Microtek M1 Scanner

[Dan Baumbach]

I recently got an M1 Pro Scanner that I'm using with Vista. I've calibrated the scanner with the Silverfast target. The latest version of Silverfast produces scans without banding and I haven't gotten any color fringing so far. Scans of some high contrast Velvia 100 chromes have been very good but on other scans the output has been downright weird. On a scan I have that is mostly gray granite rocks in Yosemite, the color cast is extremely blue and when I remove it, the green leaves of a tree have practically no color at all. The shadows that should be neutral are as green as the pine needles of the tree. My old Epson 3200 was able to do relative accurate scans of this image so I didn't expect it to be so difficult.

In another scan the colors came out very accurate except for some dead branches which also came out extremely blue.

Thinking that this may be a silverfast problem I tried Scan Wizard Pro but all a preview or overview gives me is a black screen. If I go to the overview dialog box and do a quick overview, I can see my trannie but not with the button on the toolbar.

Any help that anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated. I'd really like to get this scanner to work for me.

Thanks in advance.

- Dan.

[Brian Ellis]

Sorry I can't help but just wanted to note that the absence of any responses made me realize just how much we miss Ted Harris. For many reasons of course, most more important that his knowledge of scanners. But he was great at answering these kinds of questions. If he was still alive you'd have had help in a flash.

[BarryS]

Yep, I've seen a few posts where I still sort of wait to see what Ted will say. :( I also have the M1 Pro package and am not sure what your problem is as far as the strange colors. I can recommend completely uninstalling the ScanWizard Pro package and reinstalling under Windows safe mode. The ScanWizard software is very clunky and needs a rewrite, but a fresh installation under safe mode should get you up and running. Once you do that, you can at least see if it's a software (probably) or hardware issue.

[audioexcels]

Yep, I've seen a few posts where I still sort of wait to see what Ted will say. :( I also have the M1 Pro package and am not sure what your problem is as far as the strange colors. I can recommend completely uninstalling the ScanWizard Pro package and reinstalling under Windows safe mode. The ScanWizard software is very clunky and needs a rewrite, but a fresh installation under safe mode should get you up and running. Once you do that, you can at least see if it's a software (probably) or hardware issue.

Barry...how much enlargement can you achieve out of the scanner and/or how do you consider the scanner compared to those you have received back from companies that do drum/pro-flatbed type scans?

I remember Ted was saying this one could possibly get 4X5 film to 16X20 safely, but I don't ever remember if he was conclusive about it?. I know Kirk could never satisfactorily get exhibition based prints past 12X16 with the Epson V7XX series.

[BarryS]

Mike-- I found the same thing as Ted--a 4X enlargement is about the limit if you don't want a significant loss of quality. So I can squeeze a very good quality 16x20 print out of a 4x5 M1 scan. Is a 4X print equivalent to a silver gelatin print? No, but I can get some finer control of tonality at the expense of some light digital artifacting. As for comparison to a pro flatbed or drum scan--the M1 really tops out at 4X, while the pro scans could get you to 8X or even higher before artifacting becomes objectionable.

There's no standard for "exhibition grade"--it means nothing other than personal preference. Some photographers don't consider anything other than a silver gelatin or chromogenic print exhibition grade--even if it's a 35mm chrome enlarged 40X. I think most photographers would be happy with a 4X from the M1 as long as their scanning technique, Photoshop, and printing skills are solid.

[Dan Baumbach]

With Microtek's help, I got Scan Wizard Pro to work and it indeed very clunky but scans that were just horrible in Silverfast look pretty good with Scan Wizard Pro. I do a straight scan with both and send them to Lasersoft for their comments.

- Dan.