Scanning Kodachrome

I have recently acquired a Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400, which I am trying to learn how to use. My first project is to digitilise some (a few hundred) of my fathers kodachrome slides from the late 1960s. I have read many places that one cannot use the Digital ICE dust & scratch removal found on my scanner on Kodachrome.

1. How does one clean old slides before scanning? I have tried to clean some with a damp micro fiber cloth on the non-emulsion side, but it does not seem that this has removed much of the dirt on the slides.

2. How does one remove specs of dirt and scrathes AFTER scanning? I have iPhoto and Adobe Lightroom on my Mac.

3. What negative impact does ICE have on kodachrome? Is it only the loss of detail that is the problem?

I am really thankful for all advice on this matter!

Best regards
Bjørn

Kodachrome is not an ideal emulsion for scanning and some scanners have dedicated settings for it. The Nikon Coolscan models do for sure.

Blow dust off the slides, by all means use a dry microfibre cloth carefully and gently, or maybe buy some slide cleaning fluid.

Afterwards, cloning in Photoshop is much easier than spotting prints ever was.

Thank you for your answer! What kind of slide cleaning fluid would you recommend?

Maybe I also need to seriously consider investing in Photoshop.

Bjørn

In Lightroom use the spot removal tool for any dust.

No need for Photoshop.

I believe the Minolta scanners use an infrared channel to detect dust and scratches on the film surface. Unfortunately the unique composition of Kodachrome tends to absorb the infrared so affects the ability to perform ICE.

A friend of mind who had to 'restore' some of his father's old images recommended the Polaroid Dust Removal filter link. This doesn't seem to be on the Polaroid site any more but I came across it here link.

It seems to fire up on Snow Leopard but that's all the testing I've done.

I can't specifically recommend any slide cleaning fluid, but a web search will no doubt find products labelled as such. Do Jessops still sell one? Maybe one of the darkroom suppliers can help.

What about PEC-12 : You can read all about it (and purchase some) from here link

Jon

For slide cleaning solutions, try to get hold of some PEC-12. It's made by Photographic Solutions Inc and is designed for cleaning muck off slides.

It's quite expensive but will last a long time. Rocket blower off both sides under a good light source so you can see the dust and hairs you're trying to get rid of; use a little PEC-12 on a swab to get the greasy marks etc off.

ICE slows the scanning time down a lot, so I don't use it, preferring to do a bit more prep and use LR to clone out the artefacts that are either captured on the slide or can't be shifted.

HTH


Steve

Typical - just as you post you find someone beaten you to it by a few seconds!


Steve

I've always had excellent results scanning Kodachrome with a Minolta scanner.

Thank you for all your informative answers!

One has to do this manually - right? There is no auto-spot removal in Lightroom, is there?

This seems like a very good product, I will surely check this out!

Do you do any special adjustments to colour or other parameters when scanning Kodachrome? I am using the DiMAGE Scan Utility software (ver 1.1.6) , which I quite like.

Regards
Bjørn

No, I just used the supplied software at the default settings

I echo Ken's remark I have the 5400 scanner and just use ICE. Haven't noticed too much of a proble to date
Andy

Most printers (as in "printing company", not photo printers) do have film cleaner. You could probably buy some from them at a decent price.

Kodachrome scans well on Minolta scanners, no need for a special setting. I agree with the suggestions of PEC-12, but a lot also depends on what you use to wipe with - you don't want to leave lint on the slides. Pec Pads are good, although not cheap and slightly clumsy to use. It's also quite hard to clean mounted slides - crud builds up along the edges, no matter how careful you are. Unmounting the slide is the recommended method, but it's a mighty pain!

My feeling is that, ultimately, blowing off excess dust and then using a spotting tool such as the one in Lightroom is the most reliable and versatile solution. The Polaroid plug-in mentioned earlier works well with low-contrast areas such as skies and out-of-focus parts of the image. Areas of detail require manual spotting - I use the Healing or Spot Healing tools in Photoshop, rarely the old-school Cloning tool.