PDA

View Full Version : umax PL II and Mac G3 with OS X 10.2.8



Janko Belaj
13-Nov-2005, 13:31
First, somewhat long introduction... I'm aware that someone might call me spoiled, but I think that anyone of us is somewhat spoiled when it came to his/hers shots. In the firm where I'm working we have bunch of fine scanners (few pro flatbeds and one drum scanner) and when I need serious scan I'm using one of those, but as I moved to the new location (bigger studio block away) I wont be able to use them all the time. I'm usually scanning (almost) all of my shots at some smaller resolution just for preview. fast scans, dry mounted, without special adjustments. Few dust particles and some newton rings doesn't bother me for that purpose. So, I took out of my basement my old powerlook and attached him to my old G3 (minitower filled almost to the "top"... 3 disks, addon cards...). But several years ago I have decided this old powerhorse is ready for retirement and I used him only for web... learning php and developing my cms script... Now, that job is done, or better to say, I switched everything to my stronger powerbook. I'm too lazy to install OS 9 again so I have installed VueScan and... I'm really disappointed. Even for preview job only. Slow. Clumsy. Strange commands (quality settings like mail-archive in advanced mode?) and some strange "decisions"... It seams to me that I have to restart scanner software for every batch of my negatives... first scan is fine, but the second one is "taking" adjusted levels as starting levels and any other scan is darker and with more limited dynamic range.



And finally, the question: Is such behavior normal or not? If you have similar equipment, what do you use and how do you use it?

Steve Bell
13-Nov-2005, 23:48
If you were previously happy with with your results using Umax's software to scan your 4x5 film, then reinstall it again. OS9 only takes around 20 minutes to install on an older Mac.

Personally, I find Vuescan suits my needs and produces very good scans. I currently use it with a Mac running 10.3.9 with an Epson 4990, no problems. I've also had no problems using it with 35mm and MF scanners over a number of years. Vuescan's interface is different, but I have no problems with it. Your problems are not normal. I'm not familiar with the Powerlook scanners. When I last saw one running it was under OS9 with its original software. They are quite old now.

You might find Silverfast easier to use, it's available for most Umax scanners, and I believe as an OSX demo version just like Vuescan.