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Frank Petronio
24-Apr-2006, 17:43
I've grown quite fond of speedy, fairly idiot proof Vue Scan with my Epson 4990. It scans B&W nicely so long as I play with the film profiles. Chromes are pretty decent in default mode too. But my Portra 400NC negs (and other C-41 film) looks like crap - noisey shadows, way wrong color, etc.

I guess I'll just install the Epson scanner software for the occassional color work (I am trying to do less color these days) but am I missing something with Vue Scan? The interface and help is strange... but boy, I sure like its speed and simplicity for scanning B&W - just wish I could get better color with it.

(I know, get SilverFast and profile the scanner... but I am pretty lazy)

tim atherton
24-Apr-2006, 18:10
As long as you aren't on a mac... get a RAW scan from vuescan and apply NegPos

(also weird interface and a bit of a learning curve - as someone said, if you loved DOS 3.1 you'll love vuescan and NegPos....) - great for B&W too

http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html

Frank Petronio
24-Apr-2006, 18:14
Gotta Mac Tim.

tim atherton
24-Apr-2006, 18:21
poor soul...

okay one useful thhing is john brownlows colour neg thingy workflow (he's also a mac sufferer so he has to do it by hand)

http://johnbrownlow.com/streetphoto/viewtopic.php?p=8206#8206

http://flickr.com/photos/pinkheadedbug/sets/72057594101216070/

Henry Ambrose
24-Apr-2006, 18:21
What's the problem with Epson software - is it that it comes for free?
It works fine.

tim atherton
24-Apr-2006, 18:22
I find the epson software awful for colour neg

Frank Petronio
24-Apr-2006, 18:54
I just installed the Epson software and got a decent scan in a few minutes -- at least it is far nicer than the VueScan one. Maybe the Mac version is better in this case?

Henry Ambrose
24-Apr-2006, 19:04
It must be a Mac thang - I've never understood the complaints about it. But then I've never understood why anyone would buy a microsoft machine.

; >)

paulr
24-Apr-2006, 21:04
the profiles built into vuescan work great, if there's one for the film you use. the interface is clunky compared with silverfast, but the results are excellent. no need at all to flagellate yourself with windows-only software ;)

i must say, i've never been able to get a decent color neg scan out of the epson software.

Kirk Gittings
24-Apr-2006, 21:11
After extensive testing, I personally found NegPos, Vuescan and Epson Scan inferior to Silverfast for color negs. Silverfast has decent profiles for color negs. I am currently using a Imacon 949 and wish to hell they had Silverfast for it.

julian_4860
25-Apr-2006, 01:23
www.foundobjectsgallery.com/negpos/Untitled-1.html (http://www.foundobjectsgallery.com/negpos/Untitled-1.html)

heres why I use negpos. This is before any colour work and just as a result of dialling in the negpos 'profile' and doing the convert - three 16bit histos in a line underneath each other. I'd need to do th eusual levels/curves moves after this. I NEVER got that with silverfast. But I'm coming to the conclusion that silverfast either works for you and you love it, or you hate it

andreas_6335
25-Apr-2006, 05:18
what's wrong with the flexcolor? i find it as good as silverfast - actually i started to like it better. just different ways to get colors to look the way you want them. silverfast has a tendency to oversaturate colors in general, but that depends maybe also what one is used to...

John Brownlow
25-Apr-2006, 05:59
I like Flexcolor a lot better than Silverfast. Once you get your profiles right, bingo.

Kirk Gittings
25-Apr-2006, 08:39
For b&w, Silverfast's curve and levels adjustments are not so quirky. The preview is more accurate. Silverfast is MUCH better at dealing with problem negs, ie slightly overexposed negs or negs with a preponderance of dark or light tones.

Kirk Gittings
25-Apr-2006, 08:54
Julian, I do not know what version of SF you were using, but AI Studio does just that.

Guy_6543
25-Apr-2006, 10:13
It's a shame that Silverfast doesn't have a profile for Fuji Acros...therefore I scan a raw file and use Neg/Pos

Guy
www.guyaubertin.com (http://www.guyaubertin.com)

Brian Ellis
25-Apr-2006, 10:52
I have Vuescan, Silverfast AI, and Epson. Silverfast isn't easy to learn but it offers more controls than either of the other two once you figure it out (and the instruction book didn't really help a whole lot, I had to buy a book acalled "Silverfast - The Official Guide" for about $30 to really understand it). I haven't kept up with the Vuescan updates since I bought Silverfast but I liked it fine for b&w when I used it except that I didn't find many of the options and controls very intuitive and the Help section wasn't. Epson is very simple, doesn't offer much in the way of controls, but it does have the basics, it worked well and was easy to use the few times I used it for color negatives (or maybe it was slides, I forget).

Kirk Gittings
25-Apr-2006, 11:12
Guy,

Create your own.

I find SF profiles in general the best off the shelf available, though Acros is not available, but.....

Any supplied profile is a generality (b&w especially), because the software people have no idea of your developer or your aesthetic preferences. It is extremely easy to create your own profiles in Silverfast for whatever film/dveloper combination etc.

Silverfast>Frame>Image type>user defined>save settings will save all of your settings for whatever film, EI, contrast curve etc. that you want to create. Doing it this way is way more accurate than anything Silverfast or anyone else could supply.

Kirk Gittings
25-Apr-2006, 11:28
FYI,

I keep running into issues with my scanning as the years go by and my expectations get higher. As a result I keep trying things like new versions of Vuescan and Neg/Pos to solve problems, which ultimately they almost never end up doing better than SF. I always end up back with Silverfast and learning a new trick or MO which solves my problem better than anything else I try. I have invested an enormous amount of time investigating other products.

I have no interest in SF perse, I recently declined a direct working relationship that SF offered me, because I don't have the time and I want to maintain my independence from manufactures. That is with the exception of Freestyle who when they ask me for a product recomendation and I want to recommend something that is not in their catalogue--they will carry it for me. They are a class act.