Film Scanner CanoScan 9000F Help!!

[rachelrstricklin]

Hi all! I recently got a film scanner for my 35mm negatives to try and cut costs a little. However, I can't get my scans to look quite right- they are always a little "off" in color and clarity, no matter how many settings I adjust. The color doesn't bother me too much because I can usually pull up the photo in photoshop and do some slight adjustments, but my pictures seems to be just the tiniest bit out of focus and it drives me crazy.

Here is an example - The first one is from a professional photo store where I live, the second is from MY scanner.




Any tips at all would be greatly appreciated!!

( i am using kodak portra 400)

 

[Gavjenks]

Have you tried VueScan or SilverFast? These are third party software packages that can give you firmware access to features of most scanners that would be difficult or impossible to access otherwise. They also can do things like automatically running multiple scan passes at different brightnesses to get more dynamic range, etc.

They make using scanners way easier and can also squeeze more performance out of them to boot.



Your scanner is certainly good enough in terms of hardware that it should be able to do better with the right control.

 

[Mike_E]

Just a question, have you gone into your scanner and cleaned the sensor and underneath the glass?

You can get dust in there just like a digital camera/lens.

 

[Light Guru]

The scanning sensor has a fixed focal point for slides and negatives. Cheep scanners provide you with cheep film holder that may be way off from where the focal point really is.

 

[dandy67]

I have a 9000f I use for 'proofing'. I use a Plustek for scanning potential prints at hi-res.

The 9000f doesn't have the resolving power to give you a good HQ print. It's more economical
than the Epson v700 but pretty terrible at resolving the latitude and sharpness of a film still.
You really need a dedicated 35mm scanner, which can be purchased off of ebay for a reasonable
amount.

I thought all my pictures were out of focus until I realized it was the scanner.

 

[lenny_eiger]

Flatbed scanners are notoriously blurry. If you want sharpness get a drum scan. They are going for about $1500 these days, on sites like Evilbay. I scan for a living, am very familiar with this...

Lenny
EigerStudios

 

[limr]

What settings have you tried adjusting? In the advanced scan settings menu, there are options for setting white and black points, RGB points, fade correction, etc. And you can save each profile for film type so when you are scanning another batch of the same film, you don't have to redo all the settings.