Scanning XP1......?

I do realise that this is a digital Forum but I still need help if possible please.
I hope there is somebody on this Forum old enough to remember Ilford XP1 film. It was extraordinary in that you could expose this film at any ISO between 25 and 1600 on the same roll without having to change any of the developing process. Although a black and white film I believe that there was some colour film aspects attached to it.
After that long winded explanation the problem I have is scanning this particular film. I have tried various settings but the resulting scans always seem to come out very contrasty with little or no shadow detail. I am using a Nikon Coolscan IV scanner which has produced some brilliant scans with colour negatives but doesn`t seem to be able to handle XP1 !
If UncleDoug or Robert Lay are about HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP please.

No expertise with your scanner,. but my really really old Umax scanner has contrast, Gamma and curves options built into the software.. can't the Nikon allow you to back off on the contrast?

Tried decreasing the contrast gradually and ended up decreasing to the max but still got the same result. Any hint of a shadow becomes a solid block of black ! This means that most of the scans of XP1 that I have attempted are literally black and white !
I am fairly certain that this is to do with the colour characteristics of the film. The more I think about it I seem to remember that although a black and white film it was developed using a colour process but I may be wrong.

Just Googled XP1 and found out that it is indeed developed using a colour process. There was an explanation as to how this works but it was beyond my comprehension. It mentioned the C-41 process. Is this the process for colour negatives or slides ?

C-41 is the standard colour negative process. Most colour reversal (chrome, slide) film is E-6, with the exception of Kodachrome, which uses a special Kodak process.

David

yes, the XP1 is C-41 process. That is why it has finer grain. Anyway, back on the subject. You might want to use Vuescan to scan those B&W. I have much more luck with Vuescan with B&W (non-C41) than any other software.

As for method, there are tons of ways. I personally like to do Postive scan as COLOR. Than later in the post-process I can easily reverse it and tint or take off the color.

But when you ask the next person, they'll give you something else. It's just want work best for you at the end

Thank you everybody. I have now tried the free version of Vuescan and it works perfectly with my B&W negatives. I have also dabbled some more with my scanner and am getting better results but not as good as Vuescan.
Thank you again.