I remember some comments that the top of the line negative scanners (Nikon, Polaroid Sprintscan 4000) aren't necessarily as good for black and white negatives. Or perhaps that ICE doesn't work as well for B&W? Either one true? Any opinions on the best scanner for B&W negatives? I want to print "photo quality" up to 11 x 14. Thanks much.

-- jerry (jepstein@jenner.com), August 28, 2000

Answers

Digital ICE doesn't work at all for black and white. It uses Infra Red to detect surface defects and dirt on colour film. The IR passes straight through the dye image of colour film and gives a picture of the dirt and scatches which can then be masked out.
The silver image of B&W blocks IR just the same as visible light, so no defect image to use as a mask. In fact Digital ICE tries to use the whole of the B&W image as a defect mask, with very strange results! Any of the 36 bit scanners that allow 12 bit B&W output should be fine. This rules out the LS30 and older Minolta Scan dual. IMHO 8 bits is only just good enough for B&W, so you want to start with 12 to give some leeway for manipulation.
If you don't want to spend big money on the full version of Photoshop, which is one of the few packages capable of handling more than 8 bit B&W / 24 bit colour, then look for a scanner that has the LE version of Photoshop bundled with it as well. Prepare to be disappointed with the B&W output of most printers though.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), August 31, 2000.