I shot some pictures this weekend using t400CN color b&w film and it was very overcast (I live in Portland, OR)! I am trying to scan them with my Polaroid SS 4000, using Vuescan, Silverfast, and Insight.
a) Because it was a overcast days, the light was great for details, but it was also flat, which is good but combine that with T400cn b&w film's orange mask and you have a very flat scan. How can I improve this using Silverfast or Vuescan? The negatives come out really grayish with not much strong blacks. When I increase contrast the white's disappear. I tried curves etc. I can fix this per image but it is very time consuming. I want to get a profile that I can use with some minor adjustments. b) Is it worth it to upgrade to Silverfast 5.5? Is there a special deal for Polaroid users? I just installed the one that came with the scanner. I shoot mostly negatives. I already have Vuescan (Thanks Ed! Great software). I find that sometimes one software gives me better results thatn the others. I am trying to get consistently good results for automated processing later. c) Is it possible to scan an entire strip with Vuescan automatically? http://graphicssoft.about.com/library/weekly/aa0104jpegmyths.htm
