LS-50 & Vuescan: Soft scans

[Ozzie]

Hi,
I've been scanning b&w negatives (Tmax100, XP2, FP4+) with a new Nikon LS-50
and Vuescan. The scans are rather soft even after sharpening and do not look
any better than if I'd had used a flatbed with 35mm negatives.

I've used several sharpening method (Edgesharpener, Nik SharpenerPro,
Photoshop USM). As for the negs, I know that they are sharp from Kodak
PhotoCD scans and from print I had done in the darkroom.

I've used Vuescans before on an Epson 3200 scanner with MF format negs and
got real sharp prints (After sharpening of course).

Anyone can help me with this ?

 

[degrub]

CHeck the focusing. Do some scans with manual focus and compare. If i
remember correctly, the focusing method looks for areas of reasonably
high contrast. If the films lack this, it will be hard to get sharp
images and you will have to do it manually. The other possibility is
that there is some film curl that the holder is not flattening, and even
though the scanner can focus on a spot ok, the rest of the image may not
be in focus. The Nikons are well known to have a limited depth of field,
so you need pretty flat film in the holder. If you can't get it to work
with the holder, try getting a glass insert for the FH-2 holder from
FocalPoint. You may have to use a dedicated holder with the glass. It is
anti newton glass and has worked well enough for me when have a curled
film that i really want to be scanned sharp all over.

Frank