Scanning slides a problem!

[carlos1v]

I just bought an HP g4010 and was given an HP 5300C. I'm trying to copy diapositives (slides) on my g4010 with the TMA. Putting slides in the slot with the negative carrier out works (slightly). The result is scans that bear little in common with the slides. The color balance is off, the detail is horrible, the contrast is up. I'm thinking that a calibration has not been done. Also, the slides are not in a plane, they are naturally warped a bit and the focal plane seems to vary considerably. Using just film in the TMA (thing that could be mistaken for a slide rule) produces horribly underexposed (dark) scans I guess because they don't have backlighting. Can you help or point me to a tutorial? Thanks in advance.

[Doug Nelson]

Does your scanner have a transparency adapter? (a light that shines through the slide)

[carlos1v]

Thank you for the reply. Yes, the HP G4010 does have a transparency adapter. It can take mounted slides or unmounted negatives/diapositives in a smaller adapter which, in normal operation is slid into the mounted-slide adapter
( http://www.photographyblog.com/image...et_g4010_1.jpg )

This is my setup. Vista OS, new HP a6030n desktop. I initially had trouble installing the scanner driver but HP produced a new driver in May, which installed fine.
1. The first thing that struck me is that the slide film should be placed between two pieces of glass to ensure a flat plane. The slides are obviously bowed.
2. The second thing was that the exposure, focus, colors were odd like when you would wear red on tv when they had the older cameras.
3. Taking the positives out of the cardboard slide cover and putting them in the "negative" carrier produced very dark images.
I think I am overlooking something fundamental.

[Jerryb]

hi,
if the negatives were bowed in the template holder that would cause some problems.....

now on the other issues like too dark or too saturated....

I would suggest disabling the auto enhancement and also any auto functions and to go with manual..... adjustments....

not just hp but others like cannon and epson... I have seen complaints about the auto corrections features.... especially the auto enhamcnet which seem to saturate...

also keep in mind your monitor settings.. smile...

well those are my thoughts..

Originally Posted by carlos1v

Thank you for the reply. Yes, the HP G4010 does have a transparency adapter. It can take mounted slides or unmounted negatives/diapositives in a smaller adapter which, in normal operation is slid into the mounted-slide adapter
( http://www.photographyblog.com/image...et_g4010_1.jpg )

This is my setup. Vista OS, new HP a6030n desktop. I initially had trouble installing the scanner driver but HP produced a new driver in May, which installed fine.
1. The first thing that struck me is that the slide film should be placed between two pieces of glass to ensure a flat plane. The slides are obviously bowed.
2. The second thing was that the exposure, focus, colors were odd like when you would wear red on tv when they had the older cameras.
3. Taking the positives out of the cardboard slide cover and putting them in the "negative" carrier produced very dark images.
I think I am overlooking something fundamental.

[zganie]

You Could try scanning them twice once for the highlights and once for the
shadows then layer them in photoshop.Usually slide/transparencies have a high Dmax and clipping of some detail happens when scanning unless your scanner also has a high Dmax

zganie