a little more info for you.
1. if you're scanning negative film, you'll get better batch scanning success with the slide adapter. we tried the film roll adapter but the software was not able to accurately determine the edges of the frames. with the slide adapter (and mounting all of the negatives as if they were slides), that edge determination problem went away and we can now begin a scan of 50 frames with confidence.
2. I use
SilverFast. it's excellent software with options that will really help you to get the most out of your film. we typically scan using multi-scan 4x or better for greater dynamic range. SilverFast is also compatible with Leopard (although I haven't tested it fully yet), which brings me to the next point.
3. Nikon is giving up on the Mac market as far as scanners go. Much of their software has not been and will not be updated for Leopard or Intel. scanning professionals are advising people to look at other alternatives. many of the bed scanners with transparency functionality are now very good, offering excellent focus and excellent dynamic range, and templates/software that allow you to scan multiple strips at the same time.
4. SilverFast offers JPEG2000 compression, and Leopard/Aperture is now compatible with JPEG2000 which is an option if you want the best possible compression while retaining image quality.
I probably have a few more tips but they've escaped me for the moment ;–)
cheers,
Gregory