Focusing problem with Coolscan 9000

  • Thread starter Thread starter Daniel Masse
  • Start date Start date
D

Daniel Masse

Hello !

Well... my new 9000 scanner went back to the factory twice already : it was
damaged in transport, and I could not get it to work yet...

I got it back yesterday, and I have been trying for hours to get sharp scans
of slides. No way. I get reasonably sharp scans from 120 and 135 films, but
not from mounted 35 mm slides (standard plastic mounts).

It seems to me that the focusing point is located a bit too low (This is
probably a result of the transport damage).

Of course, I could send it back a third time... which would mean at least
one month delay... and no guarantee that it will work...

I have opened the hood, expecting to find some kind of adjustment screw, but
I could not identify it.

Does anybody know where such an adjustment might be located ?

Thanks !

Dan
 
Hello !

Well... my new 9000 scanner went back to the factory twice already : it was
damaged in transport, and I could not get it to work yet...

I got it back yesterday, and I have been trying for hours to get sharp scans
of slides. No way. I get reasonably sharp scans from 120 and 135 films, but
not from mounted 35 mm slides (standard plastic mounts).

It seems to me that the focusing point is located a bit too low (This is
probably a result of the transport damage).

Of course, I could send it back a third time... which would mean at least
one month delay... and no guarantee that it will work...

I have opened the hood, expecting to find some kind of adjustment screw, but
I could not identify it.

Does anybody know where such an adjustment might be located ?

Thanks !

Dan
Click to expand...

Manual focus adjustment is in the NikonScan software, no?

MM
 
autofocus works on detecting contrast difference. If there is curvature
of the slide, then it is easy to be "out of focus". DOF for the Nikons
is about 5-10 units in NS. Try moving the focus point around manually
and see if that improves it. Otherwise you will need to unmount the
slide and use 1) the film holder or 2) use a glass holder with
antiNewton glass.
 
degrub said:
autofocus works on detecting contrast difference. If there is curvature of
the slide, then it is easy to be "out of focus". DOF for the Nikons is
about 5-10 units in NS. Try moving the focus point around manually and see
if that improves it. Otherwise you will need to unmount the slide and use
1) the film holder or 2) use a glass holder with antiNewton glass.
Click to expand...

Well, of course I tried with various slides, and I tried to move the focus
point around. No improvement...

The reading I get in NS is 1 or 2, for a total scale of 450 : this is what
leads me to think that the lens focuses below the film plane of a mounted
slide.

Now, of course, ans as you suggest, I could unmount the slide and use a
glass holder... That would be fun... and that might keep me busy for a
while...


No, there is no real manual focus : the only thing you can do manually is
select the spot you want the scanner to use as focusing point.
 
Yes, there is manual focus in the software. It's on tool pallette 1,
Scanner Extras.

A possible quick kluge would be to put an empty slide mount under the
real slide mount.

That reading of 1 or 2 seems low -- my LS4000 says 90-ish for thin cardboard
mounts, 150-ish for the thick Wess mounts.
 
Chuck Tribolet said:
Yes, there is manual focus in the software. It's on tool pallette 1,
Scanner Extras.

A possible quick kluge would be to put an empty slide mount under the
real slide mount.

That reading of 1 or 2 seems low -- my LS4000 says 90-ish for thin
cardboard
mounts, 150-ish for the thick Wess mounts.
Click to expand...

Yes, you are right : there is indeed a manual focus tool. But the result I
get is worse, when I set the focus to a higher value.

I tried to insert an empty slide mount, as you suggested. But, as expected,
the result is worse too.

I believe the focusing range of the lens is lower than where it should be :
it includes the unmounted film, but does not include the mounted slide. The
focusing range probably lies somewhere at and below the surface of the tray.
I tried taping the mounted slide under the tray, but the tray is too thick,
and I get on the other side of the focusing range.

The only solution seems to be to mechanically raise the focusing range - if
that is possible....
 
Yes, you are right : there is indeed a manual focus tool. But the result I
get is worse, when I set the focus to a higher value.

I tried to insert an empty slide mount, as you suggested. But, as expected,
the result is worse too.

I believe the focusing range of the lens is lower than where it should be:
it includes the unmounted film, but does not include the mounted slide. The
focusing range probably lies somewhere at and below the surface of the tray.
I tried taping the mounted slide under the tray, but the tray is too thick,
and I get on the other side of the focusing range.

The only solution seems to be to mechanically raise the focusing range - if
that is possible....
Click to expand...

You have scanned film before, and so have at least a general frame of
reference for "how sharp" a scan from film should look?

(meaning, razor sharp images from any scanner aren't generally acheived;
software sharpening to the final image is almost always needed).

MM
 
You have scanned film before, and so have at least a general frame of
reference for "how sharp" a scan from film should look?

(meaning, razor sharp images from any scanner aren't generally acheived;
software sharpening to the final image is almost always needed).
Click to expand...

OP explicitly stated his other film comes in fine. LS9000-class
scanner should be capable of quite sharp output even if it's not 100%
equivalent to the original. There's also the potential to examine the
film grain's "sharpness" independent of image content when comparing
scans. I'd give Daniel the benefit of the doubt in his analysis.

Daniel, if I understand you correctly, your manual focus is hitting
its limit before the image fully resolves. Do you see an improvement
in sharpness all the way up to that point? Do you have a throwaway
slide you could deform or overzealously remount to the point where at
least the center area would be closer to where you think it belongs?
If you can get a sharp*er* scan through such methods, your original
diagnosis would be confirmed.

Hope this post makes it through Google Groups' latest insult of an
interface....

false_dmitrii
 
OP explicitly stated his other film comes in fine. LS9000-class
scanner should be capable of quite sharp output even if it's not 100%
equivalent to the original. There's also the potential to examine the
film grain's "sharpness" independent of image content when comparing
scans. I'd give Daniel the benefit of the doubt in his analysis.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have used a Coolscan IV for several years. I am quite familiar with
scanned images...

The mounted slides scanned with the 9000 are definitely out of focus.
Daniel, if I understand you correctly, your manual focus is hitting
its limit before the image fully resolves.
Exactly.

Do you see an improvement
in sharpness all the way up to that point?
Click to expand...

Yes, when I set the focusing distance manually, I can see clearly that
higher values give lower quality results. The autofocus gives a reading of 1
or 2.
Do you have a throwaway
slide you could deform or overzealously remount to the point where at
least the center area would be closer to where you think it belongs?
If you can get a sharp*er* scan through such methods, your original
diagnosis would be confirmed.
Click to expand...

Well... there is really no need to do that test with a deformed slide : when
I scan an unmounted film, the result is good.

I believe the focusing range lies too low, at or below the surface of the
tray, instead of above. It is probably possible to adjust that range
manually, but I have no idea of how to do it...

I opened the hood, to see if I could find something that would look like a
screw I could adjust, but I saw nothing. Oh yes, I found... a good handful
of polystyrene balls (yes, under the hood, inside the scanner...)... That
gives an idea of the way the people work, in the French Nikon maintenance
shop...
 
On Feb 24, 2:00 am, "Daniel Masse"

(Google Groups 3 keeps finding new ways to disappoint me...I hope the
random missing letters I'm seeing will be present in the final post)

I believe the focusing range lies too low, at or below the surface of the
tray, instead of above. It is probably possible to adjust that range
manually, but I have no idea of how to do it...

I opened the hood, to see if I could find something that would look like ascrewI could adjust, but I saw nothing.
Click to expand...

Can't help you. :( I don't dismantle or understand electronics, and I
don't own a Nikon anyway.

Maybe you could take it to a local independent repair shop and see if
they can help identify the adjustment mechanism?

I'm certain there are other owners who know the answer, but it's such
a niche item it'll be hard to find them. I was able to dig up a
couple of related articles for you to examine. <http://
preview.tinyurl.com/27l7ob> has an interesting discussion about LS2000
disassembly. Kennedy knew an awful lot about Nikons and would have
been a good person to ask, but I haven't seen posts from him in a long
time. <http://www.pearsonimaging.com/articles/howto/
ls5000cleaning.html> has an in-depth look at disassembling and
cleaning your scanner's sibling; maybe the author knows something
about the focus mechanism as well.

It's entirely plausible that focus adjustments could require software
or firmware tools. I've followed recent discussion of Minolta DSLR
focus tuning, which apparently requires both screw turning and
corresponding software adjustments.
Oh yes, I found... a good handful
of polystyrene balls (yes, under the hood, inside the scanner...)... That
gives an idea of the way the people work, in the FrenchNikonmaintenance
shop...
Click to expand...

LOL, sounds perfectly typical of repair shops these days. Saw some
really scary stories about Minolta DSLRs after they came back from
Sony's proxy repair service, though that was right after the change in
ownership. For some reason it reminds me of standing in the food
storage area of a dumpy Beijing restaurant and seeing an enormous rat
materialize a few feet away. :)

Bonne chance,
false_dmitrii
 
Yes. Thank you. The address is excellent : I found that somebody also hada
problem with the focus, and I found pictures showing how to access the
focusing lens. I may try...

Thanks again !
Click to expand...


Please do let us know the outcome?
I also own a 9000 which - touch wood - hasn't got
this problem. But it's always good to know how
others did overcome theirs.
 
"Noons" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de (e-mail address removed)...
Please do let us know the outcome?
I also own a 9000 which - touch wood - hasn't got
this problem. But it's always good to know how
others did overcome theirs.

Well... I eventually decided to send it back to Nikon. I know I'll have to
wait at least one month, but the scanner is still under warranty, after the
first repair done by Nikon.
 
"Noons" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de (e-mail address removed)...
Please do let us know the outcome?
I also own a 9000 which - touch wood - hasn't got
this problem. But it's always good to know how
others did overcome theirs.

Well... I eventually decided to send it back to Nikon. I know I'll have to
wait at least one month, but the scanner is still under warranty, after the
first repair done by Nikon.
Click to expand...

Glad one of the links was helpful, even if you won't be using it.
Maybe you could inform the Nikon service center of your findings to
give them a better chance of fixing the scanner? :)

It probably would help some other user eventually if you could repost
the focus info here or provide a more direct link to it.

Hope your scanner comes back better than it left.

false_dmitrii
 
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