Microtek i800 Scanner for color slides

[tenderobject]

Guys, i'm very sorry to bump this thread. I think it's better to just post some of my inquiries here.

Anyone here have the i800+ LED version? Does your computer detect it as 4800ULED? Would Vuescan software works with your i800+ version? I'm having a hardtime with this scanner especially with Vuescan. I tried Scanwizard Pro an EZ but i could only get decent colour scan with the PRO. I think i still need to profile this to my system. Anyone can give me some tips? Sorry, i'm new to digital workflow. I'm still in the learning process..

Thank you!

[Preston]

I'm having a hard time with this scanner especially with Vuescan.

Send Ed Hamrick an e-mail detailing the issue(s) you're having. Be sure to attach a copy of the VueScan logfile. Ed is pretty good about helping resolve issues. The more detail you can give him, the better.

If you installed the Microtek IT8 profiling software and the IT8 target files, you can use this to profile the scanner. You must make absolutely sure you use the IT8 or Q60-E1 data file that matches the calibration target transparency. You can find this in the lower left corner of the target tranny. For example, mine is 2004.02 for my Kodak target.

If you have the 'Pro' version of Vuescan, you can use it to profile your scanner. The same caution applies regarding the IT8 data file. There are instructions as to how to profile using VueScan in it's 'Help' pages.

--P

[tenderobject]

Hi Preston,

Thanks for the info. I got a response from Ed. Sadly, My Microtek i800 Plus is not supported by Vuescan. Too bad, Scanwizard Pro is nice but it's a bit Pre historic and i could only use version 7.25 with this scanner. It's such a shame. How i wish Ed could make a solution for this soon. Silverfast Ai isn't a solution because it's a bit expensive for me!

I've installed these softwares already (MSP, ICC Profiler) but since i'm a bit ignorant on digital workflow i'm not sure what do to. My scanner didn't come with IT8 target to work on. Is there any other way i could atleast calibrate the scanner to match my monitor? The first time i used the Microtek softwares i'm getting unpleasant scans but after a few tweaks with the settings i got a few good ones but i'm sure it's not perfectly calibrated but i like the results. Of course it would be much better if my scanner is calibrated properly for future works especially with colour negs and reflective for prints..

I'm trying to research on how to calibrate/profile scanner right now. It's new to me. I remember when using Epson V500 years ago i didn't do any profiling or calibration with it. It's very easy like plug and play but now it's different. It seems like i opened a can of worm with this digital setup!

Hope someone could advice a simple setup i could do with this so atleast i could start and finish this testing phase. I've been testing this scanner for a week now! hahaha

Some samples i scanned a few days ago (Pardon it's small/617 format) Fuji Superia and Fuji ProH

Send Ed Hamrick an e-mail detailing the issue(s) you're having. Be sure to attach a copy of the VueScan logfile. Ed is pretty good about helping resolve issues. The more detail you can give him, the better.

If you installed the Microtek IT8 profiling software and the IT8 target files, you can use this to profile the scanner. You must make absolutely sure you use the IT8 or Q60-E1 data file that matches the calibration target transparency. You can find this in the lower left corner of the target tranny. For example, mine is 2004.02 for my Kodak target.

If you have the 'Pro' version of Vuescan, you can use it to profile your scanner. The same caution applies regarding the IT8 data file. There are instructions as to how to profile using VueScan in it's 'Help' pages.

--P

[Preston]

It's too bad you can't use VueScan until/if Ed creates a driver for your scanner.

Some folks don't bother to profile their scanners. They create a flat scan (i.e. no adjustments are made to color or tonal scale using the scanner software) and then use Photo Shop to adjust the resulting file. When you profile a scanner, all you are really doing is making sure that the output colors and grey scale are accurate.

Since your scanner did not come with IT8 targets, Wolf Faust supplies targets for a variety of film types and sizes. His prices are quite good. This may be a good solution for you.

--P

[tenderobject]

I hope he does make an update that can support my i800 plus version. I've hear very nice things about Vuescan from professional friends but too bad i can't use it. So, i will have to deal with Scanwizard Pro v.7.24 (i thought it was v.7.25 lol)

I'm almost doing flatscan right now but still dealing with cast and stuff will add an hour or less just to fix it. It would be nice if i could get atleast a decent scan and just have a minimal PP in my workflow. I remember using my v500 with mediumformat colour negs. It was a breeze. I don't know i didn't do any profiling with the scanner and Epson software. It was very easy! I think in a scanner like Microtek i800 + Tweaking is necessary. Profiling is a must! I would prefer a profiled scanner to my system than having extra headache when doing PP in photoshop. Right now my workflow is not the best. I scan 1 frame then look for the output after scanning because the preview scan doesn't help me either since the preview is a bit different than the output!!! It such a headache. Then i add a few minutes on tweaking (curves, colour balance or saturation). I'm just annoyed with how this scanner scans my colour negs. I didn't get this sort of problem when i was using Epson scanner and software.

By the way, I contacted the local distro in Tehran. I asked them if they can provide me an IT8 target so i could calibrate my scanner. I hope they can lend me one. Let see.

I checked that site a while ago. If ever the distro doesn't want to help me calibrating this scanner i might get one.. Can you tell me which one to get for my scanner? http://www.targets.coloraid.de/ They seem a lot. Right now i'm just scanning small and medium format colour negs. I will try some provia next time and maybe colour 4x5 in the future. What can you recommend?

Thanks Preston!

Jef

It's too bad you can't use VueScan until/if Ed creates a driver for your scanner.

Some folks don't bother to profile their scanners. They create a flat scan (i.e. no adjustments are made to color or tonal scale using the scanner software) and then use Photo Shop to adjust the resulting file. When you profile a scanner, all you are really doing is making sure that the output colors and grey scale are accurate.

Since your scanner did not come with IT8 targets, Wolf Faust supplies targets for a variety of film types and sizes. His prices are quite good. This may be a good solution for you.

--P