Silverfast 6

[Stefan]

Is there any info about the release of Silvefast 6?Since "computer-darkroom" already announced an SF 6 info,I guess it will come up soon.
Stefan

[President_LSI]

SilverFast 6 with new powerful highlights will be released August, 14th 2002



Highlights will be:

? SRD - Smart Removal of Defects (Dust and Scratch Removal)

? Advanced Selective Colour(with layers and masking)

? ACR- Adaptive Colour Restoration

? Sc2G - Selective Colour to Grey

? GANE - Grain and Noise Elimination

? MidPip4 - Advanced Colour Cast Removal

? SF_App - SilverFast Stand-Alone application

? Tutorial - QuickTime movies

SF 6 will be available for Windows, Mac OS9 and OS-X




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: President_LSI on 2002-08-13 20:23 ]</font>

[Sharcy]

It might me the best thing since sliced bread, but 299 is waaaaay too expensive and certainly not a price I'm willing to pay!

[President_LSI]

SilverFast 6 upgrade price is 65$ only

There must be a misunderstanding! The SilverFast 6 upgrade price from version 5 and 5.5 is 65 US $ only!

regards

Karl-Heinz Zahorsky
President
LaserSoft Imaging

[Sharcy]

I was talking about a new user version (for the Primefilm 3600, in my case).
From your own site:
SilverFast standard full version 6 for new customers
Standard full version 6: 299.00
With IT8 calibration: 424.00

I think this pricing is not very clever strategy. Filmscanner sales are on the rise and I would bet that Silverfast is much better than any of the software packages that come with it. So, every buyer of a filmscanner would be in the market for better software. However with these prices, most will shy away. I'm willing to bet that if you'd lower the price, you'd sell an substantial lot more products. As it is now, I won't hesitate to use a crack if I come across one, sorry.
I for one would consider something like 60, 70 Euro's a decent price for software like this. Anything above a 100 I would never pay for a product that'll be obsolete in a couple of months anyway, especially since you charge for updates. Hell, I wouldn't even be here if there was a v**s**n version for my scanner!

I don't blame you for wanting to make a buck... you'd be stupid not to. I'm just saying you can make at least twice as much if you'd lower the price to an affordable level.

[ianders1]

I think this pricing is not very clever strategy. Filmscanner sales are on the rise and I would bet that Silverfast is much better than any of the software packages that come with it. So, every buyer of a filmscanner would be in the market for better software. However with these prices, most will shy away. I'm willing to bet that if you'd lower the price, you'd sell an substantial lot more products.

Sharcy - once you get over the initial sticker shock, you will realize how much development has gone into this package, and how much time and money it will save you, especially this new version. Personally, I save 10-20 hours of work in Photoshop every month at minimum by being able to do 95% of the work in Silverfast.

Now considering that I paid $1200 for my scanner, and you paid around $500, it's probably easier for me to justify spending this kind of money, and of course, they probably would sell more units if it was less. However, we're talking about an independent software company here, not Walmart or something. It's not as simple as saying let's just drop the price. There are many factors which go into the pricing, not the least of which is development time, and since it's been in development for almost 15 years, and this new version alone adds many incredible new features it's easy to see why it would cost more. Someone has to pay for all of those developer's and programmer's paychecks.

As it is now, I won't hesitate to use a crack if I come across one, sorry.

That's the wrong attitude - I suppose if someone didn't want to pay for one of your photos (assuming you sell them) that you'd just advise that person to steal them? These people have worked long and hard for years to bring us this software.

Also, have you ever thought that it's people like you that raise the cost of software? If less people stole software, companies like Lasersoft and Adobe could cut their prices substantially.

I for one would consider something like 60, 70 Euro's a decent price for software like this. Anything above a 100 I would never pay for a product that'll be obsolete in a couple of months anyway, especially since you charge for updates. Hell, I wouldn't even be here if there was a v**s**n version for my scanner!

We all wish that Silverfast was this price - but if you want the best, you have to pay for it. This software is intended to be used by professionals, and to us it's worth it. The majority of us have spent several thousand dollars/Euros on our equipment alone, not to mention several thousand more on PhotoShop, etc. so in the long run, it's not much to pay for something that will give us the best quality in the shortest amount of time.

I hear v**s**n is a good package as well, but obviously it has nowhere near the features, support, or code-quality of this new version of Silverfast.

I don't blame you for wanting to make a buck... you'd be stupid not to. I'm just saying you can make at least twice as much if you'd lower the price to an affordable level.

It sounds like you do blame them for wanting to make a buck. If you're serious about wanting them to lower the price, it would help not to tell them that they are wrong, threaten to steal their software, and then tell them that you're only here because they're competitor doesn't support your scanner.

That's not how you get people to listen to you.

-Ian A.

[Verbeke]

Well, I fully agree with ianders1....

I also at first was reluctent to spende the big amount a couple of years ago for SF 4.0 and the IT8 module but after that I had many great scans with all the professional quality. The upgrades to 5.2 and then 5.5 were all still worth the money.
After trying out the SF6 demo I'm quiet impressed by the many new features and also surprised of the low upgrade price of 65$, IT8 included. I was really afraid it would have been a lot more since the major upgrade but those last mails reassured me.
Count me on the upgrade list!

To Sharcy I would say: right, it's not cheap but Silverfast is WAY OUT better than v**s**n, that's my point...

Thanks folks at Lasersoft, and keep up the good work until SF7 !

Jean-Pierre


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Verbeke on 2002-08-16 14:13 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Verbeke on 2002-08-16 14:14 ]</font>

[Sharcy]

ianders, I am not *stealing* anything. Like I said, I'd be more than happy to pay for Silverfast IF it was at an affordable price. I believe in an instant that a lot of money and research has gone into this product; that's not my point. My point is that at this price, yes, only professionals or very serious amateurs will buy it. I'm just a serious amateur right now . And photography is an expensive enough hobby as it is.
But think of all those thousands of amateur photographers out there who are buying (low-priced) filmscanners right now, to scan all their old film. They would benefit just as much or even more from Silverfast as you do; most times, they don't have the know-how to tweak a scan in Photoshop so that it becomes something worth looking at... and Silverfast can do that for them. But you're right, at a scanner price of 500 ($, €'s) max, they are not about to shell out 300 extra for better software. Mind you, I said "better software", not "software". There is nothing in Silverfast that can't be done with other software as well, it just does it faster and more efficiently.

So there is a whole potential of buyers out there that aren't reached at the moment. I've seen many, *many* postings on forums and mailinglists stating that "Yes, Silverfast would be the ideal solution, but I can't afford it". Especially small companies like LSI benefit from word-of-mouth advertising, and at the moment they have that against them. It could just as soon be turned around, the internet community is great when it comes to that. In the end, it's just a matter of economics and break-even. You can sell 2 products for 300, or you can sell 10 for say 80.
Besides, what wrong with offering a cheaper version (without cd, packaging, manual etc.) for download? That would cost LSI absolutely zilch in extra production costs; it's just bytes after all. They can do it with the demo, why not with the full product?

As far as me "destroying the software industry", well, that's the eternal "chicken-and-egg" question, isn't it? LSI won't suffer a cent if I use a crack, because I won't buy at this price anyway. I may even recommend it to other people so they'd make money on me after all .
And if people are hungry, and you're offering a bread for $50, don't be surprised if someone snatches one away from you. It reminds me of the recordcompanies raising hell over people downloading MP3's, where it's their own fault for raising the CD prices year after year.

[LSI_Leschke]

Dear Sharcy,

we also have SilverFast SE available for various scanners. The SE version is available as a download only, for $49. Version 6 will also be released as a SE version soon. You can download and try the SE version in demo mode, before you make a decision.

[Sharcy]

On 2002-08-16 17:04, LSI_Martin wrote:
Dear Sharcy,

we also have Silverfast SE available for various scanners. The SE version is available as a download only, for $49. Version 6 will also be released as a SE version soon. You can download and try the SE version in demo mode, before you make a decision.

Thanks for the info, but that doesn't help me much at the moment... The PIE Primefilm 3600 PRO isn't supported. Any plans for a version for that scanner?

[richard]

I agree with much of what Sharcy said, except the justification for, as Ian A calls it, stealing software. If software is too high, go elsewhere, but it is certainly acceptable to let folks like Ian A know that they are losing sales because of the pricing scheme. Nothing should justify taking / using something without paying for it, i.e., stealing. However, while the upgrade pricing is seemingly fair and meager, that is not the bigger picture. I have a decent flat bed scanner (Epson 2450) and a Nikon film scanner and a Epson 3100Z digital camera and a Nikon D1 digital camera (soon to be replaced with a Fujifilm S2 digital camera). LaserSoft?s strategy is a piecemeal approach that causes serious amateurs / pre-professional consumers to have to fork out lots of money for, basically, one piece of software. Almost no one else does this. The web site is rather confusing for me, but as I understand it, with my bundled SE software, I have to purchase two copies of Silverfast (one for the Epson scanner from where I originally got Silverfast) and one for the Nikon scanner. Additionally, I have to purchase the HDR flavor of Silverfast for the Nikon camera and a copy for the Epson camera and then another copy for the impending Fujifilm camera. Now, I think THAT is baloney! Additionally, if I want to purchase software, I want to purchase the latest and best. Based on what the web says I gotta do, I have to upgrade to 5.5 Ai then upgrade to 6 Ai for each of the scanners and cameras. Again, my perception is that this is an annoying and greedy attempt to capitalize on a capitalistic system. And it is what cause people like me to look elsewhere if LaserSoft will not get more price reasonable with consumers who want to use their product. Furthermore, I cannot even get the bundled SE software to work ? but lots of reviewers say Silverfast actually does work and is a time saver.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: richard on 2002-08-18 20:39 ]</font>

[ianders1]

Richard,

Hopefully I can sort of some of this confusion that is surrounding SF 6 for you. Yes, you will need a separate copy of SF for each of your scanners and for your camera. The reason is that each is customized for that model - there's no way to write one piece of code for all scanners out there. You will only need to purchase the upgrade for v6 when it is available, for your SE version.

Also, not working at Lasersoft, I cannot be sure of this, but as I recall in the past, if you contact them personally (phone is usually best) to purchase multiple copies, I believe they will give you a discount. In your situation, I would definitely call them to discuss your purchase.

As for your copy of SE not working, please post your problems under the appropriate area, and someone will be happy to help you get it up and running for you. Also, be sure to download the new demos of v.6 they really are incredible.

Feel free to ask any further questions and good luck getting started with Silverfast!

-Ian

[T. Klinc]

Now, who is correct: President_LSI, who writes above that a $65 v6 upgrade is available online for v5 users, or Miss Theda Schmidt of LSI, who emailed me yesterday that the upgrade is only available for v5.5, and that the rest of us will have to wait a forthnigth and then by the program on CDROM at a higher price?

[ilyons]

Now, who is correct: President_LSI, who writes above that a $65 v6 upgrade is available online for v5 users, or Miss Theda Schmidt of LSI, who emailed me yesterday that the upgrade is only available for v5.5, and that the rest of us will have to wait a forthnigth and then by the program on CDROM at a higher price?

Try the system - I think you will find that it will allow you to upgrade. The President ALWAYS has the ultimate say whether it be the boat club or when the nukes get launched. You can also see form the web page that it says 5.x and NOT 5.5. The system checks your serial for validity and if its valid act dumb and pay your money! If it's not - duck; because the nukes are heading yourr way


http://www.silverfast.com/upgrade/en.html

http://www.silverfast.com/upgrade/en.html

http://www.silverfast.com/product/Nikon ... upgrade5-6

https://www.silverfast.com/buyonline/ai ... roduct=192 (this is the LS30 page upgrade page)

[Tomaz Klinc]

Cheers Ian,

you can't beat The System: there's always a Catch 22 lurking somewhere. Since my Department's credit card is not allowed to be used online, I wanted to pay by fax and that's where I got stymied. It's just another instance of the dog not knowing how the tail is wiggling.

Regards,
Tomaz