Input/Output/Workflow - - Epson 2450 and Magenta cast

G. Couch · #1 01-30-2002, 11:10 PM

Anyone else have this problem? It is very slight but almost all of my slides are showing a magenta cast. prints are fine and show no cast, so maybe it's an issue with the light in the lid.

DJ Dubovsky · #2 01-31-2002, 08:06 AM

I have the 1650 and never noticed that. It's not unusual to have a slight color cast in your scans but if it were real pronounced I would say that was a problem. Have you contacted tech support for Epson? What about your negatives, do they come up with the same cast? If so then I would say the light may have some thing to do with it but I am certainly no voice of expertise for this problem.
DJ

Ed_L · #3 01-31-2002, 09:32 AM

I'm not familiar with the scanner, but I wonder if you tried different transparency films in your setup (if available) if that might help?

Ed

Tim_S · #4 01-31-2002, 04:44 PM

I don't know your particular scanner, but since it is a "consumer" scanner I assume it doesn't have any calibration facility (Epson Pro scanners come with Monaco EZ color). It is not unusual to need different calibrations for reflective and transparency function of a scanner.

Are you using the SilverFast software that comes with that scanner? I don't really know the SE version, but the full version would allow you to set a color correction that could be applied to all subsequent scans.

The other thing to know is that film will change color balance, not just film type to film type, but even with exposure. I have noticed this in scanning my own pictures. I have taken to photographing a gray card in each lighting situation to make scanning easier. Usually slide films have only very subtle variation, but negative films change a great deal in overall color balance with overall exposure levels. It is amazing what those little mini-labs manage to compensate for, all automatically...

--tks

Doug Nelson · #5 01-31-2002, 04:59 PM

When you say "prints show no cast" do you mean when you print them out, or the originals? If your printouts show no cast, it would be logical to assume it's your monitor calibration.

You might also want to take a look at VueScan (link over in our links section). It should allow you to make whatever adjustments to your scanner you need.

thomasgeorge · #6 01-31-2002, 06:22 PM

The slight magenta cast, especially with slides, is a known problem with the 2450 and has been reported by some owners of the 1600 series as well. Supposedly it has been corrected in newer issue models and is suppost to be related to the light. Perhaps contacting Epson and inquiring if a simple light change would solve the problem would be in order. Good luck, Tom

G. Couch · #7 01-31-2002, 06:31 PM

Doug- Sorry about that. I meant when I scan prints or artwork they come out fine. I was only getting the color cast when I scanned slides.

Tim- I tried Silverfast at your suggestion and it worked much better! (I forgot Silverfast came with the scanner..that was dumb of me!) The color looks much closer to the actual slide. I guess it was the Epson driver. I tried color negatives as well and Silverfast did a much better job at getting rid of the orange cast.
Thanks for the good info!!!

Do most people here use third party scanning software?(Vuescan, Silverfast)

G. Couch · #8 01-31-2002, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by thomasgeorge
The slight magenta cast, especially with slides, is a known problem with the 2450 and has been reported by some owners of the 1600 series as well

This is interesting to know. The cast was pretty slight and I'm getting better scans with SilverFast, so I don't think I will let it trouble me. It is rather bothersome that it was reported in an earlier model and the problem still exists in the 2450.

I guess nothing is ever as perfect as we want it to be but it is still a great scanner!

thomasgeorge · #9 01-31-2002, 07:09 PM

I dont think I would let the slight magenta cast bother me too much. Slides, due to the natural deterioration of their component dyes, especially the cyan component ,are prone to magenta casts anyhow. My scanner just departed this earth and in doing so attempted to take me with it via the method of electrocution (gave me a nasty shock before making serious electronic sizzling noises) and I have ordered a 2450 as the replacement for it. From all I have read, it is a most remarkable unit for the features it offers vs. price, the scans I saw from it are excellent in quality and from what I was able to find out about the cast problem, it is so minor as to be almost a non issue. Tom

G. Couch · #10 01-31-2002, 07:30 PM

I think you will be very happy with the 2450. Plus, mine has not tried to kill me yet!

Someone on these boards has a pretty effective "hammer technique" for that kind of unruly hardware.

Tim_S · #11 02-01-2002, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Do most people here use third party scanning software?(Vuescan, Silverfast)

I don't know about others but I don't. When I was using a UMAX Astra 1200s I used SilverFast because it was so much better than the UMAX software. Now I use Microtek ScanWizard Pro which came with the Artixscan 1100. It is about as good as SilverFast, and I prefer the interface.

--tks