My new scanner. Help, recommendations?

[Uramis]

Hi everyone. I’m new to this forum, I just found it a few weeks ago. And here is my first post. (by the way, I’m from argentina and I “can” speak English, but not that well, so…

I’ve just bought the Epson perfection 2480 and I’m starting to check it out. I scanned a film and, while it looked great, there was a slight (not so slight) color cast to yellow… but that’s normal with non professional scanners, right? And, it’s not possible to have an unique configuration to get the colors match the original… or is it?

On the other hand, the 2400 dpi scanned film looked right, but a 300 dpi scanned image looked more sharp, aka more in focus. Is that right? I mean, if the scanner scans in 2400 dpi, it should have the “same” focus as the original film (which IS in focus). Should I post a little part of the picture so you can tell me if it right, or I should return it for a new one?
Thanks! Byees!

[v.bampton]

Hi Uramis

I'm new here too, but I've been working fulltime using photoshop in our pro photographic studio for the last 5 years, so hopefully I can help.

The Epson 2480 is a great scanner, and the things you describe are entirely normal...

When scanning film/negatives, there will usually be a colour cast, and it will vary depending on the brand of film too. Even when scanning prints, the colours can drift, depending on how long the scanner has been turned on. Some software, such as Silverfast allow you to profile the scanner to get the colours closer, but it will still vary a bit. Learn some very basic colour correction, and you won't have a problem.

Scans will always tend to be a bit soft, but it's best not to sharpen them until you've done any work on them, and then sharpen them just before you print, with the settings dependant on what size you are printing to. There will be a variation between scanning negatives and prints. Once you've got the hang of your new scanner, you'll love it.

Let me know if I can help at all.

Victoria

[Uramis]

Thanks for the reply!
I kept trying, and now I’m scanning with no "auto exposure" and I make the corrections in Photoshop.

tomorrow my girlfriend will bring a perfectly exposed-focused negative and I’ll try again the focus issue. I'll post the scan here if I’m not convinced yet.
byees

pd: I thought that "negativo" was called "film" in english, not "negative"

[v.bampton]

Your English is very good Uramis. Better than a lot of English people!

In the settings of the scanner, you may find there are adjustments for the focus for negatives. The focus usually is about 1mm above the flatbed for negatives. Hope you get on ok.

Victoria