Vuescan more questions

[John]

Auto focus: When manually selecting the point to focus (the little flashing
star) is it best to put this on an area with details (face, tree branches
etc) rather than say a dark, light or plain area? If the photo has a soft
(out of focus) background is it best to avoid this? How does autofocus work
and does it matter where the point is set? What size of area is analysed? On
auto focus how does Vuescan select the point to focus on (its not generally
in the middle of the frame)? Is focussing undertaken on each frame in a
batch scan? Is it best to focus on the scan rather than preview bearing in
mind the preview is at a lower resolution

Secondly what's the optimum bitrate for scanning? Is there any real
advantage in selecting say more than 24?

FARE does not seem to work on B&W - why? What's the best way to clean up
(software) old film this being the case?

On my Epson 1240U I noticed if I scanned my B&W negs as positives and then
converted after the speckling (noise or grain?) was much reduced

 

[Mendel Leisk]

Auto focus: When manually selecting the point to focus (the little flashing
star) is it best to put this on an area with details (face, tree branches
etc) rather than say a dark, light or plain area? If the photo has a soft
(out of focus) background is it best to avoid this? How does autofocus work
and does it matter where the point is set? What size of area is analysed? On
auto focus how does Vuescan select the point to focus on (its not generally
in the middle of the frame)? Is focussing undertaken on each frame in a
batch scan? Is it best to focus on the scan rather than preview bearing in
mind the preview is at a lower resolution

Secondly what's the optimum bitrate for scanning? Is there any real
advantage in selecting say more than 24?

FARE does not seem to work on B&W - why? What's the best way to clean up
(software) old film this being the case?

On my Epson 1240U I noticed if I scanned my B&W negs as positives and then
converted after the speckling (noise or grain?) was much reduced

The default (2/3's up vertical center line in portrait orientation)
works fine 99% of time. I think as long as there is grain for Vuescan
to focus on. The only time I have problem is when this area is VERY
dense. In such case I'll shift the focus to some similar location.