You vote for which software?

[jmdco]

For a scanner film (example: Reflecta ProScan 7200) for Mac Os X 10.7
You vote for which software (they have almost the same price) ?

SilverFast SE Plus (Multi-Exposure) 8 professional
OR
Vuescan professional 9 ?

Which gives best result (speed, functions advanced...) ??

Regards

 

[Doug Fisher]

The answer will vary for each person based on a person's preferences and ways of working. The two packages have very different interfaces and workflows. It is very love/hate for most people. Therefore, what you really need to do is to download the free demos for each package and test them for yourself to see which fits best with your workflow and right/left brain ways.

My .02,
Doug

 

[jmdco]

That's what I'll do. As I have not the Reflecta ProScan 7200, I will carry out the tests with my Epson

Thank you for the answer

 

[Alan Klein]

You didn't mention the Epson program that comes with the Epson scanner. I use the Epson program with my V600 and find it works fine with both positive and negative color film. I haven't tried it with B/W because I don't shoot B/W. Good luck in whatever you decide. Alan.

 

[jmdco]

Indeed, the Epson program also satisfies me.

I will buy the film scanner Reflecta ProScan 7200.

The seller ScanDig (Reflecta ProScan 7200 Professional bulletin de test d?taill? sur scanner de film; qualit? d'image et vitesse de num?risation, valeurs mesur?es et d?mos des images) offers a discount on the purchase of the scanner with SilverFast.
I think the version of SilverFast SE is less complete than the VueScan Professional. VueScan Pro would be the equivalent of SilverFast AI. But AI is very expensive.

I'm looking for the best value for money.

With my Epson, I will test with VueScan and SilverFast SE in their downloadable version. I'll post the pictures here for those who are interested

Yours

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I was just doing some comparison scans between the EpsonScan package and SilverFast AI8 last night. The EpsonScan program was notably inferior to SilverFast. SilverFast got cleaner, purer color. The Epson looked like I was scanning a 1970s minilab print which had faded and color-shifted with time vice the SilverFast which looked like I was viewing an original transparency in pristine condition by comparison (I was scanning a 5x7 Portra 160nc negative). The EpsonScan app doesn't automatically export files to Photoshop, but requires you to save them as TIFF or JPG files. The upside of the Epson is that it would indeed scan at higher than 2400 dpi (did I mention this was a bit of a torture test for the scanner and my new iMac?). Silverfast may be expensive but it is well worth the money. Vuescan may have changed their interface a lot since I last looked at it, but I found that not only did I not like the interface, but I could not tell from the demo software that it would produce a good scan - it limited the resolution at which I could scan, and watermarked the hell out of every scan.

 

[artobest]

The main thing with the Epson software is to get in there and switch off all the automatic adjustments it makes to the scan. This is difficult because it is not always obvious what is being applied and where. With Silverfast, you start with a clean slate, adjustment-wise.

 

[Alan Klein]

I was just doing some comparison scans between the EpsonScan package and SilverFast AI8 last night. The EpsonScan program was notably inferior to SilverFast. SilverFast got cleaner, purer color. The Epson looked like I was scanning a 1970s minilab print which had faded and color-shifted with time vice the SilverFast which looked like I was viewing an original transparency in pristine condition by comparison (I was scanning a 5x7 Portra 160nc negative). ...

Without knowing the settings and scanner, you may not be comparing apples to apples. I've found that in Auto with my Epson V600 with the Epson software, the colors come out very natural with Portra 160VC. There were some adjustment in Post too. See sample.

Pink Baby Dogwood | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Alan-

here are my results:

https://dcphotoartist.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/epson-scan-vs-silverfast-ai-8/

The image on the left is the Epson, the one on the right, SilverFast. Both done on an Epson V750 Pro. Settings in both cases were default settings, no tweaks, no adjustments, both set to scan at 2400 dpi. Both have been downsized for the web and converted to JPG.

 

[glhs116]

I'm sure you could adjust either to match the other. Vuescan and Silverfast both have pretty horrible pretty similar interfaces. If you buy the Vuescan Pro you can use it with any scanner. If you buy the Silverfast you only get to use it with the exact model of scanner you are currently using. I would vote Vuescan.

Sam

 

[artobest]

I agree with Sam, the Epson scan isn't a catastrophe, just a very flat scan that needs a few tweaks. Having said that, I never scan anything important with Epson scan! I just don't trust it not to muck around with my scans in some obscure way. Silverfast is an ugly old beast (I haven't upgraded to 8), but I know it and can work with it.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

The point I was trying to make is not that you can't ultimately produce the same result with either scanning app, but that Silverfast does a much better job out of the gate, no modifications or tweaks required. I'll opt for the app that makes me do less work.

 

[pschwart]

Alan-

here are my results:

https://dcphotoartist.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/epson-scan-vs-silverfast-ai-8/

The image on the left is the Epson, the one on the right, SilverFast. Both done on an Epson V750 Pro. Settings in both cases were default settings, no tweaks, no adjustments, both set to scan at 2400 dpi. Both have been downsized for the web and converted to JPG.

If by default settings you mean auto adjustments, I'd say this is not a very useful test unless you are planning on only scanning in auto mode. I'd strongly recommend against this, as it is rarely, if ever, going to return the best quality scan.

 

[Alan Klein]

Phil: How do you set your scans? Which scanner? Alan.

 

[chuck94022]

I have been using VueScan. For black and white scanning, it has been fine. But for color negative, it has been a struggle. None of its profiles handle Kodak Portra well at all (which is my dominant color negative film). And if I scan negative as positive to try to convert in Photoshop, I find the VueScan interface horrible at creating settings that assure me it is "doing nothing".

So, with frustration, I downloaded a demo of Silverfast 8. I was amazed that with no reading of user manuals, no nothing, I plugged in the scanner, fired up the software, set it to scan my strip of negatives, and with no adjustment whatsoever got perfectly color balanced results with Portra.

Since I had just spent two days into the wee hours of the morning tweaking Portra images from a weekend photo shoot, it was immediately obvious that the cost of Silverfast was well worth it. So I bought a license.

I do think I will find continued uses for VueScan outside of color negative scanning. I like some of its features, but absolutely hate its user interface. I'm not kicking myself for purchasing it. But if I were to choose one solution today it would probably be Silverfast.

Sam says VueScan and Silverfast have similar user interfaces. The version of Silverfast I tested and have now purchased is version 8. I find its interface to be much, much easier to understand than VueScan's. VueScan is downright horrible in terms of interface (but its functionality is great, color balancing aside).

 

[pschwart]

Phil: How do you set your scans? Which scanner? Alan.

I have an Epson V700 and a Nikon 9000. I use Vuescan and Nikon Scan the most. I occasionally use Epson Scan and Silverfast very infrequently. Except for letting the 9000 autofocus, I default all the software to manual control.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I have V750 Pro and using Epson Scan even i have VueScan and SilverFast, but the interface of VS and SF are tricky and not friendly, so i keep using Epson Scan and experiment it a lot until i got used to it and have decent nice results of my scan B&W or colors both slides and negs.

 

[Diapositivo]

I have a Nikon LS-5000 which came with NikonScan. NikonScan doesn't have all the bells and whistles, e.g. it doesn't support scanner profiles, does not create "raw" scans, does not have the "multiexposure" feature.

I downloaded Silverfast but found the documentation impossible to struggle with, so I gave up.

I bought VueScan. The program is well written, the interface is confusionary, the documentation is awful but still much above the one given with Silverfast. After much, much mumbling I think I have mostly grasped how it works.

While scanning slides I use VueScan, use the scanner profile created by VueScan with a target slide, create DNG files which I open with Lightroom, after some tweaking in Lightroom I export a TIFF which I finish in Photoshop. That works very well.

While scanning negatives I use VueScan, use the scanner profile created by VueScan with a POSITIVE target slide, create TIFF-raw negative files which I open in Photoshop and invert using ColorPerfect. ColorPerfect doesn't give Perfect Colours but it is the best solution I have found so far.

Considering that VueScan is much cheaper than Silverfast, I suggest buying VueScan Professional Edition and ColorPerfect as an alternative to Silverfast.

The very precise photographer can also create a "film profile" and Silverfast will embed this in the DNG or TIFF file. This is actually the recommended procedure for scans of negative colour film.