Nikon Scan vs Vuescan, Nikon Scan smears detail, why (0/1)

I have a Coolscan IV with Nikon Scan and I have been trying out
Vuescan recently. For default settings, Nikon Scan gives scans that
seem more natural and pleasing to me, but when I blow up detail,
Vuescan seems superior. I am attaching a crop of an XKE wire wheel as
an example. The spokes on Nikon Scan seem smeared, while on Vuescan
they are nicely resolved. Is this a setting problem I haven't found
yet, or is Vuescan actually superior in this regard? jgns is the Nikon
Scan and jgvs is Vuescan. Any help is appreciated.

 

I don't know Nikonscan well, but lack of knowledge has never stopped me
before.. (O:

First up, you can't post attachments here, so you will need to provide a
link.

Second, is it possible this is a focus issue? Vuescan uses a different
method to focus, and you may get different results depending on where
you place its focus point (that little cross). On film with a curve (eg
Kodachromes) this can be an important issue, and the Nikons don't have
much d-o-f to play with.

Third, are you using multiple passes or anything similar that might
affect the image sharpness? Vuescan has a Sharpen checkbox under the
filter tab - I presume you have left that off?

Perhaps NS has a built in smoothing filter, like a software anti-alias
or grain-redux feature, but I would be surprised if you can't turn it
off. Others who have the scanner can probably help more, but until
then.. maybe try comp.periphs.scanners?

 

I have had to change to using Vuescan exclusively with my old LS1000 scanner
since changing to XP from W98SE (See Advent Card Reader thread below). I
would say Vuescan gives a lot more control than the older version of
NikonView that came with the scanner, and you can get much bigger scans with
it. I've always left the focus on 'Auto' but despite having scanned a lot of
old Kodachromes I've not noticed any softness problems. Of course it may
depend on how good the originals were and how much you boosted the size.

Paul

 

I did not see this. (Coolscan V, Nikonscan and Vuescan)

Some of the options might cause loss of detail in Nikon scan:
- noise reduction
- Digital ICE... I've had good luck with ICE on Kodachromes from the
80's, but YMMV. I found postings here that ICE with Kodachrome might
introduce artifacts, but your description sounds different from this.
- Others?

If you have sharpening in VueScan this will increase the apparent
detail.

Good luck with your scanning. Put a photo on Flickr, pBase, or
anywhere, then provide a link in another message here.

-=- Rick