LaserSoft Imaging

Hi,

I am just about to take delivery of my new CoolScan 9000. I am running OS 10.4.11 on an Intel MacPro. I was wondering what I should be prepared for. I am new to high quality ( I hope) scanning. I will be scanning 6X6 B&W and Velveeta negs and slides as well as 35mm Veleeta and Kodachromes.

I had heard Silverfast AI was good software... and I was just wondering if you might be aware of anything I need to know as I start.

Can Silverfast can generate RAW files like v**s**n?... How does Silverfast compare to v**s**n?

How well does the multiple exposure feature work in AI Studio?

Is it better to run silverfast as a stand-alone or through CS3?

Is Digfital ICE part of Silverfast or the basic Nikon Scan software... how does one use it with SilverFast?

Thanks... sorry for all the questions.

Dear hassiman

Sascha Steinhoff offers a good comparative tutorial to answer your questions perhaps best in his best selling "Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives".

Amazon link to the book:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndfyh

Best regards
Sonny Noack
- Manager Technical Support, LaserSoft Imaging AG -

Dear Sonny,

I think that as support MANAGER for Silverfast AI your response.. or should I say lack thereof speaks volumes as to LaserSoft's attitude towards customer service.

At least 2 of the questions I asked could have been addressed quite easily by someone with even just a rudimentary knowledge of the software... you instead pointed me towards a 3rd party source and did not even attempt to answer ANY of my questions.

This might be excusable for a shareware application that is either free or inexpensive... but for an application that is the most expensive on the market it is downright inexcusable.[b]

I unfortunately have already purchased the software. I will now see what I can do to get my money refunded as a product like this is only as good as its support and this response came directly from the top.

Inexcusable
[/b]

1) Yes - use HDR output. THen you can edit in either DC or HDR if you want to use SF tools. HDR may or may not have been bundled in the Ai version you ordered. If you are scanning one image at a time there is not a lot of value to time shifting the adjustments unless you have to return the film to someone.

2) ME - very well, but it depends on the quality of the image - it can help some for poor exposure, but the better the film starting point the more you can pull out.

3) Makes no real difference unless you are memory limited.

4) ICE is licensed from Kodak via Nikon libraries. It is part of the Nikon package. SF was able to provide ICE as well, but only the dust removal portion if i remember correctly. SF has their own features to compete on the GEM and ROC fronts.

5) i can understand your point of view in the response. SF has always been a "try before you buy" product. The only part that is not testable is the IT8 calibration. The learning curve is steep if you are new to scanning. But you have a lot of detail control over the scan that some think is worthwhile. VS is a decent product as well, but it has had plenty of warts over the years. Some like the VS GUI, others prefer the SF GUI. i have used both as well as NS.

6) THere is a very good set of tutorials on how to set up and use SF if you care to scan them -

www.computer-darkroom.com

7) btw, the book is decent and will help you get started with scanning.

Hope this helps answer your questions some. SF was not trying to give you the brush off, but they do reply to hundreds of questions / issues (even when it doesn't seem like they are listening) a day. And it was a same day response that attempted to be helpful in an efficient way.

Dear hassiman

do you realise that you were essentially asking for giving a competitor a platform in our own forum?
And that I pointed you to a neutral source of information which actually provides you with some years' wealth of scanning experiences.

Regards
Sonny Noack
- Manager Technical Support, LaserSoft Imaging AG -