LaserSoft Imaging

Hi!

I haven't bought SilverFast yet, but am very close. And I'm hoping to get a couple answers before I plunk for this software

I have about 10,000+ 35mm slides, and a 5000ED. And one of the reasons I'm leaning toward SilverFast (Archive Suite) is the multi-exposure ability, and the archive format. However… I downloaded the demos, and can't seem to figure a couple of things out.

1) I LOVE the idea of multi-exposures for slides. I have many, many slides that can benefit from this. However, I'm a bit confused as to how this works. When I use NikonScan4, I "bracket" the exposure manually, and can end up with 2-to-__ number of exposures, depending on the image. Because some images, in my opinion, often require more than just 2 exposures. But it seems like SilverFast only provides 2 exposures in it's multi-exposure feature. Is this correct? Is there a way to determine the # of exposures? Also, in general, is there a way to manually control the exposure? I don't seem to have "Nega-Fix" in my demo I know SilverFast is supposed to be much more accurate in it's initial scans, but I would need the option to "open it up", or "dial it back" manually. Also, I can't seem to use Multi-Pass with Multi-Exposure. Why not? It seems like, if I can spare the time, that would be a good idea.

2) The archive "format"? The demo keeps giving me a TIFF file. Is this really a RAW file w/ a TIFF "wrapper"? I know it's 64-bit HDRI, but what exactly makes this format "archive" quality? How flexible is it? I cant seem to open it as a RAW file in Photoshop or Aperture, where I would need to do any image manipulation past SilverFast's "upfront" features (dust and scratches, and maybe USM, etc). And, again, how many "exposures" are contained in this thing.

(I can't seem to get it to open in the HDR demo where I can see anything other than ONE "exposure")

3) I have a fair amount of KODACHROME slides. The demo has a Kodachrome selector… but do I need to buy any of the extra Kodachrome "color space" things? What do those do?

+++

Apologies for the (maybe) obvious questions, but I've watched as many of the videos I can find, and read all of the pages… but it's still a bit confusing to me

Thanks in advance for your help!



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Dear edstate,

MultiExposure uses two different exposure settings.
The algorithms used do not require more scans.
To our experience especially high quality scanners like the LS-5000ED do not need more because they do not have any issues with too much noise.
The MultiExposure function itself does not benefit from more scans.

64bit HDR Tiffs are uncompressed and unaltered except for the hardware features.
These files can only be processed by SilverFast HDR.
Photoshop can not handle the included infrared information.
The MultiExposure calculations are already done in SilverFast Ai (Studio) this is one of the few functions which already have to be done when scanning.


Kodachrome is already included with this scanner a Kodachrome calibration target is only required if you want to calibrate your scanner's Kodachrome mode.


kind regards,
Arne Ketelhohn.