scan sharpness

Here's the image from my dslr.

I'm having some image sharpness problems with my new v600 scanner. It can not even resolve the grain on neopan 1600 :(

If you can't see the grain, the scanner is out of focus and nothing will be sharp. It took me a year to be able to scan 35mm in my 4490 in focus. I had to make my own wet mount holder because no one else did.

We'll need to know what settings you're using. Grain reduction softens the image, as does multiple passes. What DPI are you scanning at?
Does the scanner have to compensate too much for under/overexposure?
Do you have dust removal turned on in Vuescan? Are you scanning from the film directly or are you scanning to a file then scanning that file, and if so what DPI is your original scan set too?
Assuming that you don't have Vuescan set to auto, have you tried auto (guide me)?

3200dpi and no dust removal since I am under the impression that it is useless for b&w film. Scan straight from the negative. The scene was exposed correct enough. 4 passes, multi exposure, 16 bit grey, no black or white point changes, no "s" curve. Auto level colour balance, GENERIC COLOUR NEGATIVE profile used.

Just tried the auto guide me mode, no difference.

I would suspect a film holder height issue. Either the software has not told the scanner to focus at the height of the film holder, or the scanner/film holder has a mechanical issue that physically prevents it from focusing at the height of the holder. Read this forum question that I asked: http://photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00MAH5 Does any of this sound like it might be the cause? Perhaps you have not selected the proper film holder option? Otherwise try adjusting the heights of the film holder to see if that improves scan focus.

I don't use the Epson software but using it doesn't change how sharp the scans are. I wasn't aware that the v600 could change focus...
I'll uninstall the software and drivers, do a fresh install and try packing the holder up with some paper tomorrow after work. Now it's time for sleep.
Feel free to keep the ideas flowing. I hate it when things don't work like they're supposed to. It seems that ever since I started working with film a few months ago I've had dilemma and delay after delay. It's really trying my patience.

Maybe you could try Emailing this info to Epson customer service.

Jamie:

Somebody might correct me on this (I am not familiar with the scanner you mention).

In my experience, if you are expecting the same (even nearly the same) quality from 35mm film scans on a consumer-grade flatbed scanner as you get from your DSLR - you will continue to be disappointed and frustrated.

I initially purchased an Epson 4990 Photo flatbed scanner (which I believe was Epsons top of the line Photo flatbed at the time) and after working at it for months, the best I could do with properly exposed, 35mm slide film (Provia 100) was to achieve barely acceptable results that looked bad if printed larger than 6" x 9".

There were some differences according to which software I used (Vuescan, Epsonscan or Silverfast Lite) and I got better results if I did not manipulate the image with the scan software (beyond white-point and a bit of sharpening). However, the results were just plain disappointing.

My 4990 really struggled if the film was under or over exposed. Since I am not that good at reading negatives, I only scanned positive film with the 4990.

The 4990 film holders do not hold the film flat. If your film holders are similar, this could account for some of your lack of sharpness. I got into the habit of leaving my film strips under a stack of books for a few days before I scanned them. This reduced the amount of film curl.

It was very important to ensure I cropped-out the "film borders" in the preview window, before I scanned the frame. Scanning those dark areas seemed to throw the scanner exposure out of whack.

I also discovered that, if I left any of the film holder slots empty, I would get a strong magenta colour cast on the frames that I scanned. I got in the habit of filling the entire film holder and scanning only the frames I wanted.

The best thing I ever did to improve my 35mm scans was to forget the flatbed and buy a film scanner. I lucked-out and purchased a Nikon Coolscan V ED just before they were discontinued. The difference is like night and day. Even if I just use the default settings in Nikonscan, the results nearly matched the output of my DSLR for prints up to 8" x 12" (the largest size I print).

Dan Ferrel:

I was surprised to read that multiple-pass scans degrade image sharpness...I thought that 3 passes improved my images. It was the reason I bought Vuescan. I will have to examine that more closely.

Cheers! Jay

I can get my v500 to scan 35mm film OK but not great. Here is one from the V500 comparing 100%crops to a Canon IXUS70. The film used was APX100 developed in Agfa Rodinal not really a fine grain combo.