focus problem with Microtek M1

[Herb Cunningham]

I got a used Microtek M1 with Silverfast software. I can scan prints just fine, but the film strip scans are not sharp, almost as if they are very slightly out of focus


Is this a software or hardware problem?

 

[MaxMad]

Probably your filmstrips are curved and the focus point of the scanner is very shallow, you can check if there is a focus point towards the ends of the film

 

[Herb Cunningham]

focusing problem with M1

I have pretty flat 6x6 film strip, and select a focus point using the silverfast focus choices. Still no results.

I think the scanner was knocked out of alignment or something.

Is it reasonable to expect good scans from the 35mm holder? I was convinced by the glowing reviews, now think it may not be as good as advertised.

I am going to do some precise shots today and see what the scans look like after developing, b/w only.

 

[pellicle]

Herb

go to a shop that sells microscope slides (perhaps an advanced toy shop or a science shop for a school). Place a a number on each with a permanent marking pen on one end.

Stack (say 4) on your scanner glass, with each extending out to one side by say 1cm from the one below and the number visible from below with no obstruction. The underside of each will be clearly visible to the scanner head below.

scan and see which is sharpest

you then know where the film should be

 

[glhs116]

pellicle, I think this particular flatbed model is supposed to be able to autofocus.

 

[pellicle]

pellicle, I think this particular flatbed model is supposed to be able to autofocus.

good point ... and its glassless I see.


I discovered this interesting quote:

One of the advantages of this diary format is getting you the story quickly. But the disadvantage is that the details can be messy. If we have trouble, you hear about it.

And we did have trouble.


SilverFast Multi-Exposure. Slight misregistration can be seen on this full-size crop.

We couldn't achieve a sharp scan. That surprised us since we had autofocus enabled and were just scanning a single slide. In this case, it was some bright yellow wildflowers on blue stems (something like Daisy Miller) against a dark background. Viewed with a loupe the image was very sharp but the scans appeared soft at best. On closer examination, there actually appeared to be some misregistration of the scan channels.

Fearing a hardware failure, we sent a crop of the scan to Parker Plaisted, the M1 product manager.

He diagnosed the problem right away. "It looks like you are using the SilverFast multi-exposure feature."

Indeed we were. That feature takes two scans of the image, one calibrated to capture shadow detail and the other to capture highlight detail. The two scans are then merged into one image, yielding the highest possible dynamic range from the scanner. It's a neat trick SilverFast alone can do.

Parker told us he had seen this on some multi-exposure scans but not on others. "We will work with LaserSoft Imaging to investigate this further," he promised.

 

[Diapositivo]

The "neat trick" of double exposure can be done also with VueScan.

I think the behaviour of VueScan is different.

While Silverfast HDR can be instructed to do the merge to create a "high dynamic range" image, the VueScan merge does not change the overall brightness of the image and uses the second pass (with higher exposure) to reduce noise in low light areas.

It works fine with my Nikon Coolscan 5000 and with VueScan 8.6.66.

This feature can cause problem with those scanners which are not able to reposition the scan device for the second pass at exactly the same point as the first pass.

Fabrizio

 

[jeffreyg]

I had a Microtek scanner 8 or 9 years ago (don't remember the model) with SilverFast software. I was able to scan three dimensional objects with sharp scans as well as negatives with the transparency adapter which was a different lid than the one that came with the scanner. When i switched to a Mac I got an Epson scanner and get sharp scans with their stock film holders. Sounds like further testing might shed more light on your problem.

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[Herb Cunningham]

Microtek problem soft scans

I have been back and forth with Silverfast (give good phone service with a German accent), and Microtek (give crappy phone service, now discontinued) for almost two weeks with this scanner. I used both Microtek's software and the Silverfast AI (a lot better), with no joy. I have a b/w negative, so color is not an issue. Set Silverfast to 16 repetitions or 1 single scan, no change.
The previous owner insists it worked fine before he sent it to me, has some scans to prove it. I think it got banged around in shipping.
Finally Microtek want me to send it in. Pain all around.

 

[Diapositivo]

Herb, it's probable that I am suggesting something you already checked.

Some software allows you to lock focus between slides. Maybe your focus remained "locked" and the scanner is not autofocusing anymore. Have you tried reverting to default on scanning options?

Something strange happened those last days to my Coolscan 5000. When I wanted to calibrate the scanner with my IT8 target, I aligned precisely the mask over the target and VueScan went on telling me to check mask alignment. It was driving me mad.

When I gave up (after much liver damage ) and made a normal scan I saw that the scanned portion of the slide did not coincide with the mask I applied to the scan. The "cropping" was out-of-sync between the software and the hardware.

I turned off the scanner, re-started Windows, turned on the scanner, "calibrated" it and reset to default the "crop" section of VueScan. The scanner went back to normal operation.

So before sending the scanner for servicing I would simply try to restart the operating system (so as to be sure to clean all libraries and temporary data from memory, also from cache), to turn off and on the scanner (so that internal data regarding focus position is cleared), to calibrate it (so that the internal alignments are repeated from scratch) and to clear any focus setting in software (just in case).

Hope it works
Fabrizio

 

[Herb Cunningham]

Microtek problems

Thanks for the suggestions I did a complete clearing of all preferences and memories, restarted my Mac and as I said spent a lot of time on the phone with both Microtek and the silverfast guys.

I have reached the conclusion, supported by Microtek, that the scanner is out of calibration so much that the re calibration protocol in the machine/software is not enough to fix the problem.
I was able to get some improvements, but not successful.

I will post a report when I get it back.