"Note: Clean Image does not perform equally well with all types of film. If you are scanning Kodachrome film, you may find that Clean Image does not have the desired effect in dark parts of the image. Clean Image may also produce an overall degradation in image quality. It is recommended that Clean Image be turned off when scanning Kodachrome film."

Defect correction softens the image ever so slightly. Nikon has addressed this by allowing you to select "defect correction with sharpening". Instead of using defect correction with sharpening, I've found it's better to use defect correction without the sharpening feature and add a bit of unsharp mask filter after the scan. Using unsharp mask in Photoshop or Photo Paint after the scan lets you fine tune the amount of sharpness you add to the image. Even with defect correction on, you may have to spend a little time with the clone tool. Defect correction doesn't always remove all traces of scratches and blemishes.  You often can still see parts of what were fairly large defects in the image after scanning with defect correction activated.

I find the automatic defect correction program is particularly helpful for negative scans. For some reason I always have trouble getting clean defect free negatives. No matter where I get my C41 done there's quite a few scratches and very small blemishes.   The LS2000 sees even the smallest tear in the negative. My E6 sides are always clean and usually only need a couple small blemishes removed if any at all.

There are three sets of images on this page.

The image above is screen capture from a full resolution scan on a Kodak Royal Gold ISO 25 negative. The area in view is the upper right hand corner of a photograph with lots of sky.  You can see a few white blemishes and lots of small white spots that could be part of the film grain or may even be scanner noise. This is the default scan from the LS2000

This is a screen capture of the same area of a full resolution scan that was scanned using the LS2000's automatic defect correction. Notice how smooth the whole sky area is now. However, if you look closely you can see a small blemish where the biggest white spot used to be.

This is the same image from my vermilion lakes photograph that is on the PhotoSmart - LS2000 comparison page. The top image was scanned with the LS2000's default parameters. Notice the film grain throughout the sky and two circular defects. Kodachrome 25 original.

This image was scanned using the LS2000's automatic defect correction. Notice how smooth the sky is now. Almost all traces of the film grain have been removed. If you look closely where the two small circular defects were in the first image you can still see a couple of small blemishes that are all that remain of those defects.

This is a screen capture of part of the same Vermilion lakes photo.   It was taken from a full resolution image. This image was scanned with default parameters. Kodachrome 25 original.

This screen capture was taken from a full resolution scan that used both defect correction and 16X sampling. Notice that the top blade of grass that runs nearly horizontally across the top of the image is slightly squiggly and less sharp then the grass blade in the top photo. Overall I'd say that the addition of 16X sampling and defect correction can make some eye popping quality scans out of some very difficult slides and negatives. The defect correction is less than perfect but does a good job most of the time. All this quality isn't without it's time penalty. This last full resolution scan that incorporated both 16X sampling and defect correction took nearly 8 minutes on my P333 with 128 megs of RAM. A normal full resolution scan takes about 35 seconds.

WEB SITE LINKS
Steve Hoffmann's Nature and Landscape Photography - Gallery Index & News