FS 4000 red/magenta colour cast

[Jonathan Renouf]

Hi there,
I have a Canon FS4000 and I find that it consistently scans with a
reasonably strong magenta/red cast. It's the same with Vuescan (what
good software that is) and FilmGet. I have some success correcting it
by using the different colour curves in FilmGet, and then fine tuning
the correction in Photoshop, but it's annoying that the problem is
there in the first place. One of the reviews I read of the FS4000
talked about this as a problem, but in a much more limited way than I
am finding. Has anyone got any ideas? Does the scanner colour balance
tend to "drift" over time (I've had mine for about 4 years)?
Best
J

 

[Stewart]

Hi. I don't have a FS4000 any more but when I did I found two ways of
dealing with its colour casts.

1. Use IT8 colour targets (eg from Wolf Faust) and calibrate using
Vuescan, or

2. Photograph an 18% grey card, scan, right-click on it, save the
resulting settings.

good luck

Stewart

 

[bmoag]

You do not say if this is with negative or positive materials and whether
this is a recent or chronic problem.
Under many circumstances a magenta cast such as you describe can be due to
color management settings being applied more than once in the workflow or,
more properly, misapplied.
Therefore it behooves you to check the settings for both the scanning
software and image processing software that you use as it may be something
that simple.
I like to think that I have a reasonable understanding of color management
but once in a while I still get something like this if I have not remembered
to check or uncheck the right boxes.
It is easier to work through the problem using the Canon software,
unchecking anything that has to do with color matching. You do not say what
image processing program you use. While the Adobes are excellent, primarily
because of their color management, if not used properly the magenta cast can
be difficult to shed.
I have had a 4000 since they were introduced. Although I rarely use it now
it continues to work quite well so I believe the illuminating system for the
scanner can be quite durable. You can check with Canon but I do not think
the light source is likely to shift in color like that.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Hi there,

I have a Canon FS4000 and I find that it consistently scans with a
reasonably strong magenta/red cast. It's the same with Vuescan (what
good software that is) and FilmGet. I have some success correcting it
by using the different colour curves in FilmGet, and then fine tuning
the correction in Photoshop, but it's annoying that the problem is
there in the first place. One of the reviews I read of the FS4000
talked about this as a problem, but in a much more limited way than I
am finding. Has anyone got any ideas?

Does the scanner colour balance
tend to "drift" over time (I've had mine for about 4 years)?
Probably.

Best
J

Try this profile, it fixes most of the excess magenta and red noise on
my unit. Not all, but most.

http://www.dl-c.com/CanoScan 4000.zip

-Greg

 

[Roger S.]

You are talking about slides, not negatives, right?
If so, the above suggestion to use a Wolf Faust IT8 target with Vuescan
is a reasonable one. I do this for slides. I didn't find the DLC or
other generic ones to be usable for me.

For negatives, right clicking on a neutral area (white card, etc) is
the only sane way to set color balance in Vuescan.
For more control and flexibility I now scan with film base color
locked, color balance set to "none" in Vuescan, and make color
correction levels for different film types in Photoshop. This workflow
gives me more consistent results, helps me avoid various Vuescan bugs,
etc.

 

[AAvK]

You are talking about slides, not negatives, right?
If so, the above suggestion to use a Wolf Faust IT8 target with Vuescan
is a reasonable one. I do this for slides. I didn't find the DLC or
other generic ones to be usable for me.

For negatives, right clicking on a neutral area (white card, etc) is
the only sane way to set color balance in Vuescan.
For more control and flexibility I now scan with film base color
locked, color balance set to "none" in Vuescan, and make color
correction levels for different film types in Photoshop. This workflow
gives me more consistent results, helps me avoid various Vuescan bugs,
etc.


Greg Campbell wrote:

Curious, can those levels be downloaded anywhere?

 

[Roger S.]

No, I didn't post them anywhere, but if I use any of the same films you
do, I'm happy to share settings with you.
You can email me at the address listed in this forum.

I have inis and levels for a few films that I use regularly
Kodak 400UC, 100UC
Fuji Reala, 160C, NPZ

Best,
Roger