Re: filmscanners: SS120 and Silverfast/Vuescan

[JimD <rasterdogs@home.com>]

At 01:38 PM 11/16/01 -0800, Barbara White wrote:
>I'm a new owner of this scanner and I'm wondering if anyone else has a
>problem  with Silverfast and Photoshop! So far version 5.2 and 5.5 will
>not run on my Photoshop (6.0) and the tech guy doesn't seem to know why.
>Any ideas?
>
>Should I just skip it and go to Vuescan? What are the advantages of Vuescan?
  I bought a Polaroid SS4000 ~6 months before Silverfast came
bundled with the scanner. I also bought Silverfast and worked my
way through various installation problems along with the
climbing the tool's learning curve. Silverfast tech support
was concerned and helpful but solving problems took time as
most problems had to be fixed in Germany. Silverfast has
a business model that requires users to purchase software
upgrades for an already expensive software package. I've not
launched the application in a year and I'll not pay to upgrade it.

In my own workflow I've found that recently,  the newest
version of Polacolor Insight to be the software I use most for
scanning slides. Now that Insight supports saving adjusted
files in high bit mode I'm very satisfied with it.

I've not found anything that can beat Vuescan for negatives.
Vuescan has 'film terms' for negatives that are better
and more comprehensive than Insight and far better than
my older version of Silverfast. Vuescan is the best value proposition
of any software I own or use. It is enhanced on an incredibly
regular basis and is pro actively supported. Vuescan has a simple interface 
and needs to be  used in conjunction with a tool like Photoshop to get the 
most from it.

Rather than invest time and trouble in Silverfast I'd suggest
exploring Vuescan. In my opinion you won't be disappointed

-JimD