Thanks for putting up the Pronto codes Robin! Should be useful to someone else
Matt

Okay dokay

For those technically minded...

The remote generates bursts of pulses at 26us cycle (which is the normal 38kHz carrier). The ON-OFF sequence is:

* 13ms ON, 3ms OFF
* 1ms ON, 1ms OFF x 7

Then, all the while you hold the button down, it generates:
* 4ms ON, 246ms OFF

I'm trying to find out the One-For-All codes for their remote controls

Using IR Remote for the Psion http://www.geocities.com/jpollock_2000/infrared.htm I found that an RC-5 code 000 will sometimes trigger.

I'll keep you posted.

Matt

Ardent,

The remote control does not focus, even on the real one! (It's in the manual )

When I get a moment I'll connect the Pentax IR remote to our storage oscilloscope at work and see what it's sending out. Maybe the codes can be programmed into a One-for-All, Palm, or Pocket PC

Matt

Hi Lurach,

What a big question! Sorry to confuse you with my threads
First, the filesize issue...
If you have a large image and print it small, the printer driver has to downsample to produce the output. Obviously it depends on the output technology and DPI. If you are outputting to film, say at 310dpi, then it's pretty obvious what has to happen. In fact, I find that doing an image resize and applying some sharpening within PS is best - that way I can print 1:1 to the driver (in my case the HiTi Photoshuttle).
When printing to inkjet things get a little more complicated. The inkjet DPI value is not easily related to optical/photographic DPI since the drops of ink are effectively binary and have to be 'dithered' to produce the appearance of continuous tone. Personally, I find that an image of around 300dpi (resize to 8"x10" at 300dpi = 2400pixels x 3000pixels) works really well with the Epson inkjet.

So, yes, some information has to be thrown away - it is physically impossible not to (unless you had an infinite DPI output ) Just where that information gets thrown away is somewhat down to your workflow.

Now to the subject of scanners...
When I had the Scan Dual SCSI I found that the Minolta driver was horrible. It produced yucky posterised images and was inconsistent. I switched to Vuescan and have always found that so very reliable for scanning slides and negatives - no posterisation, absolute control, and very very good for batch scanning a roll of film. (Almost no user intervention required - shove slides in and autoscan, then sort out the images later.)

You may find linear output tricky in Corel. It can be done, but requires setting up colour management which I find more confusing than Photoshop. First off, get your monitor calibrated - http://www.praxisoft.com and download Wiziwyg. It takes ten minutes to calibrate your monitor.

Linear colour space is well suited to handling images from CCDs (digital cameras and scanners included). In my threads I was handling 16-bit per channel (48bit image) files in linear colour space. I'm on a steep learning curve at the moment trying to piece it all together. However, I reckon it will be a bit nasty trying to do 8bit per channel linear colour - there's probably not enough information and you will get severe posterisation in the shadows.

Just to recap... before I switched to Photoshop CS I found that the combination of Wiziwyg, Vuescan, and Corel Photopaint produced very good and repeatable results. In addition, when printing I let Photopaint and the Epson drivers sort it out (but do read the paper handling instructions when setting up the driver)

Phew! Hope that helps answer some of those queries.
Matt

Thanks for that - yes my LCD is at gamma 2.2

Should have read it more carefully

Matt

Ibodnar,

Thanks for the comparison images, and especially the link to ImageMagick - I am checking it out

BTW, Did you get the second example the wrong way around?? You said the left one was linear converted, but that's the one that does not show the graduated colours :

Matt

Hi All!

(Hope this isn't too geeky )

In playing around with PEF file conversion using dcRAW which can create 16-bit linear space Photoshop files, I've discovered some more very, very interesting things.

Here's what you do: convert an image to linear space, perform USM within that colour space, then convert to the target colour space.

Even better, use the linear output from dcRAW to begin with

And. even better, use the blur-then-sharpen technique on the www.aim-dtp.net web page.

Here are the steps:
1. Download Linear colour space profiles: http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/download/aim_profiles.zip
2. Unzip these, and copy to C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32COLOR
3. When opening a JPG, assign it the appropriate profile first: either sRGB or AdobeRGB. Then, using the "Image | Mode | Convert to profile" menu assign it the colour profile "AIM RGB Pro = WideGamut D65 G1.00" or the "AIM RGB = Trinitron D65 G1.00" - Gamma 1.00 means linear colour. If you are loading a PSD file from dcRAW, just assign this on loading.
4. Try doing a really heavy USM, say 500% at 0.5 radius, 0 threshold. Looks great!
5. Undo that, and download this zip: http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/techniques/usm/blur_sharpen.zip
6. Extract it into its own directory
7. Use Filter | Other | Custom and load "Blurr 030%.acf". Apply it
8. Use Filter | Other | Custom and load "Sharpen 500%.acf". Apply it
9. Now use the Image | Mode | Convert to Profile to assign to sRGB or AdobeRGB

Well, it sounds complicated, but it 'aint
The results just blow me away - I have injected some life into a slightly dull shot and given it some real "pazzaz"!

If you want to do some further reading, check out www.aim-dtp.net - it is tricky finding your way around, but the results are worth it

(And there is this: http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/calibration/xlprofiler/ for building ICC profiles)

Let me know how you get on, and enjoy!!
Matt

By the way, does anyone have a Kodak Q-60R1 calibration target (5"x7" variety, not transparency) they could lend me? I'll be asking around Brighton/Hove - I only need to take a few shots in daylight (should the sun appear!!)

I intend to build an ICC profile for the *istD linear colour space (and rebuild the NeatImage profiles to match RAW mode).

Even better than that, has anyone already built the profile? (I've looked long and hard for it on the 'net but can't find it)

Thanks,
Matt

Bryan,

No, you're not barking up the wrong tree
Here's the list:

Input Tab
1. Scan task - set to Scan to file
2. Scan from - set to From disk
3. Scan from file - click the @, in the dialog choose "Files of type = Pentax (*.pef)"

Crop tab
4. Up to you

Filter tab
5. Up to you, but I would leave blank

Color tab
6. Set color balance to White Balance or Neutral
7. Adjust brightness if necessary

8. Press Preview to get an idea of how it will look
9. Press Scan to do it for real.

There are other options I haven't explored yet (like batch processing and proper colour management). Personally, though, I have had more controllable success using the command line dcRAW and converting to 48bit linear PSD format (and only because I have Photoshop CS).

Working in Linear colour space is a revelation! Check my other post

Matt

Shotgun,

I have managed to get Vuescan to give acceptable results, but quite "flat" and dull. I must be doing something wrong somewhere.

However, I have been looking at dcRAW (the commandline tool) more. dcRAW is used by VueScan, Bibble, Breeze, Adobe Photoshop etc etc. I produced a 48bit PSD file for Photoshop CS. The result is a linear output, so it needs sorting with an ICC profile (I'm working on it), but I had a quick hack by doing a severe curves. Result looks really nice though

Check out Fred Miranda's 10D_LPBatch tool too (it processes the linear outputs). I've emailed Fred to see if anything can be done to support the *istD, and also whether any of the Nikon D100 actions are suitable for the *istD (as they share the same sensor).

BTW, BreezeBrowser supports the *istD: http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/features.htm

Another interesting one, though $99:
http://www.logicaldesigns.com/Imaging1.htm - SharpRAW, only added *istD support a week ago

As always, I'll keep you all posted

Matt