color negs, is it true? i also
heard web mount scanning can resolve the dust problem on film, is it
true? if so, can my Epson 4870 scanner do web scanning and how?

thanks.

-
woody


I disagree with the Digital Ice over promoters, never mind "roc" and
"gem." Mostly because I don't like Nikonscan.

I've used it, with a 9000ED, yes it all works. Infrared dust removal
works, Vuescan has it too. It's a big time saver, and in batch
processing it is smart. I'm not restoring color in old family slides,
but it sounds smart for that.

I have two observations.

1. My Silverfast software seems to have a better dust and scratch
interface, you can really protect areas from processing, preview the
results, and magnify to 100%+ . My last Nikon software was ver4, so
maybe it does this too now, but not then.

In the end, I've found that turning off ALL dust removal works best!
To hell with it. Instead I clean the neg like a lab scientist. After I
save a file I fix any defects in Photshop with methods that are very
fast, using layers and painting from history. In the process I get a
fine look at every square centimeter huge file at 100% mag, very
important! There really is no better software dust remover than
Photoshop. I am not a production user, I only scan my 6x9 color negs,
rather few, and work the 16 bit 650 megabyte files in Photoshop.
Landscapes.


Just scan an old slide twice--once with the Digital ICE features off and
once with them on--and the results will be apparent.

I scan new film negs with ICE, and I am amazed at how many scratches it
corrects--on film that was just shot and developed earlier the same day.

I'm a big fan of ICE ROC and GEM.